Four first half goals lead U-18s to 4-1 win over SLSG Metro

U-16s wind up settling for costly scoreless draw in opener

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CLICK TO SEE U-16 METRO PHOTOS

By Curt Herron

When your team is fighting to the make the playoffs, you definitely need to take care of business in certain matches.

That was the situation for both Chicago Fire Academy teams when they hosted St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro on Saturday.

Both Metro squads have struggled this season and entered the day in last place in the Central Conference's Frontier Division.

While that promised to translate into a good day for both the U-18 and U-16 Fire squads, that didn't turn out to be the case.

Saturday turned out to be a productive day for the U-18s after they claimed a 4-1 victory at the Toyota Park practice field.

But it was a frustrating day for the U-16s, who saw their playoff hopes hurt after they settled for a 0-0 draw in the opener.

Following that disappointing start to the day, the U-18s were all business, scoring their first goal in the opening minutes.

Three more scores shortly before the break gave them a decisive 4-0 advantage to cap off a very well-played initial half.

while they weren't able to maintain that same intensity during the second half, it was a step in the right direction.

That was especially the case considering that the U-18s had settled for a 2-2 draw with Metro in their St. Louis road trip.

The U-18s had a different look on Saturday from the team that walked away with a tie against Metro just two weeks ago.

Victor Pineda moved up from the U-16s and his presence in the midfield was apparent from the early stages of the match.

The tone was set very quickly after the Fire scored their first goal during the third minute after several good chances.

Chris Prince started the sequence with a shot off the post and Patrick Doody followed with a try that was deflected away.

Harry Shipp got to the loose ball and knockerd in the short attempt to start a good day in which he also had two assists.

A short while later, Shipp and Doody were stopped on line drive shots before Pineda bounced a liner off of the crossbar.

Despite the warm conditions, the Fire kept up a fast-paced attack which saw them distribute the ball with great regularity.

That prompted a number of substitutions in the match, the first of which was Tyler Engel for Doody late in the first half.

Shortly after Connor Holloway saw a shot try stopped by a defender, the Fire began their outburst of three straight goals.

Shipp got things started when he sent a pass from the side that looked like it was directed to Prince but went past him.

Instead, the ball ended up going to Manny Guzman, who fired in a line drive from about 20 yards out to make it a 2-0 game.

Click to hear Manny Guzman interview

A couple of minutes later, Shipp sent a pass toward Pineda, who proceeded to collect his initial goal with the U-18 squad.

Just as the half was winding down, Pineda sent a pass to Engel, who put in the short attempt to give the Fire a 4-0 lead.

Trevor Wheeler entered early in the second half to take over for Pineda and Metro finally found the net shortly after that.

Other than that, the defense of Billy McGuinness, Mitch Albrecht, Scott Lakin and Mike Enghofer didn't let much to get through.

Keeper Tom Serratore didn't have very much work in the back, only having to stop a limited number of attempts in the match.

Click to hear Mike Enghofer interview

The Fire had several other opportunities to add to their goal total but came up empty during the remainder of the afternoon.

Shortly after Metro's score, Wheeler was taken down just outside the box but Prince's free kick sailed over the top of the net.

Jesse Ortz came in for Shipp a bit later and Wojciech Wojcik stepped in for Prince shortly after that for a different attack.

Brian Lunar entered for Enghofer and Oliver Mayer took over for McGuinness as the defensive configuration also was changed.

There were a few other good shot tries, but shot attempts from Guzman, Engel and Mayer were all turned away by Metro's keeper.

While the U-18s enter today's match with St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri on a positive note, the U-16s need to bounce back.

That's because their draw with last-place Metro only netted them one point on a day where they figued to claim three points.

The Fire certainly had the majority of good opportunities and kept the pressure up even during the final minutes of the match.

But they weren't able to get a shot past Metro keeper Liam Stapleton as both he and Fire keeper Zak Allen earned shutouts.

The defense of Keaton Albert, Peter Beasley, Johnny Contreras, Lalo Cuautle and Anthony Torres limited Metro to few chances.

In the opening half, Drew Conner and Luis Barajas accounted for two of the relatively limited number of threatening attempts.

David Caban came in for Mitch Reavis late in the first half in the first of a series of subsitutions on the warm afternoon.

At halftime Henrik Egly entered for Matt Payne and Luis Medina replaced Giovanni Sanchez to give the Fire a different attack.

Elliot Borge and Egly both put shots on goal before Patryk Ruta stepped in for Borge prior to the midpoint of the second half.

Shortly after Allen deflected one of the few serious shot tries, Torres replaced Cuautle and Jesus Medina entered for Barajas.

Down the stretch, Egly and Jesus Medina were stopped on line drives and Caban sent a header wide following a corner from Egly.