CHICAGO FIRE ACADEMY

Fire claims pair of one-goal victories against FC Milwaukee

Barajas scores in U-16 win, Shipp's late goal lifts U-18 squad

From staff reports

The Fire Academy teams figured to be in for a battle when they took on FC Milwaukee on Tuesday night.

With both U-18 squads and the Fire U-16 teams all in the playoff hunt, it's not surprising that both matches were decided by one goal.

Fortunately for the Fire, their playoff hopes in the Frontier Division got a boost after they claimed two wins in Germantown, Wisconsin.

The U-16s got things going with a 1-0 victory in the opener and the U-18s followed with a 2-1 win in the final match.

In the U-16 match, Luis Barajas scored the only goal in the 62nd minute to help the Fire claim the victory.

Zak Allen stopped everything that came his way in goal to record the shutout as the U-16s improved to 8-4-2 and now have 26 points.

Anthony Torres, Giovanni Sanchez, Henok Russell, Victor Pineda, Matt Payne and Jesus Medina were other starters.

Also earning spots among the first 11 were Drew Conner, David Caban, Peter Beasley, Keaton Albert and Allen.

Luis Medina, Lalo Cuautle and Barajas were all first half subs for the Fire, who are in fifth place in the divisional standings.

In the U-18 match, Harry Shipp broke a 1-1 tie when he scored a goal in the 80th minute for the Fire.

Chris Prince put Chicago ahead in the 13th minute before Dustin Page got the equalizer for FC Milwaukee in the 60th minute.

Sam Euler collected the win in goal for the Fire, who now own a 9-2-3 record and have now have collected 30 points.

That's good for third place in the Frontier Division while FC Milwaukee is fourth with 27 points and an 8-5-3 mark.

Joining Shipp, Prince and Euler as starters were Billy McGuinness, Oliver Mayer, Brian Lunar and Manny Guzman.

Also in Tuesday's starting 11 for the Fire were Mike Enghofer, Patrick Doody, Jacob Bushue and Mitch Albrecht.

Both teams close meet again next Sunday to close out regular season in matches at the Toyota Park practice field.

The Fire Academy squads join the other development teams for a Memorial Day weekend at the Spring Showcase in Sarasota, Florida.

They'll each play three matches, beginning on Saturday against LAFC Chelsea, and continuing through Tuesday.

After that, the Fire Academy returns to the Toyota Park practice field for key Saturday matches against Sockers FC.

Luis Barajas

Zak Allen

Harry Shipp

Chris Prince