Medina scores late as Fire U-17/18 avenge earlier defeat to Vardar

By Curt Herron

For the second straight match, the Fire Academy's U-17/18 team saw the final outcome go right down to the wire in a Great Lakes Division match.

And just as they did last Sunday against the Columbus Crew, the Fire's late-match heroics turned a potential disappointment into a positive result.

But unlike the draw with the Crew, Saturday's contest with Vardar in Berkley, Michigan resulted in the squad's secvond win in its last three matches.

In the 89th minute, Luis Medina put in a rebound of a deflected shot by Joey Calistri to give the Fire a 2-1 victory, avenging an earlier 3-1 defeat.

Chicago (3-3-3, 12 points) dominated in possession and chances against Vardar (3-5-3, 12 points) but looked like it might have to settle for a draw.

Instead, the Fire's win kicked off a six-point showing for the day, which was achieved later in the afternoon after the U-15/16's claimed a 1-0 win.

That marks only the second time in division play that both squads have won on the same day, joining last Saturday's sweep over the Internationals.

Calistri joined Noah Anthony and Felipe Cortez as late-match subs who were brought in to try to help the Fire find the eventual winning score.

Meanwhile, the hosts also had two of their best chances during the final five minutes, but the Fire avoided trouble in those pair of sequences.

A long free kick set up a header that was cleared by Lalo Cuautle before Chase Jabbori was just wide on a shot attempt a couple of minutes later.

That set the table for the Fire's late drama, which began when Calistri was denied by keeper Sheldon Medici, but Medina connected on the rebound.

It marked the start of a busy day for the Fire forward, who not only assisted on the first goal but headed back home afterward to attend his prom.

"We need to finish our opportunities better since we could have had a couple of other goals before that last one," Medina said. "Hopefully we don't have to keep fighting to the end like we had to do today."

Unlike the earlier meeting with Vardar, when it jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, the Fire struck first and controlled play in the early going.

In the seventh minute, Medina sent a pass toward Jacob Brindle, who placed a shot just inside the post to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.

During the next 10 minutes, Brindle continued to apply the pressure but was stopped on a short attempt and then later on a long-range shot.

Vardar evened things during the 20th minute when it took advantage of a breakdown on which Benjamin Gates was able to get free for a short try.

A bit later, Brindle threatened again but his short shot was deflected and his subsequent rebound effort was headed away by a Vardar defender.

It was more of the same after the break, with Victor Pineda being denied on three seperate occasions during the initial part of the new half.

In addition, Brindle was stopped and a rebound by Manny Guzman was deflected by a defender and the keeper dove to stop a shot by Daniel Lojek.

After Medina was stopped up top by Vardar's keeper, Cuautle saw a long free kick hauled in, which set up the drama in the final five minutes.

Zak Allen faced few threats in the net, thanks to a revamped defense that featured Peter Beasley, Keaton Albert, Jerrin Moore and Cuautle.

"They dominated us the first time but I thought that we came out strong today," Allen said. "We had a chip on our shoulders as a result of the last time that we played them and I thought that we desired it more than they did.

"We were lucky to get the goal at the end. We came out strong in the first half and had lots of opportunities but only finished one. We sunk our heads a bit after giving up a soft goal but came out strong again in the second half."