Defense, no offense spells 0-0 draw for U-15/16 against Derby County

By Curt Herron

The Chicago Fire U-15/16 squad received the type of defensive effort that will lead to success in the rugged Great Lakes Division this season.

However, the Fire's offense needs to step up from its showing in Saturday's division opener with Derby County at Toyota Park's practice field.

While the Fire didn't allow the Wolves to find the net, they also had very few chances to connect and the result was a 0-0 draw in Bridgeview.

Fire goalkeeper Christian Lomeli did a good job of stopping everything that Derby County (1-2-2) sent in his direction during the match.

His efforts were supported by the play of center backs Benjamin Kucera and Cody Witkowski and outside backs Louis Bennett and Charlie Oliver.

But the Fire (0-0-1) wound up being just as unsuccessful in their efforts to get the ball past Wolves keeper Evan Kozlowski and his defense.

The match featured five members of last year's Fire U-15/16 squad who were on the US Soccer Development Academy national championship squad.

That group included Elliot Borge, Drew Conner, Jesus Medina, Manny Rios and Joel Salmeron. Six others started in the earlier U-17/18 match.

"The game was difficult for us to watch in a sense because it was atypical in the sense that there was very little rhythm to it," Fire assistant coach Tony Kees said. "We pride ourselves in being a possession and rhythm team.

"We could never find our rhythm for any length of time, we only saw it in brief sequences. Fortunately our goalkeeper, Christian, had a really good game and our center backs, Ben and Cody, played very well, and they had to.

"We didn't give away anything, and that's a positive. But we also generated very little on offense and it was unimaginative and unspirited at times, which concerns us. But it's not the end of the world, either."

Following a rather unexciting opening half, things picked up for both squads when they returned to the field for the final half of play.

The Fire had the best chances in the initial part of that final half, beginning with a shot by Rios that was headed away by a defender.

A few minutes later, Manny Chavez sent in a grounder that was deflected, resulting in a corner, which Rios had punched away by Kozlowski.

Shortly after the midway point of the half, Salmeron tried to make something happen with a shot that went wide before setting up a corner.

Salmeron's subsequent corner went toward the front of the net to Witkowski, who got off a short attempt that was hauled in by the keeper.

Not long after that, the Wolves countered with a long free kick from Jack Brown that Lomeli punched away before Oliver Harris sent a try wide.

As the match wound down toward its final minutes, Rios saw another short attempt punched away while Chavez was denied on a line drive.

After Brown again had a long free kick punched away by Lomeli, Medina sent in a late corner kick that was cleared by the Wolves defense.

"Obviously this was not the result that we were looking for since we wanted to get three points," Kucera said. "What we can take away from this is that even though we had a lot of possession, we didn't do anything with it.

"We lacked the finishing edge and didn't create enough chances. The energy wasn't there and we're capable of having that. I think our effort needs to go up collectively for all of us, and I think that will come over time.

"I love the group of guys that I'm playing with on this team. Every one of them is a good player and I think we've done a good job of coming together so far. But I think finding each players' role will be most important."

In the opening half, neither squad managed to seriously threaten the other team's goal throughout nearly the initial half hour of play.

The Fire got the first try when Borge sent in a grounder and that was followed quickly by Lomeli stopping an attempt from Alex Mendonca.

A short time later, Sanath Shettigar lined a corner to the Fire keeper before Salmeron was wide on a free kick from just outside of the box.

Not long before the halftime break, Salmeron had another good chance to score but his run toward the net was broken up by a Wolves defender.

"I think that we definitely should have come out a little stronger, especially in the first half," Oliver said. "We came out in the second half knowing that we needed to get the job done, but still needed more intensity.

"Throughout the preseason we've developed a good relationship on the team and I think we have to put that to use more. We need to come together and work as a team instead of trying to do it individually.

"After the first game, we know what's going to come at us and what we need to do, especially in this conference. We've got a good group of guys and I think it will all come together for us over time."

The Fire returns to Great Lakes Division play on Sunday when it hosts another Michigan squad, Vardar, in a 1:30 p.m. match in Bridgeview.