At the start of the season, Waubonsie Valley was the clear No. 1 in Illinois girls soccer.
When the season ended Saturday night at North Central College in Naperville, Waubonsie Valley was still the clear No. 1 after its 3-0 victory over Belleville Althoff (24-4-1) to claim its second consecutive Class AA state title in front of a record crowd of 2,588 fans.
Now the only thing left is the debate. Where does this team rank in Illinois history, and is it the No. 1 team in the country this spring?
Currently, Waubonsie Valley sits atop the StudentSportsSoccer.com FAB 50 national rankings and are No. 3 in the NSCAA/Adidas national rankings.
The Warriors (26-0-1) became the eighth team in IHSA history to finish the season unbeaten and just the fourth to win back-to-back titles. St. Charles, St. Viator and New Trier are the other three.
Even with West Virginia-bound Bri Rodriguez sitting on the sidelines with a torn left ACL that she suffered during her team’s quarterfinal victory on Friday, the Warriors didn’t miss a beat.
Catherine McClellan opened the scoring a mere five minutes into the game, and sophomore star forward Vanessa DiBernardo (17 goals) made it 2-0 with 7:44 to play in the first half. Megan Green scored in the second half.
"This is a great accomplishment," said DiBernardo, who scored during her team’s 1-0 semifinal victory over Normal West on Saturday morning. "We pulled together all year and again this weekend. We wanted to win this one for Bri."
After finishing 2007 with a 30-0-1 record and beating Fremd 4-0 in the state-title game, the Warriors now own a 58-game unbeaten streak -– which is second only to St. Charles remarkable 88-game unbeaten run during the late 1990s. Downers South was the last team to beat Waubonsie Valley in the 2006 regional finals.
DePaul-bound goalie Claire Hanold, who allowed a mere six goals this season, posted her 22nd shutout and the 64th of her career. The junior will most likely break the state record of 70 next spring.
"Nothing can beat winning your first state championship, so the best we could do this year was equal what we did last year," said Hanold, whose team returns all but three players next season.
Downers South (21-8), which suffered a 2-0 lost to Althoff (24-4-1) in the semifinals, finished fourth after a 2-0 loss to Normal West (28-1).
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