CHICAGO (Nov. 6, 2024) – Chicago Fire Academy registered a 9-0-1 record in MLS NEXT action on Saturday and Sunday. The three younger age groups traveled to Indiana for matches against Hoosier Premier and Indy Eleven while the two older teams faced Michigan Jaguars and Midwest United in Michigan.
MLS NEXT Recap
On Saturday, the Chicago Fire Academy U-13 squad defeated Hoosier Premier 7-0 with four goals from Griffin Brill and one goal each from Robert Vlad, Ben Leone and Gavin Hersh. The team continued its hot streak on Sunday with a 3-0 win against Indy Eleven. Brill tallied his fourth goal of the weekend while Leandre Beckford and Oleksandr Smetana added to the tally.
Markas Steponavicius and Jensyn Goranson led the Chicago Fire U-14 team in a 2-1 win against Hoosier Premier on Saturday. The U-14s then faced Indy Eleven on Sunday, with Graham Dixon scoring a brace and Steponavicius and Jensyn Goranson adding a goal each.
The Fire U-15s continued the Fire’s win streak in Indiana, opening their weekend with a 5-0 win against Hoosier Premier. Deandre Beckford capitalized on a pass from Finn McCraney while Henry Garcia scored twice with assists from Brady Hauser and Ivan Garcia. McCraney scored one of his own with an assist from Caleb Aleman, before Ben Miller sealed the scoreline with a final goal. Aleman opened the scoring with a pass from Lukas Garasic on Sunday, leading the team to an 8-0 win against Indy Eleven. Adding a goal each were George Valenti (Beckford), Collin Munguia (McCraney), McCraney (Munguia) while Henry Garcia netting a hat trick with assists from Valenti, Phillip Lang and Munguia.
At the U-16 level, Darris Hyte opened the scoring before Robert Turdean scored four times, twice on passes from Hyte and Roko Pehar in a 5-1 victory against Michigan Jaguars on Saturday. On Sunday, the team registered a 2-0 win against Midwest United with goals from Akiva Lieberman (Leon Smars) and Christopher Morales.
The Fire U-18 squad was led to a 2-0 win against Michigan Jaguars on Saturday with goals from Christopher Cupps and Michael Sarna. On Sunday, Matthew Maciulis scored the Fire’s lone goal in the 1-1 draw with Midwest United.
Chicago will face Minnesota United on Saturday, with the U-18 squad taking on the Loons at 10:00 a.m. CT, the U-16’s at 12:00 p.m. CT and the U-15’s at 2:00 p.m. CT. On Sunday, the younger age groups will face the Michigan Jaguars while the older two age groups will play against Vardar SC. The U-13’s will face the Jaguars at 2:00 p.m. CT, U-14’s at 12:00 p.m. CT and U-15’s at 10:00 a.m. CT. The U-16 squad will kick off at 12:00 p.m. CT against Vardar, with the U-18 team closing out the weekend’s action at 10:00 a.m. CT, also against Vardar. All of the weekend’s matches will take place at the Endeavor Health Performance Center.
