Benet battles but falls to Waubonsie Valley in a regional title game

 

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By Gary Larsen

You can pick your poison against Waubonsie Valley, and Benet wasn’t about to choose Vanessa DiBernardo in a Class 3A regional title game on Friday.

“Have a body on her and get to her quickly,” Benet coach Henry Wind said. “We tried to pass her around a little bit, otherwise she’ll kill you. She’ll wear you down and find your weakness.”

With a scoreless tie at halftime, the Redwings’ plan to slow down the Warriors’ top gun seemed to be working. But Waubonsie Valley didn’t earn a top seed in this year’s Naperville Central sectional on the shoulders of DiBernardo alone.

Second-half goals by the Warriors’ Chelsea Stoeckigt, Hannah Klancic, and Megan Green, along with a pair of key assists from Rachele Armand, spelled doom for No. 8 Benet in Naperville.

“The first half was tough,” Stoeckigt said. “I think (Benet) was definitely attacking us – whoever had the ball they were on us right away. They were getting to the ball the whole game. We just found ways to get around them in the second half. It just took us a while to click.”

DiBernardo chipped in an assist just for good measure in the game’s waning moments. It was the senior’s 9th assist to go with 20 goals this year.

Heading into the contest, Benet (16-6) knew what to expect from Waubonsie Valley (18-1-4).

“They controlled seventy-five percent of the game and we knew that was coming,” Wind said. “We were hoping to get one or two chances and put one in the goal. I thought we played really solid defense.

All over the field, the Warriors’ possession game under coach Julie Bergstrom has been as good as you’ll find in high school soccer. Klancic was confident that her squad’s attack would eventually pay off on Friday.

“I think we just needed to settle things down, keep our composure, and keep the ball on the ground,” Klancic said. “The rain made it really slick so we needed to pass to feet, keep things calm, and do our thing.

(Benet) did a pretty good job stepping up, but we also needed to combine and do what we needed to do.”

Through 40 minutes, Benet’s girls in back and keeper Claire Munaretto stood tall. Green sent a shot in on Munaretto in the game’s 7th minute, and it was the 20th minute when the Redwings’ keeper made an outstanding save, leaping to tip a shot over the crossbar.

“The save that Claire made was just incredible,” Wind said. “That was upper right and she dove and tipped it over. And that’s hard for a girl goalie to do. That was an outstanding save and it kept us in the game.”

Munaretto made another nice save of a Stoeckigt shot and was on the spot to field a shot hit to the near post by DiBernardo just before halftime.

Benet earned a pair of corner kicks early in the second half but couldn’t get on the end of either one. The game’s first goal came 55 minutes in when Armand took a ball to the end line on the left side, and sent a ball in that Stoeckigt redirected into net.

The Warriors went up 2-0 five minutes later when Klancic scored from point-blank range off another Armand serve, this time sent in from the right side. “I was there covering. I knew if the first person didn’t get it, I was there to clean things up,” Klancic said.

Munarettto made a diving save in the 60th minute, but the Warriors scored one more time in the 78th minute when DiBernardo slid a ball across the crease to the far post, where Green buried it.

Afterwards, Wind was proud of the game his players played against the sectional's top seed..

“They played with a lot of effort, a lot of passion, a lot of desire,” Wind said. “That’s just great to see. You hate to see them walking off and crying, but they put their heart and soul into it. They were just a great bunch to work with this year."

Nearly all of Benet's players will return next season. Grace Goudie and Caytin Lewin are the lone seniors on the Redwings' 2010 roster. Lewin played her final game in a Benet uniform like a warrior.

“I thought (Lewin) was probably the best defender on that field," Wind said. "At sweeper she cleaned everything up, and it was solid and it went back out.

We can’t pass the ball around in back like (Waubonsie) can. We had to get it up quickly to our midfielders or forwards. Get the ball out of Dodge and attack.”

Defenders Colleen Lewellyan, Maria Schwabe, and Kelly Diedrich also keyed Benet's back line play on Friday.

Friday's win for Waubonsie set up a rematch against Naperville Central, in a Class 3A sectional semifinal game. The two teams tied 1-1 on March 24.

“It was a tough game and we’re looking forward to it. We’ll try to get a win out of it,” Stoeckigt said. “It’s exciting. We have a lot of rivalry (in the Naperville area) between us and it’s always really competitive.”

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