2009 Girls Soccer All-Star Team

Vanessa Gonzalez of Clovis High is The Bee's Player of the Year for 2009.

Published online on Monday, Mar. 30, 2009

School: Clovis High

Year: Senior

Position: Midfielder

Vanessa Gonzalez, a four-year starter, was part of almost all 87 goals Clovis scored. She helped the Cougars achieve a No. 2 NSCAA/Adidas ranking in the Western Region — and No. 6 in the nation. She was named co-Most Valuable Player of the Tri-River Athletic Conference along with teammate Ashley Stack and Buchanan’s Anisa Guajardo.

Gonzalez helped lead Clovis to a TRAC title at 10-0, including two wins over Buchanan (the Bears would go on to win their fourth straight Central Section Division I title). Clovis went 22-1-2 overall and advanced to the section semifinals, where the top-seeded Cougars, playing with a team hit hard by the flu, were upset 1-0 by No. 4 Stockdale.

Gonzalez, who is expected to play defense for Fresno State next year, led the Cougars with 18 assists ; she ranked second with 20 goals. She scored 51 career goals and tallied a school-record 70 career assists.

Clovis reached the section semifinals in all four of her seasons and also won one league title, shared two others and placed third once.

“Vanessa is a class act,” Clovis coach Jon Howerton said. “She is the complete soccer player with great attacking ability and tremendous defensive abilities. She dominated the midfield in almost every game we played this year. She also is a great leader and was the player that her teammates looked to for leadership. Everything that Vanessa does is geared toward being successful in soccer. She works hard on her own as well as with her team. Vanessa is also very humble and team oriented. She plays hard so that her team can win.”