GoYeo Storytellers: Emily Berner '20

On Wednesday, March 11, Oberlin College women’s lacrosse senior Emily Berner caused a turnover against the visiting John Carroll University Blue Streaks. It was all the team captain needed to claim sole possession of the school record for caused turnovers in a career, which now stands at 91. 

Less than 24 hours later she received an email from President Carmen Twillie Ambar announcing that, like many schools around the country, Oberlin would transition to remote learning for the remainder of the semester due to the accelerating COVID-19 pandemic. Emily had four days to pack up her apartment and say goodbye to her friends while coping with the reality that she will never play collegiate lacrosse as a Yeowoman again.

Her remarkable lacrosse career began when she was nine years old, when a family friend encouraged her to play for his team. The rest of the Berner family prefers baseball and softball. Emily’s two older siblings are retired ballplayers, her sister Izzy is a sophomore on Oberlin’s softball team, and her youngest sister hopes to play college softball as well. But Emily couldn’t help it – she loved lacrosse from the start.

As a Yeowoman, Emily received All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors three times – once as a member of the second-team, and twice as a member of the first-team. Her name appears in the program record book five times. In addition to the record she set earlier this month, she’s third in career ground balls with 157, fifth in ground balls in a season with 50 (2018), and second and fifth in caused turnovers in a season with 38 (2019) and 27 (2018).

Emily said that setting a school record in the last game of her career meant a lot to her personally, but she acknowledged that it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of her teammates.

“Records come from working together as a team. My teammates always supported me and supported my style of play. It’s just nice knowing that something really positive came from this season.”

Most players struggle to adjust during coaching changes, but Emily saw learning from two different head coaches  - Lynda McCandlish and Kim Russell - as an advantage.

“It’s interesting having my career split like that – playing under one coach as an underclassman and another as an upperclassman. But experiencing different coaching styles was great. Lynda was very scheduled and strictly focused on lacrosse, while Kim is very understanding of the mental aspect of the sport and the fact that we’re also students, not just athletes. I appreciated both styles.”

Under McCandlish, Emily helped her team reach an NCAC Runner-Up finish with a 7-1 conference record in 2017 and guided her team to another NCAC Semifinals appearance with a 6-2 conference record in 2018. Under Russell, Emily led the team to the NCAC Semifinals for a third straight time with a 5-3 record in conference play in 2019. Before the 2020 season was discontinued, the team had a 4-2 overall record and 1-0 record in the NCAC.

Emily’s success extends into the classroom as a chemistry and biochemistry double major, she plans on returning home to Reisterstown, Marlyand, to work for a couple of years before attending medical school. She took full advantage of her liberal arts education by exploring as many different paths as possible. Over winter term her freshman year she shadowed a veterinarian. Sophomore year she taught herself how to make bread from scratch – baking is a hobby of hers. Last winter she studied essential oils as a way to connect with Coach Russell, who is passionate about meditation.

Emily’s teammates would agree that she has a knack for cultivating relationships. Junior Rania Ziar, who spent a lot of time in the training room with Emily these past few months, said that everyone on the team looks up to her.

“Everyone knows that she was a force to be reckoned with on the field, and her countless awards and statistics speak for themselves, but that is only half the player that she was. She was always  the hardest worker no matter what it was she was doing, never hesitating to go the extra mile for the team.” 

Emily and I both tore our ACL’s last year which obviously isn’t an easy situation.,”  Sophomore Annie Payne noted. “However there’s no one else I’d have wanted to be in that situation with since she is genuinely the hardest worker I know, and whenever I was having doubts or getting negative I could always look to her and get out of that headspace. She’s been such an incredible role model on and off the field for me and the rest of the team, and was one of the key players I was drawn to when I visited as a prospect student-athlete. I’m so grateful to have had her as a leader and a friend these past two years.

On paper, Emily was the most accomplished player on this year’s team roster , but to her teammates, she was way more than that. It was common to see Emily leading her teammates during workouts in the weight room. Off the field – and on – she was the rock of the program. Throughout her career, she motivated her older teammates to be better and was a source of stability and support for her younger ones. She wasn’t always in the spotlight – defensive players of any sport usually aren’t – but make no mistake about it, Oberlin women’s lacrosse will have to replace one of the most talented players and respected leaders they have ever had.