A hectic MRL weekend for Team Chicago Academy teams saw two of them clinch their Division Titles after convincing victories.

Team Chicago Academy-Internacional defeated Waza from Michigan 4-1 to secure its U17 First Division title and promotion to the U18 Premier Division II next Fall.

Only needing a tie to secure the title, Internacional quickly took care of business with 2 great goals in the opening 20 minutes of the first half. 6 Minutes in Sam O’Brien found Miranda Lambert who drove to the endline and delivered a perfect, whipped cross with her left foot that Kiley Czerwinski ran onto and hammered home in the far post side-netting. 10 minutes later Jori Romano split the Waza midfield with a diagonal pass to Alena Sidwell, and Alena played a great through ball into Maddie Pokora’s perfectly timed run from the right flank. Maddie calmly beat the GK for the eventual game-winner.

Internacional should have been up by 3-4 goals at the half, but as it often happens in soccer, instead Waza got a goal back early in the 2nd half to make it interesting. With 15 minutes left Sam O’Brien put the game out of reach when she slammed home a rebound off the Waza keeper at the back post. And with 5 minutes left Sam scored her second on an Olimpico directly off her corner kick.

Internacional is now 6-0-0 in MRL play and just has one final game left against Crystal Lake Force.

Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro also needed a tie to clinch the title in its U14 Premier Division Qualification group. Hosting Libertyville 1974 at Benedictine University at 8am on Sunday morning was a very difficult task as the field was still frozen and extremely slippery in the first half. However, Kerry Abello gave Cruzeiro a 1-0 lead halfway through the first half on a free kick, and the team was able to ride that lead into halftime.

For the 2nd half it was a transformed Cruzeiro team that showed up. The field had thawed, and the Cruzeiro girls stepped up their intensity, and very quickly they established a consistent possession game in the Libertyville half. 10 minutes in Kerry Abello doubled the lead from Jordan King and Emma Rydholm. And 8 minutes later she got her 3rd to put the game thoroughly out of reach from Erin Sweda’s assist. With 10 minutes to go Kerry made it 4-0 to finish off a perfect attack when Erin Sweda split the Libertyville midfield with a diagonal pass to Alyssa Bombacino, who in turn played another perfectly weighted diagonal ball to Kerry Abello, and she calmly far-posted her finish.

Cruzeiro finished with a 5-1-1 record, 16 points, and an impressive 16-2 goal difference. Defensively the girls have really matured this season, and strong play by the entire back-line and the GKs Bailee Witt and Anna Aubuchon has been a critical part of the division title.

Team Chicago Academy-Brasilia got a fantastic result this weekend by taking down Alliance FC the Michigan U15 State Cup Champions by a score of 4-2.

Going into the game Alliance was in first place in the MRL Premier I Division. Alliance opened the scoring in the first half finishing a goal off a rebound. Brasilia started to gain a little more possession and it was a great run by Jade Eriksen-Russo that lead to the equalizer. Jade received a ball and drove to the Alliance’s end-line and served a ball to the near post that Jasmine Ruiz slotted past the keeper. Great timing and poise allowed for this great combination to take place.

Going into the second half presented some additional challenges with Brasilia playing two games in two days with only twelve healthy players. The second half started off with Alliance applying a lot of pressure which led to their second goal. Down 2-1 Brasilia fought back and ran off three goals in about a fifteen minute span to secure the result. The second goal came off Jasmine Ruiz’s corner. She drove it into the box and Makenna Schoolman hit the ball toward the back post which found Nicole Mondi who snapped a header past the keeper to tie things at 2-2.

With the second goal Brasilia started to gain more momentum and Maddie Lambert made a penetrating run into the final third and took a shot from the top of the box that deflected off an Alliance player. Off the deflection Safia Hannin collected the ball and went in and chipped the keeper to make it 3-2. The final goal came off a nice combination that started with Abby Severson serving a ball into the box that Jasmine touched on to Safia who placed her second goal of the match past the keeper. The back four and Lupe Anguiano shut things down in the remaining minutes to preserve the win.

Brasilia finishes its MRL league play with a match versus TNT in Kalamazoo, Michigan this Saturday.

Team Chicago Academy-Bahia lost a close game to Eclipse in the U13 MRL Premier Division Qualification group, but is still in complete control of its own destiny in terms of Premier Division qualification for the Spring 2014.

Bahia is hosting Madison 56s this Saturday at 1pm at Commissioner’s Park and with a win Bahia will finish either 3rd or 4th in the group and secure a spot in the Premier I Division this upcoming Spring.

Team Chicago Academy-Santos midfielder Madi Harris has verbally committed to continue her soccer career at the prestigious Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Vassar is one of the most selective and elite liberal arts colleges in the country.

At Vassar Madi will be playing for Head Coach Laura Williamson who was Team Chicago Elite Academy Director Phil Nielsen’s assistant coach during his final year as the Head Coach at Smith College in Northampton, MA. Vassar competes in the NCAA Division III Liberty League.

