On a brisk, bluebird day — the last day of summer — the Taft Lady Rhinos headed up to the mountains to take on Berkshire Academy. This picturesque ride up screamed the arrival of fall: the first touches of early foliage set the mountains surrounding the turf field aglow and reminded the team that our growth, much like in nature, is a cycle. Coach Swift’s pre-game speech, hinged on the idea of glowing and growing, could have come straight from a Norman Rockwell painting. Junior midfielder Leila Douglas took a slow look around her and remarked “this is such a calm place.” So at home did our girls feel in nature that they calmly took the field and played a possessed game of soccer. In fact, the first hour of the matchup saw our ladies practicing all the composure of a comatose Tich Naht Hahn. New 10th grader Jalissa Matthew contributed to our defensive prowess as left full-back for the entire 80 minutes, alongside Alex Trombley ’27, Harper VanMaanen ’28 and Emma Strub ’26. Coach Swift cheered from the sideline that Matthew’s throw ins, which easily soar over heads for 20 yards or more, is “her new favorite toy.” With the score tied up nil-all at halftime, the Rhinos needed to tap into the hungrier side of Mother Nature. Sometimes, that simply means just coming up from behind. When Berkshire’s offense packed the first goal of the game 22 minutes into the second half from a rebound off a free kick, the Taft team suddenly turned on (though, admittedly, their newfound spark still had nothing on the static electricity emanating from the plastic turf baking under the full sun. Every pat on the back was like electroshock therapy). The Rhinos responded with 10 minutes left, when #22 Jasleena “Jazzy” Thind, ’26 scored a banger off a cross into the box from senior captain Sofia Lombardo-Varisco. The calm of the first 70 minutes disappeared and the gritty, high-energy Rhinos we know and love came out to play; unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough time to make a full comeback. But our season, much like leaf buds in spring, still has a lot of potential left. Final score: 1-1.