Wisconsin Soccer Central

Playing against Eclipse Select with one U.S. Under-20 national team midfielder was hard enough for the FC Wisconsin Eclipse Under-23 women's team. Playing the Illinois club with two youth national teamers proved nearly impossible.

The combination of Vanessa DiBernardo and Morgan Brian overwhelmed FC Wisconsin Eclipse Select, which dropped a 4-1 decision in the Elite Clubs National League final on Sunday in Richmond, Va.

Brian, a University of Virginia standout added to the Eclipse Select roster for the tournament, scored the opening goal in the 30th minute and Illinois star DiBernardo added the second and third in the first 20 minutes of the second half.

"We had played against DiBernardo the other two times and she by herself was handful," FC Wisconsin Eclipse coach Christian Lavers said, referring to a 1-1 draw and 1-0 loss last month in regular-season play. "But when you put her with Morgan Brian, the mobility and skill of those guys in the middle of the park, it was another level."

FC Wisconsin Eclipse (6-3-1) trailed just 1-0 at halftime despite spending most of the first half defending in the 90-degree heat. But what Lavers called a "phantom" penalty kick, converted by DiBernardo in the 47th minute, quickly doubled the lead after the break and it was 3-0 after 65 minutes.

University of Wisconsin forward Cara Walls (Wauwatosa East) scored in the 72nd minute, with her fourth goal in as many matches at the tournament pulling the Wisconsin team within 3-1.

"She's a goal scorer," Lavers said of Walls, who has led the Badgers in goals each of the past two seasons. "She had some great moments in terms of showing up at the right time, and that's what goal scorers do. Some players have a knack of being in the right place at the right time, she certainly did that this year."

Lavers thought his team paid a price for not closing out its final two pool matches earlier on Friday and Saturday – they scored in second-half stoppage-time in both games, while Eclipse Select opened up leads in each of their matches.

"We had chances to do the same thing and didn't, and ended up in two 90-minute battles on Day 2 and Day 3 that didn't have to be that way if we're a little bit better on both sides of the ball," Lavers said of FC Wisconsin Eclipse's 2-1 wins over Virginia's McLean SA on Friday and FC Dallas on Saturday. "On Day 4, all those minutes, they catch up to you, especially when we're a playing a team of their quality. That was one of the best U-23 teams I've ever seen."

Eclipse Select added the final goal in stoppage time with FC Wisconsin Eclipse pushing numbers forward.

It was the third national final or semifinal in the past four years for Marquette midfielder-forward Mady Vicker (Whitefish Bay) and defender Brittany Von Rueden (Milwaukee DHSA), who also were on FC Milwaukee teams that tied for third in the Women's Premier Soccer League in 2010 and won the U.S. Youth Soccer Under-18 national title in 2011. Nine other players on this year's team played in one of the two previous national tournaments.

"I'm proud of our group," said Lavers, who added three Under-17 players to the roster for nationals. "They've worked really hard. ... They certainly did very well – that FC Dallas team that we beat was a fantastic team as well, the Big 12 (Conference) all-stars basically. We ran into a buzzsaw with the Eclipse."