News and Announcements

This weekend will feature some big MRL match-ups for Team Chicago Academy teams – including the 3 teams who are trying to extend their perfect records.

On Sunday 10/15 Team Chicago will host a triple-header of MRL games at Gentile Field at 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm.

Team Chicago Academy-Internacional who are currently in 3rd place will kick off the festivities at 3pm against FCX Black who are currently tied for 1st. Internacional will need a victory to stay in the hunt for the U16 First Division title and promotion to the Premier Division.

At 5pm Team Chicago Academy-Santos will play host to North Shore United in a match-up between the only 2 teams with a perfect 4-0 record in the U17 First Division. With a win Santos will all but assure the title and promotion to the Premier Division.

Finally, Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo will put its perfect 4-0 record in the Premier Division on the line against Chicago-Inter Homer Glen at 7pm.

In addition to these 3 big home games, Team Chicago Academy-Brasilia will travel to St. Louis to put its perfect 4-0 record on the line against JB Marine and Futura Academy. With 2 wins Brasilia will secure the U14 First Division title and promotion to the Spring Premier Division.

Team Chicago Academy-Eagles will travel the short distance to Northbrook, IL to take on FC-1 Academy in another top-of-the-table match-up. The undefeated Eagles are currently in 5th position in the U14 Boys First Division, and will need a win this weekend and another win 11/3 to earn at least 2nd place and secure promotion to the Spring Premier Division.

Finally, Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro will travel to Rockford, IL to compete in the IYSA U13 MRL Qualification tournament this weekend. With 3 wins this weekend Cruzeiro will earn a spot in the Spring MRL competition.

Brasil Girls win Octoberfest Classic!

Posted by Jamie Boe at Oct 12, 2012 7:00AM PDT ( 2 Comments )
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Team Chicago’s U11 Brasil Girls took home the first place trophy from the GLSA Octoberfest Classic in Libertyville, IL this past weekend. The Brasil Girls, coached by Brian Bierman, outscored their opponents 11-1 over the 4-game tournament.

The team kicked off pool play with a 7-0 victory over Libertyville U10 Orange. Nearly half the team’s members found the net, with goals by Eden Short (2), Jacqueline Stasny (2), Nikki Coryell, Tamara Hernandez, and Yanna Papoutsis. Allison Adams, Ellie Cast, and Bella Espinoza contributed with solid performances at mid-field, while Julia O’Dekirk and Sophie Benmore’s strong defensive play helped Emily Mauder earn the shutout on goalkeeper duty.

Game 2 proved to be a well-matched duel with Team Evanston Orange. After 50 minutes of play, neither team had notched a goal, ending in a 0-0 tie.

After a scoreless first half of Game 3, Nikki Coryell knocked in a corner kick from Eden Short. With another great cross from Short, Coryell sent it home once again to seal the 2-0 victory over BTSC Barcelona and earn the Brasil Girls a berth in the final.

In the Championship game versus Palatine Celtic, the Brasil Girls opened the scoring first with Eden Short finding the net early in the first half. Palatine answered not long after, notching the only goal of the tournament against the Brasil Girls. The game remained tied at 1-1 throughout the second half, sending the match into overtime. Near the end of the first OT period, Bella Espinoza chipped in a goal to give the Brasil Girls the lead. With no time remaining, the referee called a handball in the box, setting up a Palatine penalty kick. The shot went wide left of the net though, preserving the 2-1 win and a 1st place finish for the Brasil Girls.

Santos Maintained its Perfect MRL Record!

Posted by Phil Nielsen at Oct 8, 2012 12:33PM PDT ( 0 Comments )
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Team Chicago Academy-Santos maintained its perfect MRL record with 3 wins in Wixom, MI this past weekend to move into the lead of the U17 Girls First Division Green.

On Saturday morning Santos defeated MI Jaguars 2-0 on goals by Kristen Brots, on a PK committed against Kelsey Pruett, and Kaela Leskovar on a perfect attack that was started by a Katie Ciesiulka driven diagonal through-ball into Talise Romain’s perfectly timed run out of the back. Courtney Keefer and Abbey Fuster shared the shutout in goal.

Saturday night Santos beat Livonia Meteors 2-1 on goals by Kaela Leskovar, from Heather Handwork, and Hannah Rodgers.

Finally, Santos defeated Vardar Ann Arbor 3-1 on Sunday morning behind a Kaela Leskovar brace less than two minutes apart in the 2nd half, and a Heather Handwork goal before the break.

Team Chicago Academy-Internacional lost a heart-breaker in its MRL Division game on Saturday conceding two late goals after Kiley Czerwinski had given Internacional the lead off a corner-kick with less than 10 minutes left in the game.

Alena Sidwell, Kiley Czerwinski, Jori Romano, Miranda Lambert, and Tori Christiansen had very strong performances for Internacional.

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Bahia FC Pride Cup Champions!

Posted by Phil Nielsen at Oct 8, 2012 12:12PM PDT ( 0 Comments )

Three Team Chicago Academy teams traveled to Indianapolis over the Columbus Day Weekend to participate in the FC Pride Cup.

Team Chicago Academy-Bahia had a very successful weekend winning the U12-13 Division. They started off on Saturday morning on a field with less than ideal conditions and came out firing with a shutout over USF Real 5-0. In the afternoon the field and weather conditions were much improved and they took advantage by winning again by a margin of 5-1. These results put them into the semi-finals on Sunday morning and they didn’t disappoint.

Playing against a U13 team from the other division they won 1-0 on a nice goal from Zaira Solis. Solis’ goal came from a great combination play between Paige Miller and Sarah Davies that Zaira collected and showed great poise beating a girl in the box before placing the ball over the keeper.

In the final three different players contributed goals for the 3-0 win and the championship. Shannon Tagler started off the scoring with collecting a ball that came back to her outside the box and she played a well-hit ball over the keeper. Sarah Davies and Zaira Solis contributed the other tallies.

Overall there were many contributions on both sides of the ball leading to the championship, with special recognition to the back four and goal keepers for only allowing one goal the entire tournament.

Team Chicago Academy-Brasilia also had a successful weekend beating SMSC Lightning 2-0, tying Cleveland Impact 0-0, and beating Zionsville 6-1 enroute to the the Championship game. Playing a very strong FC Pride team in the U14 Final Brasilia fell 3-0 to the hosts.

Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro played in the U13 Premier Division and beat Tippecanoe 6-0, lost a heart-breaker 3-2 to Norco Pavlacic, and finally tying the hosts FC Pride 0-0.

Heather Handwork Commits to Marquette!

Posted by Phil Nielsen at Oct 4, 2012 10:32AM PDT ( 0 Comments )
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Team Chicago Academy-Santos winger Heather Handwork has accepted a very generous scholarship to continue her soccer career at Marquette University. Handwork, who plays her prep soccer at Plainfield North H.S., will be part of Head Coach Markus Roeders’ 2014 freshman class.

At Marquette, Handwork will join both her sister Ashley Handwork from Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo (a 2013 recruit) and her Team Chicago Academy-Santos teammate Katie Ciesiulka who is a fellow 2014 recruit.

Marquette is a perennial Big East powerhouse and has been a Top-20 Division I program over the past many years.