Playing on incredibly poor fields at Sportscore II in Rockford the three Team Chicago Academy MRL teams combined for an undefeated 4-0-4 record on the weekend.

Team Chicago Academy-Eagles moved into first place of the U14 Boys First Division West behind 2 wins and a tie. The Eagles opened a little sluggishly against JUSC from Iowa and gave up a goal just before halftime. However, in the second half the boys upped the intensity and Max Graf eventually found the equalizer. In the dying seconds Adam Bose hit the crossbar, but the Eagles had to settle for a slightly unfair tie.

The Eagles bounced back with a very impressive 2-1 win over a previously unbeaten Omaha FC team. An unfortunate slip on the poor surface led to an Omaha FC lead halfway through the second half. However, the boys responded in style with two goals in two minutes to secure the win. James Zhang tied the game from Max Graf’s cross and Wesley Anderson got the game-winner.

On Sunday morning, the Eagles defeated VSA from Iowa 1-0 on Victor Cuevas’ goal from Max Graf’s great touch and cross. Brady Moody capped off a very solid weekend with the shutout in goal. The Eagles have one final MRL game left against TCSA before their focus turns to State Cup.

Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro remain undefeated in the U13 Girls First Division West of MRL after a 2-0-1 weekend. Playing on a tiny, and very bumpy field, Cruzeiro and FC Milwaukee played out a pretty ugly stalemate. Emma Rydholm got Cruzeiro on the board first on a great header off a perfect Kerry Abello corner, but FC Milwaukee got the equalizer halfway through the second half. On the very last play of the game Sarah Avery made a great run and served in a cross that Kerry Abello met with a great header, but it went inches over the crossbar.

On Sunday Cruzeiro faced Waukesha SC from Wisconsin and took a quick 2-0 lead off a corner kick own goal and a great Kerry Abello finish far post on the ground from Sofia Papoutsis’ perfect pass out of the back. In the second half Waukesha halved the lead on a free kick, but Cruzeiro held on to secure the win.

In the matinee performance against MK Tosa from Wisconsin Madison Zaleski got a 10-minute hat-trick to lead Cruzeiro to a comfortable 4-1 win. Kerry Abello scored 32 seconds into the game off a Sarah Avery cross, but MK Tosa answered back on a questionable PK 10 minutes later. Cue the “Madison Zaleski Show” :-) as she got three quick goals off Sarah Avery, Riley O’Brien, and Katie Wieland’s assists to put the game out of reach.

Next up for Cruzeiro is an MRL game here at PlayUSA tomorrow night at 7:30pm v. LTSC.

Team Chicago Academy-Brasilia played two tough Kansas City teams in the U14 Girls First Division West of MRL and came away with two ties. On Saturday Brasilia took a 1-0 lead on Kansas City Legends on a Jasmine Ruiz goal from Maggie Roe. Unfortunately, the Legends tied the game up in the second half.

On Sunday Brasilia took a 2-0 lead on Kansas Rush. Jasmine Ruiz scored on the last play of the first half and Abby Severson scored on a great header from Allie Nornes’ perfect cross halfway through the second half. Unfortunately, Kansas Rush scored on the very next play and then again on a lucky strike with 3 minutes left in the game to secure the tie.

Next up for Brasilia is a 6pm MRL game at Chicago-Inter tomorrow night. With a win Brasilia will move into first play in the division, and winning out in the final four games of the season will secure them promotion to the U15 Premier Division next Fall.