U-17/18 beats Sockers FC to capture first victory in Great Lakes play

By Curt Herron

It's real easy to say that Sunday's US Soccer Development Academy match was a must-win situation for the Chicago Fire Academy's U-17/18 team.

But after losing their first two Great Lakes Division matches before rallying for a 2-2 draw on Saturday, the Fire really needed to get a win.

The only problem was that they had to meet up with a local rival, Sockers FC, who didn't figure to be too sympathetic to their recent struggles.

Chicago failed to put itself into an early hole that had doomed it during its last three matches by not allowing any first half goal to Sockers.

That was a very encouraging sign, especially since the Fire had allowed a whopping eight goals during the first half of their last three matches.

Brady Wahl scored a goal in the 50th minute and Victor Pineda added another score in the 62nd minute to give the Fire a surprising 2-0 advantage.

While Sockers got a late goal to avoid a shutout, the Fire walked away with a 2-1 win on a warm afternoon at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.

The affair was in many ways a rematch of last year's 2-1 Fire win over Sockers in the U-15/16 Academy finals competition in Carson, California.

Each team put eight of its starters from that match onto the field at one time on Sunday, with the Fire starting seven and Sockers going with six.

Although they didn't have any goals at halftime, the Fire were upbeat after not allowing any from the Sockers, who beat Chicago Magic on Saturday.

About 10 minutes after the break, Chicago found itself in the lead for the first time in four Great Lakes Division matches following a nice goal.

Patrick Doody started things with a pass to Daniel Lojek, who found Wahl in front of the net and he fired in a short shot for the winning score.

"We didn't start off division play like we wanted to when we played the Michigan teams," Wahl said. "Then we felt we should have gotten the three points in Milwaukee. So coming into this game, we really gave ourselves no choice but to win.

"I think it speaks to the character of this team that we can come back from two losses and a tie that we should have won and then come back and beat a quality side like the Sockers. We came in with a game plan and then executed it perfectly.

"Once we got the monkey off of our back, we played some good soccer and I thought we wore them down a little bit. We had our backs against the wall and did what good teams do, which is get three points, and now have a lot to build off of."

With a one-goal lead, the Fire didn't rest on their laurels for long, adding another score about a dozen minutes later which put them in control.

Keaton Albert set things up with a long free kick that went to Jacob Brindle, who passed the ball back to Albert, who sent the ball to Pineda.

After Pineda put his head on the pass and sent a successful attempt into the opposite side of the net, the Fire suddenly owned a 2-0 advantage.

That second score made life much easier for the visitors, who possessed the ball and limited Sockers' chances until the final minutes of play.

Sockers threw people forward late, resulting in good chances from both Arman Arami and Carmelo DiFranco that were stopped by keeper Sam Euler.

Finally, in the 89th minute, the hosts were able to score when Arami got free and lined a shot off of the crossbar that rolled in for a goal.

Despite allowing the late goal, it was a positive showing for the back line of Peter Beasley, Anthony Torres, David Caban, Albert and Lojek.

"We hadn't been playing that well in the back but we came in with a game plan this time," Albert said. "We knew how to defend since they're pretty technical. We kind of just had to do our roles individually and that made us strong in the back.

"Even though we know how to play soccer, I don't know if we were ready for battles in our first few matches. Now we're beginning to understand that we have to battle in order to win. We knew we had to act professionally and get the job done today.

"Sockers just kept pushing and putting balls in at the end and we were trying to defend, but we were out of gas, but we stuck it out. It was very important to get the three points and this win gives us confidence and kind of got out of the hole."

Things almost started out in a great fashion for the Fire after Noah Anthony found Doody for a good scoring chance in the opening minute of play.

Although Sockers keeper Jeff Gal blocked the short attempt, the close call seemed to provide an early boost to the Fire, who've had bad starts.

About 25 minutes in, Anthony sent a liner that Gal dove for and a five minutes later, Euler punched away a long free kick from David Selvaggi.

Both teams had chances before the break, starting with a pass from Anthony to Luis medina, whose try from close range was stopped by a defender.

A short time later, Selvaggi had a free kick from just beyond the top of the box but his attempt was denied following a diving save by Euler.

"Even though it would have been awesome if I'd have put that first one in at the start, I think that gave everyone a little bit of confidence," Doody said. "Also, the fact that we didn't give up a goal during the first half was huge for us.

"I'm upset that we conceded a goal with only a few minutes left, but not giving up any goals during the first half and until the very end means the world to us. It's so hard to battle back, especially against a good side, which Sockers are.

"It was important not to fall behind since Sockers since they play like us and we know that when we play well, we're hard to stop. After we got the two goals, we had possession and the energy. Hopefully our run starts now following this win."