Happy Halloween to all the Team Chicago players and families. Stay safe and (hopefully) dry tonight as you go “trick or treating”. May your night be fun and your bellies full.

Enjoy this great piece of pumpkin art created by Team Chicago Academy-Gremio under Head Coach Orlando Hadzic.

It was a busy MRL weekend for Team Chicago Academy teams. Team Chicago Academy-Internacional traveled to Waukesha, WI for 3 all-important games in its quest for promotion to U18 Premier Division status next year.

Go into the matches Internacional was a perfect 2-0-0, and the team emerged from the weekend still perfect with a 5-0-0 record. On Saturday morning Milwaukee Sports Club was beaten 2-0 by goals from Erin Johnston and Maddie Pokora assisted by Kiley Czerwinski and Sam O’Brien.

Saturday afternoon Bloomfield Force from Michigan was the opponent and Internacional got another shutout win for GKs Hannah Parrish and Shelby Stitz. Kiley Czerwinski got the eventual game-winner early in the first half, and Miranda Lambert made it 2-0 before the break from Kiley Czerwinski and Sam O’Brien. Abby Flynn made it a 3-0 final on an olimpico goal in the second half.

Sunday morning Internacional came out swinging and went up 3-0 on the host SC Waukesha early in the first half on goals by Alena Sidwell, Miranda Lamber, and Alena Sidwell again, assisted by Kiley Czerwinski, Sam O’Brien, Tati Espinoza, and Sam O’Brien again. Sam O’Brien then made it 4-1 early in the second half from Alena Sidwell, before Mallory Mollenhauer made it a 5-1 final from Sam O’Brien and Alena Sidwell.

With the win Internacional just needs one point in its final two games to win promotion to the Premier Division. The first chance will be this Saturday at PlayUSA at 7pm in a MRL double-header with Team Chicago Academy-Santos who plays its MRL Premier Division game at 5pm. Santos will also play a big MRL game tomorrow night at 6:30pm at the Commissioners Park turf field.

Team Chicago Academy-Brasilia came into the week with two tough matches against #1 NSA and #3 Libertyville 1974 in the U15 MRL Premier Division. Going into the game versus Libertyville Brasilia was determined to achieve a result after losing a tough game to NSA during the week.

Brasilia traveled to Libertyville on Saturday and recorded a great 1-0 win. Brasilia came out firing on all cylinders and scored in the first two minutes of the game. On a great combination play, Abby Severson collected a ball in the midfield third and played a nice ball into MaKenna Schoolman who played a one-two with Rachel White on top of the box to spring her behind the Libertyville defense to finish a great goal. It was a very tight game, that presented many scoring opportunities for both sides throughout the match.

Overall it was a very strong performance by Brasilia especially defensively. The whole team defended very well with special kudos to Jade Erickson-Russo, Nicole Mondi, Emmerson Fuller, Rachel Erdman and Madison Lockhard.

Up next for Brasilia are two MRL games in Valparaiso this upcoming weekend.

Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro needed one point in its last two games to win the U14 MRL Premier Division Qualification group, and the first chance to get the point was Sunday night at arch-rival Campton. In a very tightly contested match Campton came away with a 1-0 win.

Cruzeiro now has to get the point this Sunday at 8am at PlayUSA against Libertyville 1974.

Team Chicago Academy-Bahia battled to two 0-0 draws in its U13 MRL Premier Division Qualification group this past weekend against SC Waukesha and FC Barrington.

Bahia has two games left and two wins will see it qualify for the U13 MRL Premier Division this upcoming spring. The first game will be at Eclipse Elite West this Saturday at 8:30am.

As most people are aware October marks the month of breast cancer awareness support across the globe. Many sports teams take a moment to reflect on the importance of life and the importance to support things like breast cancer awareness. Many of us have been impacted either directly or indirectly by this disease and the Team Chicago Academy-Brasilia players decided they wanted to show their support. Read on to see what it means to some of the Brasilia girls.

“Breast cancer has been a big factor in my life and especially within the past two years. I support breast cancer awareness because two years ago my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and I know that all the money raised for breast cancer research has played a big role in helping her become a survivor. I’m very blessed and thankful for the way things turned out, and I hope the best for anyone who is being affected by breast cancer today.” – Maggie Roe

“The reason I support breast cancer is because my mom’s step mom and my dad’s mom both are survivors.” – MaKenna Schoolman

“Breast cancer awareness is not just about knowing what it is, it’s about coming together to support, love, and empower women to heal a life.” – Jade Erickson Russo

“We are all blessed with the opportunity to play this great game of soccer and I thought it was really cool to recognize what it means to Brasilia to support such an important cause. Soccer is just a part of the journey, and I appreciate the opportunity to share a small piece of it with such a great group of people.” – Head Coach Matt Chura