Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro finished as runners-up in the IYSA U15 State Cup after a tough battle with Eclipse ECNL. In a rematch of the IYSA U14 State Cup final last May, which Cruzeiro won 4-1, Eclipse emerged with a 2-0 win after two headed goals off corner kicks.

They opened the scoring 48 seconds into the game, and secured the win with five minutes left. It was a game of two halves as Cruzeiro dominated play in the first half, but was unable to capitalize on its chances, and Eclipse dominated the second half.

Cruzeiro will now turn its focus to the final four games of the MRL Premier I Division season. On Monday 10/27 Cruzeiro takes on Campton United at 8pm at the Commissioners Park turf field.

Supplemental tryouts for Team Chicago Academy-Palmeiras U16 and Team Chicago Academy-Gremio U15 will be held on Sunday, October 19th, 4-5:30pm at PlayUSA.

The tryout session will be outside, but will move inside in case of inclement weather, so please bring indoor shoes as well. For additional information, and to register, please go to this link http://www.teamchicagosoccer.org/tc_tryouts.htm

Palmeiras Information:

Indoor training will begin on Wednesday 11/5 at PlayUSA. Regular indoor training will primarily be 8:15-9:30pm on Wednesday evenings, however, additional sessions will be added on the turf at Commisioners Park on Mondays and/or Thursdays (weather permitting) and in the Naperville Central HS Field House on Sunday evenings.

During the winter Palmeiras will compete in the Chicagoland Indoor League at the Bridgeview Dome (11v11 highly competitive) as well as in the league at PlayUSA. Those schedules will be released once available.

Starting in March, Palmeiras will begin its outdoor campaign with college showcases and in the MRL U16 Boys Premier II Division West. The schedule is complete and includes trips to Rockford, Milwaukee, and a few local games. During league play we will be taking on teams from Kansas City, Milwaukee, and the Chicagoland area.

Please, contact Head Coach Herb Schuler at (314) 452-5411 for more information, and check out the Palmeiras TeamPage at http://www.teamchicagoacademy-palmeiras.teampages.com

Gremio Information:

Indoor training will begin on Wednesday 11/5 at PlayUSA. Regular indoor training will primarily be 8:15-9:30pm on Wednesday evenings, however, additional sessions will be added on the turf at Commisioners Park on Mondays and/or Thursdays (weather permitting) and in the Naperville Central HS Field House on Sunday evenings.

For additional information please contact Head Coach Josh Robinson at joshua_robinson@ipsd.org, and check out the Gremio TeamPage at http://www.teamchicagoacademy-gremio.teampages.com

A few weeks ago, Team Amarelinha played in their first tournament. The U9 girls faced a tough challenge since they entered to play at the U10 level. The tournament began on Friday afternoon with Amarelinha playing Galaxy SC Black. It was a hard fought game and we came out on top with a 2 to 1 victory. The girls were all smiles at the end of the game and were so excited for the win. Everyone played great, a very good team effort to bring home the win.
The team then played East Moline Silvis on Saturday. The U10 girls on the East Moline Silvis team were at least a head taller than our girls, but that did not faze our girls. They again played a very strong game and scored a shut out win. The girls played together as a team, demonstrated great foot skills, good passing, and solid defense.
Both Galaxy SC Black and East Moline Silvis were part of our bracket, so going into Sunday’s games Team Amarelinha was in first place and guaranteed a spot in the finals. On Sunday morning, the team played Galaxy SC Yellow, the #1 team from the other U10 bracket, They were, also, 2 and 0 entering the game. Galaxy SC Yellow was a very tough team, but girls never gave up. Unfortunately, we lost 13-0.
Since Team Amarelinha won their bracket and Galaxy SC Yellow won their bracket, the two teams met again for the championship game on Sunday afternoon. Team Amarelinha came back strong after the loss from that morning and scored a great goal. Even though the final score was 1 to 7, the girls’ played a tremendous game and should be very proud of their effort. Despite giving up a significant size difference to everyone they played, they demonstrated a lot of heart and earned their 2nd place trophy. Congrats to Team Amarelinha for a Second Place Win in the Great Lakes Soccer Challenge in Naperville. What a great first tournament for the Team Chicago U9 Girls Amarelinha Team!!!

Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro continued its strong start to the season by winning its round-robin qualifying group for the IYSA State Cup with an impressive 14-0 goal difference, and then by securing two wins in the MRL Premier I Division to keep a perfect record.

