Warriors, North Stars hope to meet again for ultimate prize

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By Curt Herron

When Waubonsie Valley and St. Charles North one month ago, the Upstate Eight Conference championship was on the line.

While the Warriors won that May 4 match by a 2-1 score, the two programs are hoping for a rematch where a bigger prize will be at stake.

If both squads pick up wins in today's IHSA Class 3A semifinals in Naperville, they'll meet in Saturday's 7 p.m. state championship match.

Since the girls soccer tournament began in 1988, there has not been a state title matchup involving teams from the same conference.

For that scenario to change, both the North Stars and Warriors will have to get past formidable opponents in the semifinals.

St. Charles North (22-1-1) takes on Sandburg (22-2-1) in today's 5 p.m. semifinal at North Central College's Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.

In the other semifinal match at 7 p.m., Waubonsie Valley (21-1-4) meets up with Glenbrook South (24-4-4) for the right to move on.

Coach Ruth Vostal's North Stars are making their second state appearance and first since her 2004 squad finished second to New Trier.

The North Stars have won 10 straight matches since falling to Waubonsie and have posted a 14-1 record in their last 15 outings.

Thanks to the work of All-State keeper Kristen Manski, St. Charles North has only allowed 13 goals in its 24 matches this year.

Offensively, the North Stars are paced by All-Staters Paige Dusek (25 goals, 18 assists) and Leah DeMoss (22 goals, 19 assists).

Other top scorers for North include Sammy Gage (10 goals, 9 assists), Lauren Koehl (8 goals) and Alyssa Peterson (7 assists).

While the North Stars have been stingy allowing scores, that's also been the case for Sandburg, which took third at state last year.

Behind All-State defender Lauren Solomon and veteran keeper Victoria Kappel, the Eagles have yielded just nine goals all season.

Allie Osoba leads the attack with 17 goals and 10 assists for the Eagles, who split a pair of matches this year with Waubonsie.

Speaking of the Warriors, coach Julie Bergstrom's program returns to the state titles for the third time in the past four years.

Waubonsie hopes to duplicate their finishes in those past state trips, which happened to be championships in both 2007 and 2008.

If Waubonsie can pull that off, Bergstrom joins an elite group of head coaches who have won three or more state championships.

That group of coaches includes St. Charles' Joe Moreau and Tim Dailey, New Trier's Jim Burnside and Saint Viator's Rory Dames.

The Warriors have won five straight matches and have gone 11-0-1 in their last 12 outings as they prepare for tonight's semifinal.

Leading the way for Waubonsie is All-Stater Vanessa DiBernardo (23 goals, 10 assists), who is Illinois' Gatorade Player of the Year.

Other top threats are Megan Green (11 goals), Rachele Armand (10 goals), Hannah Klancic (10 assists) and Shannon Donelson (8 assists).

The Warriors have only allowed 10 goals, thanks in part to the work of keeper Allison Fox, but they'll run into a high-scoring threat.

Glenbrook South has scored 89 goals with All-Stater Janelle Flaws netting 43 scores and Jessica Blair adding 10 goals and 11 assists.

Coach Seong Ha's squad has won nine straight and is making its first state trip after beating New Trier in Tuesday's super-sectional.