CHICAGO FIRE ACADEMY

Fire U-16s get things going in second half to beat Magic

By Curt Herron

All is well whenever your team claims a 3-0 victory in U.S. Soccer Development Academy play, right?

That wasn't necessarily the case for the Chicago Fire Academy's U-16 team in its match with the Chicago Magic on Sunday in Glen Ellyn.

While the Fire coaches were pleased to see their squad improve to 3-1 in Central Conference Frontier Division play, there's more to the story.

Despite being down a man throughout most of the match due to a red card, the Magic battled throughout at the College of DuPage stadium.

The Fire couldn't take advantage of a strong wind advantage in the opening half and were in a scoreless tie at the intermission.

Things finally opened things up following the break as the Fire found the net three times while keeping the Magic from scoring.

But Fire Academy Director Larry Sunderland was looking for a better effort from his squad, a point that he made clear after the match.

Click to hear Larry Sunderland interview

The Fire finally broke the deadlock in the 51st minute after Victor Pineda lined an attempt that bounced off the crossbar.

Giovanni Sanchez was in the right spot to get the rebound and he headed a shot into the net to give the Fire a 1-0 advantage.

The Magic (1-2) threatened about five minutes later when Nick Suker headed an attempt that glanced to top of the crossbar.

About midway through the final half, Pineda sent a corner to David Caban, who fired in a grounder that bounced off the post.

Pineda ended some of the drama in the 79th minute when he came up with a loose ball and put in an attempt from close range.

The Fire scored again about five minutes after that when Henrik Egly sent a pass out to Luis Medina, who connected for the final goal.

Sam Euler posted the shutout, thanks in part to defenders like Keaton Albert, Peter Beasley, Johnny Contreras, Eduardo Cuautle and Caban.

It was the team's second shutout in three matches and the three-goal output equaled the high mark set against the Colorado Rapids.

Even though they faced a strong wind during the opening half, the Magic had plenty of good scoring chances in the early going.

Arkadiusz Raclawski started things about 15 minutes in when his header was deflected away for a corner kick, which Suker lined to Euler.

The Magic did a good job of limiting Fire chances during most of the opening half, with a wide free kick rom Pineda being the main threat.

Despite drawing a red card to put them a man down for the rest of the match, the Magic continued to remain on the stay on the attack.

With about 10 minutes left in the half, Filip Dyminski lined a free kick which forced the Fire keeper to come out of the net to deflect.

Ivan Chavez took the rebound and headed an attempt toward the net but Contreras was there to clear the ball with another header.

A short time later, Suker sent in another corner kick which a charging Raclawski wound up heading just over the top of the frame.

The Fire finally began to enjoy some of their best initial scoring chances during the final six minutes of the opening half.

Elliot Borge started things when he sent in a short attempt from the side that was deflected away, resulting in a corner kick.

On the subsequent play, Egly's corner was deflected toward Caban, who sent a grounder that was cleared away by Dyminski.

Shortly before the end of the opening half, Egly fired in a liner that was halted to keep things scoreless at the break.

The Fire U-16 squad returns to action on Saturday, April 17 when it hosts Real Colorado for an 11 am match at Toyota Park.