Early goals in each half spark U-15/16 to shutout win at Indiana United

By Curt Herron

Getting an early goal is a great way for a team to set the tone in a match, as the Chicago Fire Academy saw on two different occasions on Saturday.

After connecting for the initial goal during the seventh minute to take control in the opening half, the Fire dis much the same following the break.

A second goal, scored in the 45th minute, allowed Chicago to play its game pretty much throughout its Great Lakes Division match with Indiana United.

The combination of those quick scores provided plenty of support to help the Fire claim a 2-0 victory on a cold and windy afternoon in Indianapolis.

Considering that they had allowed only one goal during its first four Great Lakes matches, the first score was obviously pretty huge for the Fire.

Francisco Sajuan collected the first goal, off of an assist from Ruben Chavez, to give the Fire (2-1-2, 8 points) the only score that it would need.

Chicago scored a similar goal shortly after halftime when Chavez found Manny Rios, who scored from close range to essentially end all of the drama.

"In the first half, we got a rhythm real fast and started moving the ball well," Conner said. "We got an early goal and that helped us out a lot. We won a lot of 50-50 balls and countered which helped, considering we were going into the wind in the second half.

"After we scored the goal at the beginning of the second half, we started to move the ball better and better. One of the problems we had was that we were getting too casual, so we had to get on each other a little bit but from then on, it was pretty easy going.

"No one's stepped up to be our main striker so our goals have come from building the play up from possession. A lot of our chances have come from creating things, connecting on a lot of passes and moving slowly up the field and breaking down the other team."

It was the fourth shutout in division play for the Fire and came against a team that had been averaging two goals in each of its Great Lakes matches.

Indiana United (3-2-0, 9) really didn't put much pressure on goalkeeper Kyle Dal Santo, who was making his initial start in Great Lakes competition.

Much of the reason for that was the play of the reliable Fire defense, which featured Benjamin Kucera, Cody Witkowski, Charlie Oliver and Bay Kurtz.

That allowed Drew Conner to control the play in the middle of the park while Joel Salmeron contributed many dangerous free kicks and corner kicks.

The combination provided the Fire with a satisfying showing as they prepare for almost two weeks without a match before playing the Chicago Magic.

"We've been working a lot on our defense this year," Dal Santo said. "Even though we have a lot of converted players, they're coming together well and are starting to jell. Giving up just one goal so far shows how good of a coaching staff we have.

"Getting an early goal like we did helps since it relieves the stress off the back a little bit. You don't have to over think things as much and it just makes things easier.

"A lot of teams talk about building up from the back and you'll get what you get. We're starting to do that and are getting more goals and as long as we're not giving up any goals, than we should do good."

Not too long after Conner sent his team's initial shot to keeper Dayton Jennings, the Fire took the lead following a successful short try by Sajuan.

There were only a couple of other good first-half chances, both from Conner, who saw one attempt get deflected wide while the other was hauled in.

It was more of the same during the final half, only to a greater degree, after the visitors made a couple of changes to their starting eleven.

Elliot Borge entered for Mike Winhoffer in the midfielder while Rios stepped in for Sajuan and quickly joined him as a goal-scorer in the match.

About five minutes after the intermission, chavez sent a pass to Rios, who put in a short attempt, to give the Fire a decisive two-goal advantage.

That equaled the high mark for goals scored in Great Lakes competition by Chicago, which had two goals in its other victory, over FC Milwaukee.

Shortly after that goal, Rios sent a through ball to Chavez who tried to get off a short try but the keeper came out of the net to break things up.

Not long after the midway mark of the final half, Borge was tripped up outside the top of the box and Salmeron's subsequent free kick was denied.

A few minutes later, Rios was also fouled just beyond the box and Salmeron saw his free kick deflected and then sent a corner kick to the keeper.

"We had the right mentality going in and had a pretty solid game from start to finish," assistant coach Tony Kees said. "It wasn't just that we were good on the ball, but we were also good defensively and limited them and Kyle was good with his feet and in his distribution.

"You can call yourself a possession team, but can you actually possess against teams in this division? That's very difficult since it's an athletic division and people are going to close you down quickly. We had good rhythm and I like how everyone trusts each other with the ball.

"When that happens, everyone gets involved and shares the ball and that's a good thing, and we saw that today. There was lots of ball movement and lots of guys were involved in it, which was nice to see."

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