Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro defeated Cincinnati Cup 6-1 to maintain a perfect record in the U14 Girls Premier I Division of the Midwest Regional League (MRL). With the win Cruzeiro is now 3-0-0 with a goal difference of 12-1.

In the 13th minute Erin “Bean” Sweda broke up a play and found Riley O’Brien on the right flank. Riley played a nice diagonal ball into Jamie Goralski’s feet, and Jamie then spun away from her defender and played a perfect diagonal through-ball into the run of Kerry Abello on the weak side. Kerry calmly slotted the ball home at the foot of the far post. Less than a minute later right-back Sarah Avery doubled the lead after persistent pressure on the Cup defenders inside their 18.

With 12 minutes left in the first half Kerry Abello doubled her tally with a bomb from 18 yards out. Center-back Katie Wieland split the Cup midfield and found Alyssa Bombacino who played a great diagonal ball to Kerry on top of the 18.

5 minutes into the 2nd half Riley O’Brien stressed the Cup midfield and won the ball. She quickly found Alyssa Bombacino with a through-ball and Alyssa made it 4-0 when she walked it in and coolly beat the on-rushing GK to the far post.

Cup got one back midway through the 2nd half, but Cruzeiro closed out the game as Alyssa Bombacino found Kerry Abello on the left flank, and she beat her defender 1v1 and toe-poked it past the GK to make it 5-1. And in the dying minutes Claire Hensley and Madison Zaleski combined to assist on Francesca Marconi’s goal to make it 6-1 final.

Team Chicago Academy-Olimpico opened up U13 Boys MRL play this past weekend against Rockford Raptors. The team came out of the gates a little slow and gave up an early 2-0 lead. Realizing the challenge at hand, the team kicked into gear creating numerous opportunities, and were rewarded when Abraham Antar received a through ball from Gedi Njoya and calmly finished his chance to pull one back just before half time. In the later stage of the game the effort was rewarded again off a great free kick by Liam Duffy connecting with Holden Beinhauer. The goalie initially made a great save, but Gedi Njoya was there to get the game-tying goal. Olimpico narrowly missed out on a game-winning opportunity in the dying seconds of the game on a very tight off-side call. After a strong performance led by Anthony Safo and Liam Duffy, the game ended in a 2-2 draw.

This weekend Olimpico head to Elgin for the next round of MRL games.

Team Chicago Academy-Palmeiras traveled to Carmel, IN for the crossroads college showcase on April 11. The team came flying out of the gates cruising to a comfortable 6-2 victory over Fort Wayne Fever. Aayush Kaul scored the games first goal inside the first minute, and Palmeiras never gave up control of the game.
Wesley Anderson and Josh Kolzow led the team with a brace each and Spencer Weiss rounded out the scoring.

The team’s second game was a bit more challenging as they faced a very strong Columbus Crew Academy side. The weather conditions were unfavorable with winds reaching 20mph. After a hard-fought game with both team creating chances, neither team capitalized and it ended in a 0-0 tie.

The third and final game of the weekend was doubled as Palmeiras’ opening MRL game against Carmel United. With the wind being as big of a factor as it was the day before, it would prove to be an even more challenging game. After another hard-fought game, Palmeiras gave up a goal halfway through the second half and were unable to grab an equalizer and dropped their first MRL game 1-0.

April 19, Palmeiras played its second MRL game of the season against a talented Lemont Raiders side. Antonio Magno put Palmeiras up 1-0 on a free kick going into half time. An unfortunate turn of events resulted in a Raiders’ penalty kick and a red card midway through the second half. Playing a man up the talented Raiders side took full advantage as the game would end in a 6-1 defeat. A very unfortunate result as the team put up a very strong performance.

Palmeiras switch its focus to the State Cup with a round-robin game this Sunday against Tinley Park Bobcats at 9am at PlayUSA.

Team Chicago Academy-Bahia got off to a solid start in the U13 Girls Midwest Regional League Premier I Division this weekend.

On Saturday morning the team lost to Grand Rapids Crew juniors 2-0. Bahia was out played for the majority of the first half and the opponent did a nice job possessing the ball. The second half proved to be in Bahia’s favor but they couldn’t capitalize on their chances.

On Saturday evening Bahia defeated Michigan Jaguars FC 1-0 who are the reigning state champions. The goal was created when Paige Miller played a nice through ball to Sophia Majher. Sophia made a great first touch to seal off the defender and then continued her run at goal to calmly finish her chance by slotting the ball past the keeper. Bahia dominated possession the entire game and created some great opportunities. They nearly doubled the score on a great build up that had Lauren Douglass come out of the back. Lauren dribbled to the end line and served a perfect ball back to Emma Crosswait who just missed with her shot going over the cross bar. The result was a great team effort with solid performances by everyone.

Bahia travels to Ohio this weekend for two more MRL matches.

Team Chicago Academy-Internacional winger Mallory Mollenhauer has accepted a great scholarship offer to continue her career at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Mallory, who plays her prep soccer at St. Charles East H.S., will be part of UWM Head Coach Greg Henschel’s 2015 recruiting class.

The Panters are a perennial powerhouse in the NCAA Division I Horizon League.