Waubonsie finishes Fremd’s title run
By Orrin Schwarz
oschwarz@dailyherald.com
Posted Sunday, June 03, 2007
With an undefeated season Waubonsie Valley climbed to No. 2 in the latest coaches’ association national girls soccer rankings, but that’s a mythical designation.
On Saturday night in Naperville, the Warriors showed they’re not just a fantasy team.
Waubonsie Valley proved beyond a doubt that it’s No. 1 in Illinois, becoming the first team in school history to wear state championship medals with a 4-0 victory against Fremd in the Class AA final.
“They’re a phenomenal team,” said Fremd coach Steve Keller, a 1990 Waubonsie Valley graduate whose mother, Judy, is the former Waubonsie Valley coach and led the Warriors to their only previous finals appearance in 1991. “They have everything going for them. The odds were against us, we knew that. … We met our match today.”
Vanessa DiBernardo provided all the punch the Warriors (30-0-1) needed with a calm 12th-minute goal off a Rachel Bostick assist, sliding the ball to the far post beyond Fremd goalkeeper Sarah Bollman.
DiBernardo gave the Warriors a 2-goal lead heading into halftime, this time settling a Meagan Lynch pass and again leaving Bollman no chance to stop her shot from 10 yards out.
But the freshman wasn’t done yet. She picked up her third goal in the 48th minute, this time with her head from 6 yards out off a long free kick from freshman Bri Rodriguez.
“No, I never thought that was going to happen,” DiBernardo said of the championship hat trick. “But it did, and I’m so happy.”
That’s when Bostick knew: it was only a matter of time before the sophomore and her teammates would wear those medals.
“I’m just so proud of (Vanessa),” said Bostick, trying to be heard over the many joyous Waubonsie Valley fans who helped set a title-game record attendance mark of 3,272. “I’ve known her forever.”
Rodriguez finished the scoring with a 20-yard free kick from just outside the penalty area.
All of the Warriors’ goals were quality finishes, not a fluke in the bunch.
Fremd (22-5) was credited with 4 shots, but none were launched from anywhere close to Waubonsie Valley goalkeeper Claire Hanold, who needed to make just 1 save. Her back line of Bostick and seniors Christen Schuler, Amanda Bardzinski and Kylie Andersen made sure of that.
“We wanted to win, of course, but we also wanted a shutout for the defense,” Bardzinski said.
Fremd was a tired bunch, having worked hard to make to the championship game, on top of having prom Friday night.
“We were out of gas,” Keller said. “Not making excuses whatsoever. I don’t know if we had gas we would win either. …
“All the credit goes their way.”
Granite City defeated New Trier 2-0 to claim third place in the tournament
