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.