Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo got off to a winning start at the USYS National Championships in Overland Park, KS by beating Lou Fusz Wipke from Missouri 2-1 behind Ashley Handwork’s brace in the 2nd half. It was a very intense and hard-fought game where Botafogo never really got its passing game going.

After a scoreless first half, Ashley Handwork opened the scoring in the 55th minute when she stole the ball from a Lou Fusz defender and drove by two defenders to easily score. However, Lou Fusz answered right back when Hannah Leinert tied the game three minutes later. However, Botafogo was not to be denied and in the 78th minute Ashley Handwork would get the game-winner off Heather Handwork and Bryce Banuelos’ assists.

Megan Geldernick had a solid game in goal for Botafogo.

Up next is Connecticut FC, who defeated Oklahoma FC 2-1, on Thursday at 8:30am. With a win in that game Botafogo would be all but assured a spot in the National Championship game on Sunday.

Ahead of last Saturday’s Messi & Friends match at Soldier Field Antonio, Francesca, and Emilia Magno decided to kill some time at the Michigan Avenue Apple store. To their great surprise Lionel Messi and fellow Argentine National Team star Ezequiel Lavezzi, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, had the same idea, so they got to meet the two soccer superstars.

Luckily, the Magnos who all play for Team Chicago are huge Argentina fans, so they were all decked out in their Argentina soccer jerseys for the once-in-a-lifetime photo-op.

Team Chicago Academy-Internacional winger Tori Christiansen has accepted a great scholarship offer to continue her soccer career at Miami University of Ohio. Tori, who plays her prep soccer for Head Coach Julie Bergstrom at Waubonsie Valley H.S., will be part of Miami Head Coach Bobby Kramig’s 2015 recruiting class.

Miami is a perennial powerhouse in the Mid-American Conference. At Miami Tori will be joining Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo standout Dana Miller who is part of the 2013 recruiting class.

Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro went to Toyota Park this afternoon to meet their namesake Cruzeiro Esporte Clube from Brazil. Cruzeiro is one of the biggest and most storied teams in Brazil.

The girls had the opportunity to watch practice and then meet the players, the mascot Raposao (The Big Fox), and Head Coach Marcelo Oliviera. At 3pm tomorrow the girls will attend the Cruzeiro-Morelia game at Toyota Park where four players will walk onto the field with the Cruzeiro players during the pre-game ceremony. At halftime the entire team will get a chance to play a scrimmage on the field.

Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo claimed back-to-back USYS Region II Championship titles with a 2-1 victory over FC United. The win avenged Botafogo’s 2-1 loss to FC United in the IYSA State Cup Final 2 weeks ago, which was the team’s only loss in the 2012-13 season thus far.

While Botafogo dominated possession and chances from the beginning it was FC United who struck first in the 13th minute on a wonderful strike from 25 yards out. However, Botafogo kept pressing and 7 minutes later left-back Dana Miller made a commando-raid up the left flank and scored off the far post from a near-impossible angle. Meegan Johnston and Ashley Handwork assisted on the goal.

4 minutes before the interval Botafogo got the eventual game-winner after a phenomenal run by U17 call-up Heather Handwork who blew by the FC United right-back and served in a perfect cross across the top of the 6-yard box. Kendall Wilde made a perfectly timed near-post run to draw the goalkeeper and center-back away from the center of the goal-mouth, and another U17 call-up Katie Ciesiulka beat her mark to the ball and scored easily. The goal was the perfect execution of a training ground exercise that the players have spent countless hours on.

In the second half Botafogo still controlled most of the play, and with better finishing, and save for a couple of great stops by the FC United goalkeeper, Botafogo could have run away with the game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, so the last 10 minutes became a bit nerve-wracking, but the girls held strong and came away with a very deserved Regional Championship.

Next up for Botafogo will be the USYS National Championships in Overland Park, Kansas on July 23rd-28th. The two 4-team brackets will be announced next week along with the game schedule.