The transition has been smooth, and that’s good for the future. That it could be good for the present is why Mark Behringer feels good about the 2024 postseason possibilities for Cathedral High School girls soccer. This is a strong, tight group with potential for success. “There have just been a lot of positives since the beginning of the season,” Behringer said. The Irish, long one of Indiana’s top high school girls soccer programs, qualified for the Class 3A state final four in 2023. They returned a strong senior and junior class – and after losing 10 seniors from ’23, they also will depend on a strong freshman class that Behringer said “could give us a high ceiling, even this year.” The Irish began the 2024 season 4-1-2 and were eighth in the September 2 Class 3A girls Indiana Soccer Coaches Association rankings. “This year's team going in was a pretty big question mark,” Behringer, in his 29th season as the Irish girls soccer coach, said. “Half of the roster is brand new, and out of that newness, five are freshmen, so a lot of unknowns going into the season.” The Irish in 2024 will feature leaders in a strong senior class, a group that includes three captains – four-year starting midfielder Abby Beasley, midfielder Addy Wong and forward Keira Bradford – and senior versatile midfielder Emma Drewry, Teagan Malarney and goaltender Anna Wasiak. “We've got the ability to score goals, and we've got a very experienced goalkeeper and another senior at center back,” Behringer said. Keying a strong junior class: Senior defender Lauren Robertson, junior backup goaltender Emma Zajac and junior midfielder Alex Behringer. “We did feel going in like we have some really, really good senior leadership,” Behringer said. “We bring back a lot of experience in those players that return. It’s really a matter of fitting the pieces of the puzzle together the best way. “The juniors and seniors in particular are just a solid group of young ladies. Forget even that they're really good soccer players. As human beings, they are a group that could carry us a long way.” Behringer called Beasley “maybe the best leader I’ve had in 29 years.” “She’s just really doing a good job with the team overall,” Behringer said. “She does so many things for us on the field, not the least of which is score goals. We lean on her quite a bit on and off the field.” Wong, Behringer said, is a senior with an impressive work ethic. “The way she empties her tank every game is just so impressive.” Behringer called Bradford one of the “most consistent players I can remember in a long time.” Malarney earned her way to the varsity for the first time this season, Drewry helps gives the Irish a strong experienced midfield and Wasiak gives the Irish valuable and rare returning experience at a crucial position. “Anna's got a lot of experience in the goal and is very confident, which is what you need in a goalkeeper,” Behringer said. “We're just going to rely on her to be that senior leader all the way in the in the back for us to make sure things are happening the way they're the way they're supposed to. “Depending upon how these new players assimilate into how we play, and how everything ratchets up so much in the postseason, I'm not sure there are too many teams we can't compete with. Now, just like every year, it's about building and building and just trying to be sharp when it's time to be sharp. “We still have some weeks left to do that. So we're feeling pretty good.” Also key will be an unusually large freshman class talented enough contribute to an already strong roster. Behringer called it the Irish’s largest contributing freshman class in two decades. “I think you have I think you have to go that far back,” he said. “I think it's going to be an outstanding class. We end up with six or seven varsity kiddos that could all be starters at some point. All things considered, the future is going to look really good for us as well. “Early indications are there that it's a group that's going to end up figuring out their identity, figuring out their roles, taking responsibility and supporting each other in those roles. It just seems like a group that maybe could put it all together a little bit more quickly than it happens some years. “Kudos again to the captains and the upperclassmen for continuing this culture where everybody understands that it's all about team.”