Team Chicago Academy-Santos midfielder Gianna Marconi has accepted a scholarship offer to continue her soccer career at Colorado State University. Gianna will be part of Head Coach Bill Hempen’s 2014 recruiting class.

The Rams are members of the Division I Mountain West Conference.

Team Chicago Academy-Santos is currently in Copenhagen, Denmark participating in the prestigious Brondby Cup. Every other day the players will share their thoughts on the experience. Here is the first installment:

Our journey to Denmark began on Sunday July 28th. We all arrived at the airport mid afternoon matching and ready to go. We boarded the biggest plane we have ever seen in our lives! It had two floors, three separate sections of seats and mini tv’s. We thought we were livin’ large! Pretty much no one got any sleep…except for Lilly. We had both dinner and breakfast within a 7 hour time frame which was pretty weird. We closed the windows when it was dark out and shortly after we opened them and it was light out again!

After 7 long hours, we finally arrived in Amsterdam feeling like we all just got hit by a car. We had a short layover in Amsterdam which allowed perfect time to grab a quick Starbucks before we left for another flight that would get us to Copenhagen. This flight was much shorter and instead of being served typical American food, we were already being served foreign snacks.

We arrived in Copenhagen after a long journey and were greeted by Phil’s mom and Aunt who were each holding the cutest American flags. It was all smiles from there. We got bused to the Brøndby Stadion where our hotel was connected to the soccer arena. We finally were able to relax for a little in our hotel rooms only to discover that there was no air conditioning whatsoever. The shower was different because it didn’t have a curtain but other than that the rooms were great! We had an awesome view of the soccer fields from our patio so while we weren’t playing soccer, we could watch it.

We all took a small nap before our first game later Monday and then headed off to dinner at Cafeteria Klubhuset. We didn’t expect to like the food, but surprising it was great, especially the bread!!

At the first game, Gianna ran into Isabel, the Danish girl who she and her family hosted last summer when they came to the U.S. It was so great to see them and their coaches. Our first game was against Brøndby IF. They were very physical but continuously got tired as we connected the ball. We won 2-0 with beautiful goals by Kristen and Sam.At th e end of the day, we all crashed. We were so tired from the long day of travel and soccer.

Tuesday morning we woke up and started the day with a good breakfast in the hotel lobby. Then, Phil took us on a walk through part of the town to visit the Supermarket and Bakery. It was very cool to see a different way of living. We learned that the Danish are much more patient than Americans when crossing the street..meaning NO J-WALKING:-)

Later we went to our second game of the tournament and played OB. We won 6-2 with goals by Kristen (2) Katie(2) Heather and Hannah.

After the game we went back to our rooms to rest and then went to dinner. We ate a delicious pasta with meat sauce and again…bread! In our second game of the day we played Hillerod. We won 2-0 with goals by Sarah and Gianna. The team played low pressure so it was easy for us to play around them and keep the ball. Later that night we went back to our rooms to shower and get some rest.

It has been a great trip so far and we can’t wait for more to come!!

Gianna
Rachael
Lilly

Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo claimed the club’s first National Championship with a 2-1 come-from-behind win over reigning National Champions VSA Heat from Virginia in double overtime.

The win caps a magical senior year for the Botafogo girls with a 29-1-2 record, 98 goals for and 17 against, an MRL Premier Division Championship, a National League Championship with a perfect 7-0 record as only the 3rd team in history, a Regional Championship, and now a U18 National Championship.

Botafogo dominated most of the attacking play for the entire game while on the defensive end GK Megan Geldernick, Hope D’Addario, Rachele Armand, Jenna Romano, and Dana Miller held the VSA forwards in an iron grip. Botafogo had most of the chances, but instead saw VSA grab the lead on its only real chance of the game early in the 2nd half off a corner kick.

Forced to dig deeper the girls found another gear and attacked relentless until Meegan Johnston’s floating ball into the VSA box was met by a Zoe Swift vertical leap and header for the equalizer. After the tying goal Botafogo kept pressing for the game-winner, but it wasn’t to be in regulation.

Onto two 15-minute overtime periods the tired players went, and with 10 minutes left in the game Meegan Johnston played a great 40-yard diagonal through-ball for Ashley Handwork to run onto. Ashley steadied herself, and drove along the end-line before slotting a perfect ball across the 6-yard box for Zoe Swift to get the game-winner.

10 minutes of determined defending ensued before the ecstatic and exhausted players could celebrate the National title.

Bryce Banuelos, Gianna Dal Pozzo, and Jenna Romano were selected to the All-Tournament Top-11, and Zoe Swift grabbed a share of the top-scorer title with her 3 goals.

The players who participated at Nationals were: Megan Geldernick, Hope D’Addario, Rachele Armand, Jenna Romano, Dana Miller, Brooke Ksiazek, Karla DiJohn, Gianna Dal Pozzo, Bryce Banuelos, Meegan Johnston, Kaitlin Johnson, Ashley Handwork, Molly Piech, Kendall Wilde, Zoe Swift, Alexis Jakuszewski, Heather Handwork, and Katie Ciesiulka.

The entire Team Chicago family congratulates the Botafogo players on their amazing accomplishments.

Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo defeated Region III champion Oklahoma FC 3-0 today to advance to the US Youth Soccer National Championship game on Sunday. The defending champion VSA Heat from Virginia will be the opponent in the 8:50am final.

Botafogo defeated VSA Heat 3-1 to claim the US Youth Soccer National League title at Disney last January, so it will be a fitting final between the two best U18 teams in the country over the past year.

In today’s game Botafogo came out very focused and got the eventual game-winner in the 3rd minute. Zoe Swift found Ashley Handwork on the right flank, and Ashley served in a perfect cross for Bryce Banuelos to run onto and knock home.

In the 35th minute Gianna Dal Pozzo slotted Zoe Swift a perfectly weighted through-ball, and Zoe chipped the on-rushing keeper for the insurance goal.

6 minutes into the 2nd half Ashley Handwork made a great penetrating run and was brought down in the box for an obvious PK. Up stepped Meegan Johnston to expertly drive home the PK to put the game out of reach and send Botafogo to the National Championship Game for the first time in Team Chicago history.

Megan Geldernick earned her 16th shutout of the 28 meaningful (MRL, National League, State Cup, Regionals, and Nationals) games Botafogo has played this year.

Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo remained unbeaten with a 0-0 tie today against Connecticut FC at the US Youth Soccer National Championships in Overland Park, Kansas. After both teams opened play with a 2-1 victory on Tuesday they sit tied atop Pool A with 4 points and a 2-1 goal-difference.

Botafogo will now need to beat Oklahoma FC by a bigger margin than Connecticut FC beats Lou Fusz Wipke in tomorrow’s 11:30am games to secure a spot in the National Champions game on Sunday.

Botafogo played a solid game and created by far the most chances. A 4-1 or 4-2 scoreline in Botafogo’s favor would not have been an unfair result. But a combination a great goaltending and a little lack of composure denied Botafogo the deserved win.

Megan Geldernick earned the shutout in goal with a strong performance aided by a solid back-line of Hope D’Addario, Rachele Armand, Jenna Romano, Dana Miller and AJ Jakuszewski.