Cibulka's drive keeps Benet in forward gear
By Matt Le Cren
Benet junior forward Jaimee Cibulka knows how to celebrate her accomplishments.
But she doesn’t dwell on them.
Cibulka played a starring role in the most memorable moment in program history. The elusive winger capped a sensational sophomore season by scoring the game-winning goal in the 94th minute of Benet’s 2-1 double-overtime victory over Wauconda in last June’s Class 2A state championship game.
It was the seventh game-winner of the season for Cibulka and secured the Redwings’ first state title. That was over 10 months ago and she has clearly moved on.
“Obviously, it was a great feeling, and we had a great season last spring,” Cibulka said. “Every year is a new one. And winning state, as great as it was, doesn’t really give us any bonus points now.”
Yet it did give her motivation to keep improving.
“Somebody had told me to just let it all soak in and feel proud and be happy of the accomplishment now because a few months later you can’t really dwell on it,” Cibulka said. “That was actually really true.
“I definitely went right back to club practices and worked hard and kind of used that confidence boost to help me through the summer.”
That approach has helped turn Cibulka into a Division I recruit with a sky-high ceiling. She committed to Loyola in the offseason and has only scratched the surface of the potential Benet coach Gerard Oconer first glimpsed when she was in middle school.
“When she first came to our camp, I can’t remember whether it was as a seventh grader or eighth grader, I didn’t really know too much about her,” Oconer said. “Her older brother was at Benet, but he didn’t really talk too much about his sister.
“Then she came to camp. I think (assistant coach) Henry (Wind) said, ‘Watch this kid,’ and she was dominating kids that were sophomores and juniors in high school.
“We hoped that she would end up following her brother to Benet. She did.”
Cibulka opted to play club her freshman year, when she was on a team comprised mainly of sophomores. She joined the Redwings last spring as a sophomore, much to the delight of Oconer.
“She was everything we expected and more,” Oconer said. “We were fortunate to be able to get her last year and within the first two minutes of the season she pretty much showed you what we were going to get, scoring a goal right away.
“First two minutes of your high school career, you’re scoring against an all-state goalkeeper.”
In a matchup where both players eventually earned Chicagoland Soccer All-State Team status, Cibulka beat Metea Valley’s Nikki Coryell, who will play for Valparaiso in the fall, with the first shot of her high school career in the season opener.
It was Benet’s first goal of the season. Cibulka also would score the Redwings’ final goal, a perfect bookend to a glorious campaign in which she produced 14 goals and a team-leading 14 assists.
The right-footed Cibulka was used mainly as a left winger. She proved to be a destructive force, using her speed and fearlessness to take on bigger defenders and often make them look silly.
In the early going, Cibulka would set up teammates with crisp passes, but gradually she became more aggressive in taking shots.
“I think a lot of that (fearlessness) comes from playing a year up,” Oconer said. “She’s used to playing with older girls.
“In our system, we really encourage our wingers to go at defenders 1-on-1. The thing about her is she never really hesitates. With her combination of speed and skill it’s just really hard for a defender to either keep up with her speed or be able to shift their body if she makes a quick cut.”
Defenders are forced to make a decision - press Cibulka to try to get the ball away from her and thus risk giving her a breakaway, or retreat and give her room to find an open teammate in space? It can be a Catch-22.
“I think as the season went on, she became more and more confident as a goal-scorer,” Oconer said. “At the beginning of the season and even with her club team, she was used to more of the set-up role.
“I think the more she started to score, the more she started to expect to score and the more she got herself in better positions to score.”
Cibulka’s best position may be on the left wing but her success may stem from the fact that she hasn’t always played there.
“I think what’s really helped me is since I was really young, I’ve played probably every position on the field except goalie,” Cibulka said. “From center back to center mid to target forward, I think all of those positions have helped me gain a new perspective on the field.
“My strength is on the wing, and I think my speed and my vision are what help me to be successful on the field and help out my teammates.”
No doubt, Oconer will keep Cibulka up-top. She was expected to become Benet’s leading scorer this year following the graduation of striker Abby Casmere.
But Cibulka doesn’t worry about statistics.
“If my coaches are in a bind or someone’s hurt and they need me to fill in a spot, I feel comfortable enough to step in to different positions and help out the team however they need to,” Cibulka said. “It’s not all about being flashy and scoring every goal. It’s all about helping the team whatever way I need to.”
As long as she's on a soccer field, the line on Cibulka’s chart is on a steep incline.
“I think she’s still trying to develop into a natural goal-scorer,” Oconer said. “She’s still a player that’s going to beat people around the corner 1-v.-1, that’s going to create a lot of goal-scoring opportunities."
The coach saw this as her breakout season before COVID-19 curtailed it.
“I don’t think we’ve seen what she’s fully capable of doing yet,” Oconer said.
The pain of the lost season is still sharp.
“It’s horrible,” Cibulka said. “We have a big senior class and they were so motivated this year to finish out their high school careers strong and they were doing really well.
“They were just great with me last year (when I was) coming on the team. I feel horrible that they won’t get the chance to finish off their high school careers. It definitely puts things into perspective.”
But it hasn’t stopped Cibulka’s quest to improve.
“Personally, I am always looking to take strides forward,” Cibulka said. “During this whole quarantine thing I’ve been trying to go on runs every day to stay in shape, do core workouts, juggle and other skills just to keep myself mentally and physically prepared for when I can go out and play again.
“I’m not using this as an excuse to take the foot off the gas.”
