Team Chicago Academy-Bahia continued its MRL Premier Division Qualification group play with a great result beating FC United 3-1.

FC United entered the game undefeated in group play with a very impressive stat sheet. In the opening ten minutes of the half Bahia was getting used to the turf field and then things started to come together. Bahia started the scoring halfway through the first half when Paige Miller found Zaira Solis outside the 18 yard box. Zaira cut the ball and beat one defender before releasing a great strike that beat the keeper high.

FC United fought back and within minutes scored on an own goal off of a corner kick. Bahia continued to possess the ball and it paid off when Molly Grant collected a ball just on the other side of midfield and used her tremendous speed to break away from the FC United backs and went in one on one with the keeper. Molly drilled the shot past the keeper which proved to be the game winner. With only a minute left in the first half, Bahia took a quick throw in on the right side that lead to Frankie Magno pressing the FC United back and winning the ball. Frankie battled with the defender and broke through in the box to bury her shot past the keeper.

A spirited defensive performance lead by Carolena Lund, Erin McCarthy, Lauren Douglas, Shannon Tagler and Abbie Brennan proved to be the difference in the second half and secured the result.

Up next for Bahia will be two MRL games October 26th & 27th located here in Chicago.

Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro secured its spot in the U14 MRL Premier Division I for the Spring 2014 with a win and a tie in St. Louis last weekend. Having opened its MRL campaign with 3 wins the previous weekend in the Twin Cities, Cruzeiro just needed a win on the weekend to secure a top-4 spot and a berth into the Premier Division.

On Saturday night Cruzeiro faced Lou Fusz in a very physical battle between the two top teams in the standings. Neglecting to take a decisive lead after some early chances, Cruzeiro found itself down 1-0 halfway through the second half. However, the girls stepped up the intensity and with 10 minutes to go Alyssa Bombacino equalized when she latched onto Kerry Abello’s perfect whipped ball on top of the 6-yard box. Jamie Goralski set up a perfect chance for a game-winner less than a minute later with her perfect cross, but unfortunately the shot went just wide and Cruzeiro had to settle for a tie.

On Sunday Cruzeiro faced AFA and strolled to a comfortable 5-0 win. Jamie Goralski got a hat-trick and Alyssa Bombacino recorded 4 assists in the game. Kerry Abello and Madison Zaleski also scored.

With the win Cruzeiro sits in first place with 2 games to go. A win against either Campton or Libertyville 1974 will be enough to claim the MRL Premier Qualification Division title. The team is 4-0-1 on the season with 12 goals for and a stingy 1 goal against. The strong defensive performances have been due to the play of goalkeepers Bailee Witt and Anna Aubuchon, as well as the back-line of Katie Wieland, Sofia Papoutsis, Sarah Avery, Emma Rydholm, and Kaitlyn Mauder and the holding-mids Jordan King, Erin Sweda, and Kennedy Metzger.

Team Chicago Academy-America won the Illinois FC “Little Illini” Tournament last weekend in Champaign.

America went 3-0-1, outscoring their opponents 14-1. In the final game
of their round robin group, America needed a victory and a shutout to
secure the championship. The team stepped up with a 3-0 win to bring home the trophy. Nine different players contributed to the scoring column, while earning three clean sheets.

This is the 2nd tournament championship this fall for America. While in Champaign, the girls had a team outing watching the University of Illinois women’s soccer team defeat Wisconsin 3-2 in
a Big Ten match-up.

Team Chicago Academy-Bahia competed in the Nike Cup this past weekend hosted by Sockers FC in Schaumburg, IL. In group play Bahia finished with three wins outscoring their opponents by a margin of 10-0.

The playing conditions were something new for the team and took some getting used to playing on a turf field that was 58 × 105 yards. The difference between the first game and the final was much improved with each game bringing some moments of great soccer. The group play ended with a well balanced attack seeing 9 different players in the scoring column.

After winning the group play Bahia advanced to the final to play SC Waukesha from Wisconsin who are also in the MRL Premier Qualification division with Bahia. The championship game ended with a 3-0 win for Bahia. Going into half time the score was 0-0 with Bahia having more of the possession overall and each team having a couple of opportunities.

The second half continued in the same direction, but Bahia was able to get on scoreboard with one of the best goals of the season. Katie Murphy received a ball from Molly Grant who was on the right side of the box and played the ball to Katie who was about 30 yards from goal. The ball bounced up and Katie hit a full volley that was perfectly executed with great technique and buried the shot past the keeper just below the bar. This set the tone for the balance of the game and Bahia generated two more goals off of corners. Paige Miller sent in two quality corners that were met by Zaira Solis and Molly Grant, respectively to add to the scoring.

Congratulations to the entire team for not allowing a goal throughout the tournament.

Team Chicago Academy-Santos advanced to the IYSA U18 State Cup Semi-Final with a come-from-behind 2-1 win last night. With the win Santos finished with a perfect 9 points in the round-robin group stage and 23 goals for and 1 against.

In an intense, but not particularly well-played game, Strikers came out with far more energy and purpose, and took a deserved lead halfway through the first half. The game teetered back and forth for the rest of the half, but Strikers were able to take its 1-0 lead into the half.

It was a much more driven Santos team that showed up for the second half. 15 minutes in co-captain Kristen Brots leveled the game on a perfect shot from Heather Handwork’s assist. Only needing a tie to advance, Santos maintained control for the remainder of the game. With 9 minutes left Gianna Marconi poked the ball from a Strikers player into the path of Heather Handwork. Heather drove at the goal and unleashed an unstoppable shot from the top of the 18 to put the game out of reach.

Santos will now face Chicago-Inter Homer Glen, who upset FC United 2-1 last night to win its group, on Saturday 10/19 at 2:30pm at the South Barrington Turf Fields.