With last night’s 1-1 tie between Kansas Rush Wolves & St. Croix Team Chicago Academy-Brasilia are the MRL First Division Champions and have earned promotion to the top-tier U-15 MRL Premier Division I for the 2013 Fall Season. This is the highest level of USYS competition in the Midwest.

A big congrats to the girls and Head Coach John Rizzo who were undefeated in MRL play with a 5-0-3 record and 25 goals for and 5 goals against.

Team Chicago Academy-Palmeiras center back Juan Garcia has accepted a roster spot to continue his soccer career at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois. Juan, who played his prep soccer at East Aurora High School, will be part of Eagles Head Coach Rich Nassif’s 2013 recruiting class.

Staying close to home at Benedictine, Juan will be playing with the Eagles in the Northern Athletics Conference under second year coach Nassif as the program at Benedictine grows.

Team Chicago Academy-Palmeiras midfielder Jack Staton has accepted a roster spot to continue his soccer career at D-III Final Four participant Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. Jack, who played his prep soccer at Metea Valley High School, will be part of Duhawks Head Coach Dan Rothert’s 2013 recruiting class.

Loras College is part of the NCAA Division III Iowa Intercollegiate Athletics Conference. Jack will be a tremendous addition to a Loras team who finished last season in the D-III semifinals with a 23-2-1 record.

Tuesday was a big MRL double-header night at Gentile Field for Team Chicago Academy-Cruzeiro and Brasilia with both teams having the potential to secure a first-place finish with a win against Campton United in each team’s last MRL game of the season.

In the opening game Cruzeiro needed a win to finish first in the MRL First Division West group, and the opening stanza proved very positive as Sofia Papoutsis gave Cruzeiro the lead halfway through after a Kerry Abello corner-kick. Unfortunately, the 1-0 halftime lead was erased less than 2 minutes into the second half, and Campton then found the eventual game-winner 8 minutes later. Cruzeiro pressured for an equalizer late in the game but it was not to be.

With the loss Cruzeiro finished 4-1-1 and 2nd in the Division behind Campton. This combined with the State Cup semi-final spot should be enough to earn them a spot in the 16-team MRL U14 Premier Division qualification tournament in the Fall.

For Brasilia a tie against Campton would secure them 2nd place in the First Division West group and a spot in next Fall’s U15 Premier Division II. A win would give them the opportunity to win the group and promotion to Premier Divsion I next Spring if Kansas Rush Wolves do not beat St. Croix from Minnesota tomorrow night.

In a tightly contested match where both teams had shots that hit the crossbar, and both teams were playing for at least a Premier Division II spot, Brasilia had more of the play and chances. And as the game wore on the fact that Brasilia could settle for a tie gave them even more of an edge in the play. With 2 minutes left Jasmine Ruiz was taken down in the box and captain Emmerson Fuller stepped up to expertly finish the PK and secure her team the big win.

The entire defensive line had a very solid performance, but no one more so than GK Madison Lockard who got the shutout in her return from a month-long injury. In fact, she only got off her crutches a few days ago.

The big win also marked the end of John Rizzo’s successful 2-year reign as Brasilia Head Coach. He will be taking over as the Team Chicago Academy-Brasil Girls Head Coach for the 2013-14 season.

Brasilia will now wait for the result of tomorrow’s game to be played in Altoona, Iowa hoping that St. Croix will relish the chance to play spoiler and come away with at least a tie against Kansas Rush Wolves.

Team Chicago Academy-Internacional and Waubonsie Valley H.S. Assistant Coach Pete Lambert was honored as the Assistant Coach of the Year at the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association (IHSSCA) Honors Banquet on June 6th. Coach Lambert received this tremendous honor based on his tireless work as Head Coach Julie Bergstrom’s right-hand-man at Waubonsie.

We congratulate Coach Lambert and thank him for all his hard work and dedication here at Team Chicago, too.