By Matt Le Cren
Benet junior forward Jaimee Cibulka knows how to celebrate her accomplishments.
But she doesn’t dwell on them.
Cibulka played a starring role in the most memorable moment in program history. The elusive winger capped a sensational sophomore season by scoring the game-winning goal in the 94th minute of Benet’s 2-1 double-overtime victory over Wauconda in last June’s Class 2A state championship game.
It was the seventh game-winner of the season for Cibulka and secured the Redwings’ first state title. That was over 10 months ago and she has clearly moved on.
“Obviously, it was a great feeling, and we had a great season last spring,” Cibulka said. “Every year is a new one. And winning state, as great as it was, doesn’t really give us any bonus points now.”
Yet it did give her motivation to keep improving.
“Somebody had told me to just let it all soak in and feel proud and be happy of the accomplishment now because a few months later you can’t really dwell on it,” Cibulka said. “That was actually really true.
“I definitely went right back to club practices and worked hard and kind of used that confidence boost to help me through the summer.”
That approach has helped turn Cibulka into a Division I recruit with a sky-high ceiling. She committed to Loyola in the offseason and has only scratched the surface of the potential Benet coach Gerard Oconer first glimpsed when she was in middle school.
“When she first came to our camp, I can’t remember whether it was as a seventh grader or eighth grader, I didn’t really know too much about her,” Oconer said. “Her older brother was at Benet, but he didn’t really talk too much about his sister.
“Then she came to camp. I think (assistant coach) Henry (Wind) said, ‘Watch this kid,’ and she was dominating kids that were sophomores and juniors in high school.
“We hoped that she would end up following her brother to Benet. She did.”
Cibulka opted to play club her freshman year, when she was on a team comprised mainly of sophomores. She joined the Redwings last spring as a sophomore, much to the delight of Oconer.
“She was everything we expected and more,” Oconer said. “We were fortunate to be able to get her last year and within the first two minutes of the season she pretty much showed you what we were going to get, scoring a goal right away.
“First two minutes of your high school career, you’re scoring against an all-state goalkeeper.”
In a matchup where both players eventually earned Chicagoland Soccer All-State Team status, Cibulka beat Metea Valley’s Nikki Coryell, who will play for Valparaiso in the fall, with the first shot of her high school career in the season opener.
It was Benet’s first goal of the season. Cibulka also would score the Redwings’ final goal, a perfect bookend to a glorious campaign in which she produced 14 goals and a team-leading 14 assists.
The right-footed Cibulka was used mainly as a left winger. She proved to be a destructive force, using her speed and fearlessness to take on bigger defenders and often make them look silly.
In the early going, Cibulka would set up teammates with crisp passes, but gradually she became more aggressive in taking shots.
“I think a lot of that (fearlessness) comes from playing a year up,” Oconer said. “She’s used to playing with older girls.
“In our system, we really encourage our wingers to go at defenders 1-on-1. The thing about her is she never really hesitates. With her combination of speed and skill it’s just really hard for a defender to either keep up with her speed or be able to shift their body if she makes a quick cut.”
Defenders are forced to make a decision - press Cibulka to try to get the ball away from her and thus risk giving her a breakaway, or retreat and give her room to find an open teammate in space? It can be a Catch-22.
“I think as the season went on, she became more and more confident as a goal-scorer,” Oconer said. “At the beginning of the season and even with her club team, she was used to more of the set-up role.
“I think the more she started to score, the more she started to expect to score and the more she got herself in better positions to score.”
Cibulka’s best position may be on the left wing but her success may stem from the fact that she hasn’t always played there.
“I think what’s really helped me is since I was really young, I’ve played probably every position on the field except goalie,” Cibulka said. “From center back to center mid to target forward, I think all of those positions have helped me gain a new perspective on the field.
“My strength is on the wing, and I think my speed and my vision are what help me to be successful on the field and help out my teammates.”
No doubt, Oconer will keep Cibulka up-top. She was expected to become Benet’s leading scorer this year following the graduation of striker Abby Casmere.
But Cibulka doesn’t worry about statistics.
“If my coaches are in a bind or someone’s hurt and they need me to fill in a spot, I feel comfortable enough to step in to different positions and help out the team however they need to,” Cibulka said. “It’s not all about being flashy and scoring every goal. It’s all about helping the team whatever way I need to.”
As long as she's on a soccer field, the line on Cibulka’s chart is on a steep incline.
“I think she’s still trying to develop into a natural goal-scorer,” Oconer said. “She’s still a player that’s going to beat people around the corner 1-v.-1, that’s going to create a lot of goal-scoring opportunities."
The coach saw this as her breakout season before COVID-19 curtailed it.
“I don’t think we’ve seen what she’s fully capable of doing yet,” Oconer said.
The pain of the lost season is still sharp.
“It’s horrible,” Cibulka said. “We have a big senior class and they were so motivated this year to finish out their high school careers strong and they were doing really well.
“They were just great with me last year (when I was) coming on the team. I feel horrible that they won’t get the chance to finish off their high school careers. It definitely puts things into perspective.”
But it hasn’t stopped Cibulka’s quest to improve.
“Personally, I am always looking to take strides forward,” Cibulka said. “During this whole quarantine thing I’ve been trying to go on runs every day to stay in shape, do core workouts, juggle and other skills just to keep myself mentally and physically prepared for when I can go out and play again.
“I’m not using this as an excuse to take the foot off the gas.”