Fire uses strong second half to beat FC Westchester

U-18 team goes to nationals with win over Baltimore

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By Curt Herron

The Chicago Fire Academy U-18 team had to overcome more than just FC Westchester to keep their hopes of a trip to the nationals alive at Sunday's Development Academy playoffs.

Chicago had to deal with the hottest day of the year in the Greensboro, North Carolina area, where temperatures soared to 95 degrees and the sun and humidity made things even worse.

But the Fire got past an FC Westchester team that was also fighting to stay in the mix in pool play by scoring four times in the second half to claim a 5-2 victory at Bryan Park.

As a result, Chicago (16-7-5) will face Baltimore Bays Chelsea (22-4-6) on Tuesday at 9 a.m. with the winner of that match advancing to the quarterfinals in Carson, California.

The Fire bounced back from a disappointing 2-2 draw against Texas SC DTH in their initial match on Saturday to improve to 1-0-1 in pool play.

Meanwhile, Baltimore defeated Texas SC DTH 5-2 on Sunday to improve to 2-0 in pool play, setting the stage for Tuesday's clash with the Fire.

Bryan Ciesiulka scored a pair of goals while Connor Holloway and Jesse Ortiz also chipped in with scores for the Fire during Sunday's victory.

Harry Shipp, Patrick Doody, Scott Lakin and Ortiz handed out the assists for Chicago, which also benefitted from an own goal by FC Westchester.

Click to hear Harry Shipp interview

After both squads wore white jerseys during the opening half of play, the Fire donned the red in the second half and took on a different look.

Their play also was much improved following the break as they finally managed to take control of the match against FC Westchester (12-13-6).

Ciesiulka, playing in only his second match since returning from a two and a half month absence due to injury, put the Fire in front for good.

After entering at the break, Ciesiulka connected during the 57th minute, following a nice assist from Doody, to give Chicago a 2-1 advantage.

Click to hear Bryan Ciesiulka interview

The Fire went ahead 3-1 in the 67th minute after an FC Westchester defender headed the ball into his own net while attempting a clear a shot.

In the 70th minute, Lakin made a long run up the sideline before feeding off to Ortiz, who connected from close range to make it a 4-1 match.

FC Westchester got a goal back in the 72nd minute but the Fire responded when Ciesiulka scored in the 86th minute, off of a pass from Ortiz.

Following the strong finish, the Fire have put themselves in a position to earn a spot as one of the eight U-18 teams in the national finals.

Click to hear Scott Lakin interview

During the opening minutes of the match, Doody was stopped on a grounder and Fire keeper Tom Serratore deflected an FC Westchester corner kick.

Chicago grabbed the early lead when it executed a quick free kick in which Shipp fed the ball to Holloway, who hit a liner in the 18th minute.

Shipp later had a liner deflected away and Oliver Mayer's grounder led to a corner kick on which a header from Billy McGuinness was stopped.

As the first half was winding down, FC Westchester evened things up during the 38th minute when Noah Cadet got past defenders and connected.