Valentina Giambanco begins her third season on the Northern Illinois University women’s soccer staff in 2024.
Giambanco came to DeKalb following two seasons as the head varsity girls soccer coach at New Haven (Mich.) High School.
In her second season at NIU, the Huskies won eight matches and had their most successful campaign in years. The Huskies clinched a MAC Tournament bid and had one of the best defenses in program history. NIU finished the season at .500 with a final record of 8-8-1.
In her first season at NIU, Giambanco helped the Huskies to six victories, including three conference wins, both of which are the most for the program since the 2017 season. NIU also had its fewest losses since the 2008 campaign.
Tyra King was named to the MAC All-Freshman team while Lea Gruennagel and Aubrey Robertson made the All-MAC Second Team after 2023's succesful campaign.
Amber Best was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team in 2022 after tying for the team lead with four goals and 10 points while six Huskies earned Academic All-District honors and nine student-athletes garnered Academic All-MAC recognition.
During her two seasons leading the New Haven High School program, Giambanco led the Rockets to both a league and a district championship. In the spring of 2021, New Haven won the Macomb Area Conference-Silver with a perfect 6-0 league mark as the Rockets went 13-4 overall. This past spring, New Haven captured its first girls soccer district title, defeating Memphis, 7-1, in the district championship game.
Giambanco played collegiately at Saginaw Valley State for four seasons (2016-19) under NIU head coach Michael O’Neill. She appeared in 76 matches for the Cardinals, making 54 starts while scoring 23 goals with 13 assists. As a junior in 2018, Giambanco was named to the All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) First Team while also earning All-Midwest Region honors from the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association (D2CCA). Saginaw Valley State advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2018, winning 12 matches. During Giambanco’s senior season in 2019, the Cardinals once again won 12 games and reached the GLIAC Tournament Final.
Following her playing career at Saginaw Valley, Giambanco joined the Cardinals as a volunteer assistant coach in the spring of 2020.
Along with her time at New Haven and Saginaw Valley, Giambanco also served as an assistant coach with the Michigan Olympic Development Program Pool in both the 2007 and 2009 age groups in 2021. She has also been the head coach of two teams in the Michigan Stars club program, based out of Metro Detroit.
A native of Shelby Township, Mich., Giambanco earned her bachelor’s degree from Saginaw Valley in communication, with a minor in athletic coaching.
