Illinois recruit Vanessa DiBernardo leads Warriors to high school soccer win over top-ranked Naperville North; Loyola knocks off Huntley in Pepsi Showdown
Waubonsie Valley (Aurora)'s 3-0 win Monday over the Chicago area‘s top-ranked girls soccer team delivered a message. The Warriors are back.
Waubonsie Valley won back-to-back state titles in 2007 and 2008 with unbeaten records. In two years, they were tied just twice. But in 2009, the Warriors were ousted in the sectionals.
In Monday‘s win over previously unbeaten Naperville North, the Warriors took control as if they had turned the clock back to 2008. Illinois recruit Vanessa DiBernardo scored a goal and had an assist; DiBernardo had scored seven times in the Waubonsie Valley‘s first five games.
"They are fantastic. They are great. They pounded us for 80 minutes," Naperville North coach Brent Terada told Sun-Times Media.
Waubonsie Valley (6-0-1) will face another girls soccer power, Neuqua Valley (Naperville) (9-0-1) in a showdown April 19 at Waubonsie‘s Aurora campus. After that, the Warriors will play Hinsdale Central in the first round of the Naperville Invitational, a tournament that will bring together the best of the Naperville-area teams.
Waubonsie Valley has lost just four games the last four seasons, running up a combined record of 80-4-3 in that time.
Around Chicagoland: Loyola knocks off unbeaten Huntley in Showdown
* Loyola Academy (Wilmette) knocked off top-seeded and previously unbeaten Huntley 3-0 on Thursday, and advanced to Saturday’s semifinal round of the Pepsi Showdown girls soccer tournament which will wind up with the title game Sunday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview. Loyola, the No. 5 seed and a Class 3A sectional finalist last year, will meet No. 7 Barrington at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Olympic Park Soccer Complex in Schaumburg. No. 2 Glenbrook South, a 1-0 quarterfinal winner over Wheaton North, will face No. 3 New Trier (Winnetka), a 3-0 winner over Homewood-Flossmoor (Virginia recruit Amber Fry scored two goals and had an assist), at 1 p.m. The semifinal winners will meet in Sunday’s championship match at noon at Toyota Park, home of the MLS Chicago Fire and WPS Chicago Red Stars.
* Dan Starkey, head football coach at Glenbard South (Glen Ellyn) the last two years, has accepted the head football position at New Trier. Starkey replaces Matt Irvin, who left New Trier to become head football coach in Kirkwood (Mo.). Starkey coached Glenbard South to a 9-3 record in 2009 and a share of the Western Sun championship with Geneva. He is also a former assistant at Class 7A power Wheaton Warrenville South. "I believe this is really a premier job and I really believe I’ll have a chance to work with some great people," Starkey told the Pioneer Press. New Trier finished 5-5 in 2009, and lost to Stevenson [Adlai E.] (Lincolnshire) in the first round of the Class 8A playoffs. Starkey’s biggest challenge: New Trier plays in the Central Suburban South, where two-time state champion Maine South (Park Ridge) hasn’t lost a game in more than two seasons.
* Baseball, softball, and track and field athletes at Luther North (Chicago) participated in marathon-like events in an attempt to save their school from closing. As part of a $1.8 million fundraising drive in April for the school, members of the track team joined in a 24-hour run Wednesday and Thursday that raised $8,000 through pledges. The baseball and softball teams held a throw-a-thon that lasted 20 hours. Thirty track athletes participated by running in shifts. "The hardest part was going to sleep and then two hours later having someone wake you up, because you just want to sleep," Samantha Blasé, a junior, told the Chicago Tribune. There will be little sleep for the track athletes Saturday; Luther hosts a track invitational that day. Luther North is a private, Christian school located in northwest Chicago.
* York’s Matt Pisani achieved perfection in a 6-0 baseball victory over Hinsdale Central on Tuesday. He pitched a perfect game, striking out seven. With the victory, York improved to 8-6. In his last two games, Pisani, a senior who has won his first two decisions, has given up just three hits and averaged seven strikeouts per start.
3 big performances
* Nick Collins had four hits, including two home runs, helping powerful Rich Central (Olympia Fields) to a 21-1 win over Rich South (Richton Park). Central had seven homers in the five-inning game, boosting its record to 9-4.
* New Trier softball pitcher Kelsey Lee struck out 15, helping the Trevians to a 2-1 win over previously unbeaten Fremd (Palatine) (7-1). Lee struck out Fremd’s last two batters to end the game. Fremd, a Class 4A state semifinalist in 2009, is the Chicago area’s top-ranked team.
* Hillcrest (Country Club Hills) Althea Burke won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.21 seconds and the 300 in :48.27, leading Hillcrest to a team championship in the Hawk Classic on Thursday.
On deck
Chicago Public League Coaches Association Luther Bedford All-Star Classic, Saturday, April 17, Whitney Young High School: Dayton recruit Brandon Spearman of Class 4A champion Simeon, Oregon State recruit Ahmad Starks of Whitney Young and Purdue recruit Anthony Johnson of Young will be among those competing in Saturday’s even. In all, four All-Star basketball games will be played; two girls games at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and two boys games at 2 and 3:30 p.m. Forty-eight boys players were selected to play, and 46 girls.
Recruiting: New offers target Mundelein’
s Brust
Because Todd Lickliter was fired as men’s basketball coach at the University of Iowa, Hawkeyes recruit Ben Brust of Mundelein is receiving multiple scholarship offers from other colleges, the Chicago Tribune reported. Brust was released from his scholarship commitment by Iowa, although Mike Weinstein, Brust’s AAU coach, told the Tribune that Brust is still considering Iowa and its new coach, Fran McCaffery. Weinstein told the Tribune that Wisconsin, Cal and Boston College are among "close to 30" offers that Brust has received. According to multiple reports, Brust’s offers also include NCAA title game finalist Butler and Northwestern.
Paul Bowker, a sports journalist for 25 years who has worked at newspapers nationwide, covers the Chicago area for MaxPreps. He may be reached at bowkerpaul1@aol.com.
