News and Announcements

Team Chicago Academy-Bahia U14 finished the fall season as runners-up in the MRL Premier II Division with a 4-1-2 record, and earning promotion to the Premier I Division for the spring. Bahia ended with the overall best goal differential with 21 goals for and 7 against.

As a prelude to the Spring season Bahia traveled to Indianapolis in search of better competition and faced both FC Pride (MRL Premier I and National League) and Indy Fire (ECNL), respectively. Both of these games demonstrated the level of play Bahia is capable of playing and the spring season will be both exciting and challenging. The first game of the weekend was against FC Pride and this game had both teams dominating possession at times and eventually ended in a 2-2 tie. The following morning Bahia had the opportunity to play at Grand Park which is quickly becoming the premier facility in the Midwest. The natural grass stadium pitch was perfect as this was the first game of the season played on this field. Bahia played some of the best soccer of the season during the first half and ended the game with a great result beating the Indy Fire 3-0.

Congratulations to the girls and Head Coach Matt Chura on the fall season and on positioning yourself with the elite teams for the Spring 2015 season.

Team Chicago Academy-Internacional U18 finished its Fall season with two home wins.

In the first of the two games, Internacional needed a win against TCSA to secure 2nd place in the MRL Premier II Division. Internacional gave up an early PK goal, but then never looked back and scored three unanswered goals to secure the 3-1 win and 2nd place. Alena Sidwell tied the game and Quincy Kellett got the eventual game-winner before the break. Kiley Czerwinski got the insurance goal early in the 2nd half, and with a little bit better quality in front of goal Internacional could have run up the score considerably.

The second game – an IWSL contest against Team Elmhurst – marked the final home game ever for Internacional. For a number of the players this marked the end of a more than decade-long commitment to Team Chicago and Internacional. The girls went out in style with a convincing 6-1 win behind Alena Sidwell’s hat-trick, a brace by Quincy Kellett, and the final goal by Mallory Mollenhauer. They were assisted by Kiley Czerwinski (2), Anna Tørsløv, Emily Dickens, Jori Romano, Keely Theobald, Mallory Mollenhauer, Miranda Lambert, and Quincy Kellett.

Congrats to the girls on the Runners-up finish in the MRL Premier II Division, and thank you to all of them for their time, commitment, and dedication to Team Chicago and Internacional over the years. And a special thanks to team manager Lynda Sidwell and treasurer Janet LaRocque.

Up next for Internacional are two major college showcases. CASL in Raleigh, NC 11/21-23 and the Disney College Showcase 12/31-1/3.

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Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro U15 tri-captain Kerry Abello is currently excelling with with U.S. U17-Women’s National Team at its camp at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA.

Congrats Kerry and keep up the great work!

U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team head coach B.J. Snow has named 25 players for a training camp running from Nov. 1-8 at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Carson, Calif. in the second domestic event of this cycle.

The U-17s are coming off a highly successful trip to the Korea Republic at the end of August/beginning of September in which they earned two convincing victories against the hosts.

This U-17 camp, which features mostly players born 1999 and a few in 2000, will run concurrently with the U.S. Under-15 Girls’ National Team camp, which features players mostly born 2000 and a few in 2001.

The age cut-off for the next U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2016, which is currently scheduled to be played in Jordan, is for players born on or after Jan. 1, 1999.

U.S. U-17 WNT Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Kat Asman (Concorde Fire SC; Roswell, Ga.), Hilary Beall (San Diego Surf; Laguna Beach, Calif.), Brooke Bollinger (Orlando City; Orlando, Fla.)
DEFENDERS (7): Kerry Abello (Team Chicago; Aurora, Ill.), Karlie Paschall (Tennessee SC; Brentwood, Tenn.), Kiara Pickett (Eagles; Santa Barbara, Calif.), Karina Rodriguez (So Cal Blues; Torrance, Calif.), Izzy Rodriguez (Michigan Hawks; Canton, Mich.), Jackie Schaefer (JFC; Atlantic Beach, Fla.), Sydney Zandi (Penn Fusion; West Chester, Pa.)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Rachael Dorwart (Penn Fusion; Mechanicsburg, Pa.), Chloe Frisch (San Diego Surf; Carlsbad, Calif.), Bri Halverson (Futura Futbol Club; Bolivar, Mo.), Nicki Hernandez (Eclipse Select; Naperville, Ill.), Jaelin Howell (Real Colorado; Windsor, Colo.), Brooke Redington (So Cal Blues; Manhattan Beach, Calif.), Ashley Sanchez (So Cal Blues; Monrovia, Calif.), Jordan Taylor (Ohio Premier Eagels; Wadsworth, Ohio), Taryn Torres (Solar-Chelsea Soccer Club; Frisco, Texas)
FORWARDS (6): Joanna Harber (Eastside FC; Bellevue, Wash.), Rachel Jones (Tophat 18 Gold; Lawrenceville, Ga.), Civana Kuhlmann (Colorado Rush; Littleton, Colo.), Alexa Spaanstra (Michigan Hawks; Brighton, Mich.), Frankie Tagliaferri (PDA; Colt Neck, N.J.), Emma Thomson (Sockers FC; Parkridge, Ill.)

