DuPage County captain: Waubonsie Valley's Vanessa DiBernardo
It's understandable when coaches and players run out of superlatives to describe Waubonsie Valley senior midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo.
During the regular season DiBernardo came up with big play after big play, scoring a pair of goals in victories over Lyons Twp. and Bartlett, contributing a score in a hard-fought battle with Neuqua Valley and netting both regular goals against Sandburg in early May's Lemont Cup.
And during the postseason, she was just as fantastic, if not better. She scored twice in the sectional win over Naperville Central, added an assist in the victory against Wheaton Warrenville South in the sectional championship, tallied the winning goal in the supersectional against Lyons Twp. and assisted on the game-winner in the Class 3A state title contest against Sandburg.
Because of her high level of play throughout the season, as well as her ability to come up with huge plays during the pivotal times of the biggest games this season, DiBernardo is the captain of the Daily Herald DuPage County All-Area Soccer Team. DiBernardo will move on and play at the University of Illinois this fall.
"She is by far the best player in the area, there's no debate there," Naperville North coach Brent Terada said. "She's a game changer and a great person. She changes the game single-handedly."
Terada joked that he's happy to see DiBernardo graduate. Coincidentally, his Huskies were the only team to end a Warriors season with a loss in the past four seasons as Naperville North edged Waubonsie Valley 2-1 in a sectional championship in 2009.
Still, DiBernardo and the Warriors went 6-1-1 against the Huskies in a four-year span as DiBernardo collected 3 goals and 4 assists.
The ascentWhile DiBernardo's most recent season is notable, her entire career with the Warriors in unmatched. She jumped on the scene as a freshman in 2007 when she led the Warriors with 21 goals. Most impressive was her hat trick during the state title victory over Fremd. The following year she contributed another title score in a 3-0 victory over Belleville Althoff to cap a second consecutive undefeated season.DiBernardo wouldn't leave the field on the losing end as a Warrior until her junior season, when Naperville Central edged the Warriors, 1-0, on March 25, 2009. Losing didn't come often for DiBerardo or the Warriors, who compiled a 97-5-6 record and won three state titles during the four-year run."We knew she was going to be a good player and was going to get better as the years went by," said Angelo DiBernardo, Vanessa's father and the boys coach at Waubonsie Valley. "Winning three state championships is not an easy task. Winning one is not an easy task."It's not just one thing that makes DiBernardo stand out among an area that's rich with outstanding players. She possesses a deadly combination of physical talent, technical ability and inventiveness that is unmatched."When the big game is on the line it feels like she doesn't miss," Terada said. "The thing is she is more technical than anyone and works harder than anyone off the ball than I've ever seen in the girls high school game."A feel for the gameDiBernardo also sees things that others don't. During halftime of the supersectional against Lyons Twp., she told her teammates that she had a man marking her fouling all game and knew the Warriors could use this to their advantage."She reminds me of Shayla Mutz (Lockport and University of Illinois) from my club team in the way that she moves with and without the ball and sees things," teammate Colleen Gorkis said. "Against Lyons she figured out a way that would provide more room for the midfielders and it worked for Chelsea (Stoeckigt) and the rest of our midfielders."The Warriors will share ideas and strategies during halftime and implement a game plan for the second half. This provides a forum for DiBernardo, as a leader and coach of sorts, to offer her insight."The players provide input and the coaches do and we talk about how we can improve," DiBernardo said. "A lot of it comes from the level you play at. I've always analyzed myself and written it down to understand the game and what I can do to improve. It comes from playing so much and all the experience."You'll never find DiBernardo to be content, but you always see her as someone who is working to get better."It's been an amazing experience playing with her and she's the hardest worker I've ever come across," teammate Megan Green said. "She's a really great leader. She leads by example and I really try to watch her so I can learn what she does on the field that makes her so successful."There certainly was a strong desire for DiBernardo to finish her final season on top. Local rivals Naperville North and Neuqua Valley seemingly were viewed as the top teams in the area this spring, and after being knocked out by the Huskies last season, DiBernardo was determined."Not many people expected this out of us with how many seniors we lost and it was fun being the underdog," she said. "It was nice to be able to fight to get on top and show everyone that even without the girls from last year we were still able to do well.""Well" isn't a strong enough word."I knew that she was on a mission this year," said the elder DiBernardo, who was a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team. "After winning the first couple as a freshman and sophomore, it was not a good feeling as a junior not to win. That experience left a bad taste in her mouth so she was out there for real vindication so to speak."She certainly got it, along with three state trophies. <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Related documents</h2><ul class="morePdf"><li><a href="/pdf/dupagegirlsoccerfront10.pdf">DuPage Co. all-area team Page 1</a></li><li><a href="/pdf/dupagegirlssoccerteam10.pdf">DuPage Co. all-area team Page 2</a></li></ul></div></div></div>