Vanessa DiBernardo

Vanessa DiBernardo (born May 15, 1992) is an American soccer player. She plays for the Chicago Red Stars and is a member of the United States U-23 women's national soccer team.

Early Life
Vanessa's father Angelo DiBernardo competed at 1984 Summer Olympics and other international matches, as a member of the USA men's national soccer team; they are the only parent child relationship among soccer players that represented USA. Her father was born in Argentina of Italian descent, so Vanessa would be eligible to play for either country's national team.

University of Illinois
As a freshman in 2010, DiBernardo led the Big Ten Conference in goals, assists, points, points per game, and goals per game. In her sophomore year, she again led her team with 17 goals and was on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. Despite missing a portion of the her Junior season due to the 2012 U-20 World Cup, DiBernardo still lead the Illini in points, goals, and shots. Unable to play the full season again due to a knee injury which kept her out for 7 games, she still tallied 7 goals in 15 games and had a career high 7 assists. She finished her Illini career setting the school's record for most career assists and tying the school's record for most career shots.

Chicago Red Stars
DiBernardo was selected as the 4th overall pick in the 2014 NWSL College Draft by the Chicago Red Stars after having previously played for Red Stars head coach Rory Dames with the Red Stars' WPSL team in 2011 and with the Chicago Eclipse Select in 2012-2013.