Vanessa DiBernardo
- U.S. National Team: U-23 WNT
- Position: Midfielder
- Date Of Birth: May 15, 1992
- Height: 5-3
- Hometown: Naperville, Ill.
- Previous National Teams: U-20 WNT
- Club: Illinois
A member of the team that won the 2012 CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship and earned a berth to the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan … Played in all five games in the qualifying tournament, starting in two, totaling 246 minutes ... Scored two goals – one each against Cuba and Panama – and assisted one in the qualifying tournament ... Has 14 U-20 caps and two goals heading into the WWC in Japan … Trained with the U.S. Under-23 teams twice in California and once with the U-20s during the Summer of 2011 … Attended the U.S. Under-15 training camp in 2006 … Attended the U.S. Under-14 I.D. Camp in 2005.
First-Team All-Big Ten as a freshman and sophomore ... As a sophomore, she earned NSCAA Second-Team All-America, Soccer America Second-Team All-America, Big Ten Midfielder of the Year, Big Ten All-Tournament Team ... Her 17 goals in 2011 were the most in a season by an Illinois player since 1999 … Scored two goals each against Gonzaga, Toledo, Colorado and Indiana, including the game-winners in each ... Tied the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals match with Ohio State with her 16th goal ... Added her final goal to secure a victory over Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament Championship ... As a freshman, she earned Illini Female Newcomer of the Year, Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was a member of the Big Ten All-Freshman Team ... Totaled 11 goals and five assists for 27 points on the season, leading the Big Ten in goals, points, goals per game and points per game at the conclusion of the regular season ... Scored a record-breaking four goals against Purdue, setting a new record for individual goals in a game … Team captain of Warriors for Waubonsie Valley High School as a junior and senior … Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year and IHSSCA Illinois Player of the Year as a senior … All-American as a junior and senior … Earned a state title as a freshman, junior, and senior … Chicago Sun Times All-Area as a junior … Tallied a total of 73 goals and 46 assists in high school ... Club: Played U-7s for the Lightning Bolts … Played from U-8 through U-18 with the America’s Soccer Club Eagles … Played for America’s Soccer Club boys’ team for her U-14 season.
Full name is Vanessa Sue DiBernardo … Nickname is V … As a sophomore, she was Academic All-District Second Team and Academic All-Big Ten at Illinois … Achieved high honor roll all four years of high school … Enjoys boating with family and hanging out with friends … Favorite desserts are brownies and apple pie … Favorite TV shows are Grey’s Anatomy and Modern Family … Father Angelo played professional soccer for the New York Cosmos after being an All-American at Indiana University and also played for the U.S. National Team from 1979-1985 … Her dad earned 20 caps and scored three goals for the USA and played in two games in the 1984 Olympics … She will become the first woman to represent the USA in a Women’s World Cup whose dad also played in a world championship, representing the USA in the 1984 Olympics … Likes to laugh and is always smiling.