On Wednesday Cruzeiro defeated Crystal Lake 2-0 to secure a berth into the IYSA State Cup semi-final. Jamie Goralski opened the scoring from a Jordan King corner-kick and Alyssa Bombacino got the insurance goal from Chloe Nowka. Cruzeiro will face Libertyville 1974 in the semi-final on Saturday 10/18 at 8am at the South Barrington Turf Fields for a spot in the Sunday 10/19 final.

Over the weekend Cruzeiro traveled to Overland Park, KS for two MRL Premier I Division games. In Saturday’s game Cruzeiro defeated Lou Fusz (MO) 4-1. Alyssa Bombacino tied the game at 1-1 with 10 minutes left in the 1st half on a great move and strike after receiving the ball in the box from Madison Zaleski and Sarah Avery. In a 10-minute span in the middle of the 2nd half Cruzeiro ran away with it. Alyssa Bombacino got her second of the game from Kerry Abello for the eventual game-winner, and Kerry Abello then made it 3-1. Alyssa Bombacino found Jamie Goralski who turned her defender and played an inch-perfect diagonal through-ball into the full stride of Kerry Abello who slammed it home at the foot of the far post. Jamie Goralski got the final goal with a nice strike from distance assisted by Alyssa Bombacino.

Sunday’s game was a lot more intense against the league-leading Futura Pink Panthers, but Cruzeiro once again prevailed with a slim 1-0 victory. Halfway through the 2nd half Kennedy Metzger played a great diagonal through-ball into Francesca Marconi’s path, and Francesca delivered a great cross at the top of the 6-yard box. Jamie Goralski ran the defender and GK to the near post, so Kerry Abello could pick up the ball at the back post, beat her defender and delivered a strong cross which Alyssa Bombacino calmly finished off. The goal capped a great week for Alyssa, who had 4 goals and 1 assist on Sunday, followed by the 1 goal on Wednesday, and then 2 goals and 2 assists Saturday, and finally the game-winning goal again on Sunday for an 8-goal & 3-assist week. Bailee Witt and her defense also continued their stingy play thus far this season. They have now conceded 2 goals in 11 games.

Next up for Cruzeiro is a crucial MRL match-up with Grand Rapids Crew on Sunday morning in South Bend, IN.

Over the weekend both U9 boys teams, Fluminense and Brasil Boys, took their talents to Glen Ellyn for the Lakers Fall Classic, and they left Team Chicago’s mark on another city.
Both teams had similar paths starting with Friday night lights games against Lyons Township teams. Fluminense had a rough start against LTSC Premier White but settled down to finish them off 5-3. Brasil Boys flew out of the gates beating LTSC Premier Black 5-2 with far less anxiety. Saturday morning was tough to get up for, but both teams skated through the snow and sleet well. Brasil Boys got a preview of their future final opponent against Elmhurt’s TESC Select. It was mostly one way traffic ending 1-7 with the lone goal coming late in the game. Flu’s winter game was against the home team Glen Ellyn Lakers Green. Unindicitive of the game’s balance of power, the final score was only 3-2, but it taught the boys soccer’s vital lesson of why to finish your early chances.
Saturday afternoon’s weather conditions made for mud bowl games, but both teams adapted like they were at home. The Brasil Boys filled their score sheet beating TESC Premier Green 6-2, and Fluminense kept things too close again with a final score of only 3-2 over Wheaton Wings Black. These results set up a unique spectacle for Sunday’s finals.
Fluminense and Brasil Boys had rematches against LTSC White and TESC Select respectively. Unfortunately they couldn’t cheer for each other, because they were playing at the same time. On the bright side, they were playing on adjacent fields. So, like another day at the office, the boys warmed up and displayed their skills together turning heads along the way. Fluminense solidified their Friday night result winning 6-1 in convincing fashion. Brasil Boys played an even first half giving up a late goal to go in to the break down 0-1, but, unfortunately, they ran out of steam and finished down 0-4.
Sunday’s sunny conclusion was a huge club success. Both teams solidified the clubs’ reputation for skill and team building culminated by simultaneous celebrating finalists shown best by their post game group picture. So as Team Chicago stamped their style on yet another Chicago suburb, we like to thank and congratulate all the boys and families that helped make this possible. Well done Team Chicago!