U-16 Fire collects huge victory over Arsenal FC

Team is Monday win away from trip to nationals

CLICK TO SEE MATCH PHOTOS

By Curt Herron

BROWNS SUMMIT, NORTH CAROLINA---The U-16 Chicago Fire Academy team has performed well under pressure throughout the last part of the season.

And they needed more of the same on Saturday when they faced a must-win situation in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy playoffs at Greensboro's Bryan Park.

After opening pool play with a 0-0 draw against Georgia's 10th-seeded Concorde Fire on Friday, the Fire needed a win to keep their hopes of advancing to the national finals alive.

That didn't figure to be easy, considering that the 21st-seeded Fire had to square off against the fourth-seed, California's Arsenal FC in Saturday's match at Macpherson Stadium.

As Saturday's intense heat wore down players from both sides, the Fire utilized an effective game-plan that wound up paying big dividends late in the match.

Chicago threw a fresh pair of players at Arsenal midway through the final half and those individuals eventually scored the lone goals for either squad.

Patryk Ruta put the Fire on top for good when he connected in the 69th minute and Elliot Borge added an insurance score in the 72nd minute in a 2-0 victory.

Meanwhile, the Fire shut down a dangerous Arsenal attack to help them move to within a win of a trip to the finals at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Chicago (13-5-10), which has gone 6-0-5 since dropping a 1-0 decision at Kansas City on May 15, completes pool play on Monday at 9 a.m. against FC Westchester.

The Fire needed to defeat FC Milwaukee in their regular season finale to win the Frontier Division title in order to advance to the Academy playoffs.

In the middle of the second half, Ruta and Borge entered for starters Luis Barajas and Manny Rios, who gave their all in the hot and sunny conditions.

With some fresh legs in the lineup, the Fire immediately began to make some of their first serious offensive threats against Arsenal (19-5-6).

A wild sequence began when Lalo Cuautle had a corner kick deflected away before Borge was stepped on a header following a corner from Victor Pineda.

Right after that, Ruta put a shot inside the opposite post following a pass from Keaton Albert to put the Fire ahead for good.

Then just a few minutes later, Borge knocked in a short rebound of a shot attempt by Pineda that had deflected off of the post.

Click to hear Patryk Ruta interview

Sam Euler recorded the shutout in goal and was supported by the play of defenders Peter Beasley, David Caban, Anthony Torres and Albert.

Neither squad had many good chances during the opening half and Arsenal recorded the best opportunities early in the final half of play.

Chuy Medina sent an early corner toward the net and later was just wide on a shot, as were both Drew Conner and Pineda.

Arsenal threatened early in the final half as Euler had to make stops on line drives from Cristian Ruelas and Henry Rios.

But the Fire made their substitutions a short time later and responded with a pair of quick scores to take command in the critical match.

Click to hear Luis Barajas interview