GBS hoping to cap record season with state title

Semifinal pits Flaws vs. Waubonsie defense (10 goals allowed)

The Glenbrook South girls soccer team has already rewritten its record book this season.

Now the Titans hope to make some more history by winning their first state championship.

By defeating New Trier 2-1 in the Class 3A Niles North Super-Sectional Tuesday night, GBS (24-4-4) advanced to the state semifinals for the first time ever against Waubonsie Valley (21-1-4) at 7 p.m. Friday at North Central College in Naperville.

“It’s just a great feeling to know that we’re part of that team,” GBS senior forward Jannelle Flaws said of being part of a school’s first state trip. “We’ve been working really hard this whole season and especially in the playoffs. We knew we could do it.”

Flaws already has broken her own single-season record for goals with 43 and has scored 10 goals in GBS’ five playoffs games, while the Titans own single-season records for wins and shutouts (17).

Along with Flaws, seniors Jessica Blair (10 goals, 11 assists), Kelly Brait (9 goals, 9 assists) and Melissa Schakowsky (5 goals, 2 assists) are all four-year varsity players. The Titans, who have outscored opponents 89-22 this season, also are led by junior forward Kathryn Ficho (5 goals, 4 assists), junior defender Nina Kodros (4 goals, 5 assists) and sophomore goalie Kelsey Byers (65 saves, .40 goals against average).

“I can’t even explain how excited we are.” Blair said. “I think it will go really well. This is what we’ve wanted since our freshman year and we finally got it. I think we can win it. We’re playing really well together and click well as a team.”

Waubonsie Valley (21-1-4), which won back-to-back state titles in 2007 and 2008, has outscored its opponents 75-10 this season. The Warriors are led by senior Vanessa DiBernardo (23 goals, 10 assists), junior midfielder Megan Green (11 goals, 7 assists), freshman defender Rachele Armand (10 goals, 5 assists) and senior keeper Allison Fox (18 shutouts). DiBernardo scored the Warriors’ only goal in a 1-0 victory over Lyons Township Tuesday in the Benedictine University Super-Sectional.

The magnitude of playing for a chance to get to the state championship may seem a little daunting at first, but Brait and the rest of the Titans are confident in what has gotten them this far.

“Just the title going to state inspires some jitters,” Brait said. “But I think that we’ll definitely handle ourselves well. We’ve got good leadership because we’ve got four seniors who’ve been on varsity since freshman year. So we’ve got that history of the other former captains’ leadership. We’ve trained to know that we are ready. It’d be awesome to win state.”

The winner of Glenbrook South and Waubonsie Valley will face the winner of Sandburg (22-2-1) and St. Charles North (22-1-1) in the state championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday. The third place match will be at 5 p.m.