Team Chicago Lightning put the finishing touches on an unblemished record Saturday with a convincing 6-0 victory over the Chicago Dolphins. Behind a brace apiece from Ian Laird and Ryan Mauder, Lightning completed their perfect spring season in NISL, capturing the U9 Platinum South title with an 8-0 record.

It was a truly dominating season for Lightning who outscored their opponents 29-6 during the spring session. It also serves as the highwater mark for a team that has improved steadily each season. Most of the boys have risen through the ranks of Team Chicago’s Pro Academy and have played together the last three years.

The offensive surge this season was led by forwards Ryan Mauder, Logan Houck, and Sam Nichols. Driving the engine of the team through midfield play were Nik Juarez, Alex Stadnyk, Luke Macaluso, Ian Laird and Alex Das. Defense has been the hallmark of the team over recent seasons and anchoring that defense was the duo of Derek Sisbarro and Will Bakosh. Congratulations to the boys and to coach Andrew For a remarkable year.

Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro and Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo are headed to the USYSA Region II Championships in Beavercreek, OH this weekend. The runs Saturday 6/20 through Wednesday 6/25 with round-robin play the first three days and semi-finals on 6/24 and finals on 6/25.

Cruzeiro is competing in the U14 Girls age group and will face Ohio South State Cup Champion Kings Hammer on Saturday, Campton United Sunday, and Wisconsin State Cup Champion Waukesha SC on Monday.

Botafogo is competing in the U19 Girls age group, and will face Appleton Goal-Getters from Wisconsin on Saturday, Javanon from Kentucky on Sunday, and Sporting Alliance from Iowa on Monday.

We wish both teams the best of luck!

The reigning U18 USYS National Champion, Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo, will host Eclipse in the IYSA U19 Girls State Cup Final this Sunday 6/15 at 11:30am at Commissioners Park in Naperville.

Please, come out to support the Botafogo team in its final game ever in Illinois. The winner will advance to the USYS Region II Championship in Beavercreek, OH June 21st-25th.

Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro finished up its MRL Premier I Division play with a trip to St. Paul, MN this past weekend. Having already clinched the MRL title, Cruzeiro was looking to finish the season with a perfect 7-0-0 record while the host Minneapolis United needed a win to secure its spot in the MRL Premier I Division for the Fall 2014 Season.

Cruzeiro dominated the opening minutes of the game, but against the run of play Minneapolis United went up 1-0 off a defensive miscue. Playing a team that was very well-organized and athletic, Cruzeiro had to up the ante to get the win, and the team did just that in the 2nd half.

With 15 minutes left Madison Zaleski capped off a long period of Cruzeiro pressure with the tying goal, and after that it was all one-way traffic as MU tried to hold onto the tie. The relentless Cruzeiro pressure finally paid off with 33 seconds to go as Kerry Abello found the game-winner to secure the perfect MRL record.

On Saturday, Cruzeiro had arranged an 80-minute scrimmage against the Minnesota Thunder Academy U15 ECNL team. The game was a great experience for Cruzeiro as it had to contend with a stronger and faster opponent that also played great soccer. MTA ended up earning a deserved 1-0 win, but both teams learned valuable lessons along the way.

Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro beat Eclipse 4-1 in the IYSA State Cup Final to claim its first title. With the win Cruzeiro claimed the MRL Premier Division & State Cup double and twice earned a berth into the USYSA Region II Championships in Beavercreek, OH June 21-25th.

Cruzeiro earned the spot in the final by defeating Campton United 3-1 in Saturday’s Semi-Final. Jamie Goralski got the opening goal off a great assist by Alyssa Bombacino and Katie Wieland. Alyssa then got the eventual game-winner halfway through the 2nd half when she received the ball on top of the Campton penalty box from Sarah Avery & Erin Sweda and buried in the upper 90. Jordan King made it 3-0 on a header off Kerry Abello’s corner-kiick. Campton reduced the lead with 2 minutes left in the game.

In today’s final Kerry Abello beat 3 defenders to draw a PK less than a minute into the game. Jordan King calmly slotted the ball away for the early lead. 10 minutes later Jordan hit a perfect free-kick that unfortunately hit both the upright and the crossbar and bounced out. A few minutes later Jordan got another opportunity on a free-kick and this time she struck into the back of the net for the eventual game-winner and a 2-0 halftime lead.

7 minutes into the 2nd half Katie Wieland played a long ball forward which Jamie Goralski flicked into the run of Alyssa Bombacino. Alyssa outran 3 defenders, faked the GK one way, and then calmly cut the other way and toe-poked the ball into the open net to put the game out of reach. Eclipse pulled 1 back with 17 minutes left, but Kerry Abello helped restore the 3 goal lead with 7 minutes left when she beat 2 defenders before being taken down in the box. Up stepped Jordan King to claim her first hat-trick for Cruzeiro and her 4th goal of the Championship weekend.

Cruzeiro is now 18-0-3 in competitive games in 2014 with a goal difference of 64-7.