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We are very excited to announce that we have hired a former Team Chicago standout to assist our head coaches this winter. Brendan King started his soccer career here at Team Chicago before moving into the US Soccer Federation Residency program in Bradenton, FL. He was a member of the 2007 US U-17 World Cup Team and has played over 25 games for his country at the U-17 and U-20 levels.

Brendan was a four-year collegiate standout at Notre Dame. While at Notre Dame, King made over 80 appearances notching team highs in goals and assists. After graduation he turned pro and has spent time in the MLS with the Chicago Fire, six months in Norway with 2nd Division side Alta, and with Bray of the League of Ireland.

As a coach Brendan has coached Notre Dame Soccer Camps every summer for the past five years. He has also been providing personal training in the Chicagoland area for five years. He spent all of 2013 coaching with the Chicago Kickers Soccer club in Gurnee, facilitating practices for teams from U-8 to U-18.

Brendan’s primary role will be to help assist our Academy head coaches, and to help cover practices and indoor games when we have conflicts. He will also be available to provide paid private and/or small group training for any players who are interested.

We are so thrilled to have a former Team Chicago player of Brendan’s pedigree join our staff for the winter. Please, welcome him when you see him on the field or in the building.

Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro continued its quest for back-to-back MRL Premier I Division championships and berths to the 2014-15 Region II Championships and the 2015-16 National League with two home games last week.

On Monday night Cruzeiro faced long-time rival Campton United in a thriller. Cruzeiro dominated most of the play and chances, but unfortunately did not close out the game when up 2-0 in the second half, and in the end Campton tied the game at 2-2 a minute and 26 seconds into injury time.

Cruzeiro had taken the lead ten minutes into the 2nd half on a great goal. The play started with Kerry Abello finding Jamie Goralski on the left flank. Jamie beat her defender down the line and delivered a perfect, whipped-in cross that Riley O’Brien steered home at the back post. Six minutes later Jamie played a great ball in-behind the Campton back-line for Kerry Abello to run onto. Just as she was about to tuck the ball away, Kerry was taken down from behind for a clear PK. The foul should also have resulted in a red card for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, but the referee did not even give a yellow card. Jordan King stepped up and confidently deposited the spot kick.

With the two goal lead Cruzeiro created a couple of other 100% chances to put the game out of reach, but instead it was Campton that got a goal with 15 minutes left in the game. The rest of the game was incredibly intense, but when the referee indicated one minute of injury time, and Cruzeiro still holding onto the 2-1 lead, it looked like the all-important three points were in the bag. However, Campton managed to make the most of the additional 26 seconds the referee added after the fact, and scored on a great strike from 25 yards out.

With the tie against Campton, Cruzeiro had to win on Sunday against the Wisconsin State Cup champions Waukesha SC, and after a sluggish start the team took control of the game. Alyssa Bombacino scored the go-ahead goal with six minutes left in the 1st half from Francesca Marconi and Claire Hensley’s assist. 15 minutes into the 2nd half Waukesha tied the game, but the Cruzeiro response was prompt. Alyssa Bombacino restored the lead with a great individual goal, and Mia Marconi got the insurance goal all within five minutes of the Waukesha goal. This time the Cruzeiro players held onto the two goal lead and secured all three points.

With the win Cruzeiro moved to 5-1-1 on the season, and now needs a win and a tie in its final two games to secure a spot at Regionals. Two wins are needed to win the MRL Premier I Division and secure an automatic berth into next year’s National League. The first game is this Saturday at 1pm at Commissioners Park against FC United.