Goal oriented
The best of high school girls soccer seasons feature attacking players who keep scoreboard operators on their toes, keep fans on the edges of their seats and keep goalkeepers tossing and turning at night.
There's a good core of attacking players fixing to run wild in DuPage County this year, which should make for a memorable girls soccer season in 2008.
Two of the best players around have sparked an annual fire of preseason speculation over whether they'd opt out of high school soccer in favor of other activities, but Waubonsie Valley junior Bri Rodriguez and Naperville Central senior Casey Short are poised to lace up their soccer shoes for their respective high schools.
Rodriguez was the captain of the Daily Herald's All-Area team last year and helped lead the Warriors to the program's first state title in girls soccer. She passed on playing club soccer this spring and will again play for Warriors coach Julie Bergstrom.
"I love my teammates, I love my coach and there's nothing like playing for your high school," said the junior Rodriguez, who has made a verbal commitment to play college soccer for West Virginia.
Rodriguez had 15 goals and 23 assists last season as a creative force in her sophomore season, during which she took on a bigger role as a scorer. She'll draw concentrated defensive attention wherever she goes on the field again this year, but a little less than she might if it weren't for another one of the area's best attacking players.
All Waubonsie Valley sophomore Vanessa DiBernardo did last year was post 19 goals and 13 assists, including a hat trick in her squad's 4-0 state championship win over Fremd.
"I love having her out there with me," Rodriguez said of DiBernardo. "She has amazing speed and vision, a great shot, she plays good defense and we read each other very well."
"I've been around soccer for a little while now, and I haven't seen a better tandem," Naperville North coach Brent Terada said of Rodriguez and DiBernardo. "And it's not just their talent. They'll also outwork you.
"You can lose a lot of sleep trying to game plan against them."
Mix the qualities that Rodriguez and DiBernardo possess with a Warriors squad that's skilled at one-touch, two-touch soccer, and you've got one volatile attack coming at your back line.
While Rodriguez and DiBernardo are busy wreaking havoc in the attacking third all year, Short hopes to be doing the same in Naperville upon her return from a two-year hiatus of winning track state titles.
Short will dust off the Redhawks' uniform she wore three seasons ago as a freshman and return to play for coach Ed Watson. The Florida State-bound Short won the 800-meter run twice and the 400-meter dash once over the last two outdoor track seasons, and she has ball skills to go with that speed.
The senior was barred from competing simultaneously in both track and soccer for the last two seasons, per conference rules. She'll play soccer for Florida State next year, and she recently returned from a trip playing with the U-18 national team in Spain.
"She's got speed and the strength to maintain it," Watson said. "She's also very agile, and she's at her best in the open field."
"You've got to watch out for Naperville Central," said Hinsdale Central coach Skip Begley. "Short is that good. Anyone who's with the national team -- that's a pretty good sign that you're talking about a nice player."
At Wheaton North another pair of the state's best attacking players roam the pitch in seniors Jaime Orewiler and Michelle Scandora, who each posted 20-plus goals last year and are entering their third seasons of befuddling high school defenses together.
Scandora may play less of an attacking midfield role this year and will play soccer for DePaul next season, while Orewiler will join the squad at Wheaton College in the fall.
"Orewiler is dynamite. She's small, but she's so fast and so quick. She'll kill you a dozen different ways," said St. Francis coach Tim Dailey.
"She never runs out of energy," Scandora said of Orewiler. "She gives 100 percent all the time."
Head over to Wheaton Academy and you'll find Warriors junior Leah Fortune, who has been playing for the U-20 Brazilian team for the past month and a half. Fortune was born in Brazil, her family moved to the United States soon after she was born, and Leah's father, Hudson, taught all of his daughters the Brazilian style of soccer, which values high creative technical skill, agility, quick ball movement and short passes.
Hudson Fortune also helped school Rodriguez on the Brazilian style as a young player. Leah is the third Fortune sister to play for Wheaton Academy; older sisters Ariel and Calah built the family's soccer reputation, and Leah is fixing to take it to new heights.
Where Ariel was small and crafty and Calah had a big leg, Leah Fortune is a quick, strong, creative hybrid of the two, and she posted 18 goals and 10 assists as a sophomore last season.
"She's just constantly working to get better," Warriors coach Dave Underwood said of Fortune. "She's so skilled, but she simply will not rest. With her good enough is never good enough."
"We thought she was exceptional," Dailey said. "We couldn't stay with her."
"She's definitely legit," added Waubonsie coach Julie Bergstrom.
Add a sophomore in Alexa Sharkey who scored 17 goals last year, and Wheaton Academy's attack should give fans reason to celebrate this year.
Another exceptional attacking player in the area is Illinois-State bound Jessica Carlson, now in her fourth season as a forward for Hinsdale South. She posted 44 goals and 36 assists in her first three seasons for the Hornets.
"She's got great touch, and she's a fierce competitor," said Hornets coach Pat Wolf. "She just loves to attack."
Neuqua Valley has a veteran forward in Missouri-bound Kendra Collins and a freshman in Megan Oyster who's poised to make the high school game take notice this year.
"We struggled to attack the goal from midfield last year, but you can tell already that Megan likes to attack," said Wildcats coach Joe Moreau. "She's good. She's in that same category with Bri and Vanessa."
A Downers Grove South team annually built on blue-collar play and hard-nosed defense also has a pair of solid attacking players on the rise in freshmen Lauren Rusk and Kari Kajawa, "and I think people will hear about them as the year goes along," said Mustangs coach Barry Jacobson.
Scoring punch
A list of some of the top local attacking players in girls soccer (in alphabetical order):
Alli Bellmer, Wheaton Warrenville South
Jessica Blake, Waubonsie Valley
Kelly Blumberg, Naperville Central
Jessica Carlson, Hinsdale South
Natalie D'Agostino, Immaculate Conception
Vanessa DiBernardo, Waubonsie Valley
Kendra Collins, Neuqua Valley
Laura Dieter, Wheaton North
Liz Dudek, Benet
Leah Fortune, Wheaton Academy
Emily Homan, Naperville North
Danielle Janowiak, Downers Grove South
Leah Johnson, Wheaton Warrenville South
Kari Kajawa, Downers South
Jesse Kern, Montini
Jess Kodiak, Naperville North
Toni Kokenis, Hinsdale Central
Morgan Olsen, Downers Grove North
Jaime Orewiler, Wheaton North
Megan Oyster, Neuqua Valley
Kristin Papierski, Glenbard West
Bri Rodriguez, Waubonsie Valley
Lauren Rusk, Downers South
Michelle Scandora, Wheaton North
Colleen Sestan, York
Casey Short, Naperville Central
Alexa Sharkey, Wheaton Academy
Nicole Urban, Lisle
Sarah Vargyas, St. Francis