Chicago City Wire

Chicago Fire Academy achieved a 4-0-3 record in MLS NEXT over the weekend. The U-18, U-16, and U-15 teams hosted Minnesota United FC on Saturday, while the U-13 and U-15 teams played against Michigan Jaguars and the U-16 and U-18 squads faced Vardar SC on Sunday. All matches took place at the Endeavor Health Performance Center.

Griffin Brill led the Fire's U-13 team with a hat trick in their 5-1 victory over Michigan Jaguars. Adrian Sotelo and Deen Custic also scored for the youngest squad.

The weekend began with a match between two MLS Academies as Chicago's U-15s drew 1-1 with Minnesota United FC. Brady Hauser scored for Chicago, assisted by Miguel Campos. The following day, they secured a 6-1 win against Michigan Jaguars with goals from Colin Munguia (assisted by Caleb Aleman), Ben Miller, Aleman (assisted by Phillip Lang), and Ivan Garcia who scored three times. Hauser assisted twice for Garcia’s goals, while Munguia provided an assist for the third.

At the U-16 level, Leon Smars (assisted by Darris Hyte) and James Field contributed to a 2-0 win against Minnesota United on Saturday. On Sunday, they defeated Vardar SC 4-1 with goals from Akiva Lieberman (assisted by Joao Piretti), Smars, and two from Milan Napoe.

For the Fire Academy's U-18 team, Christopher Cupps and Damyan Villanueva scored in their 2-2 draw against Minnesota United FC on Saturday. They then tied 1-1 against Vardar SC on Sunday with Oscar Pineda scoring.

Looking ahead, the Fire Academy's U-13, U-14, and U-15 teams will travel to Cincinnati to face FC Cincinnati Academy and Cincinnati United Premier this coming weekend. Matches are scheduled throughout Saturday and Sunday at both Mercy Health Training Center and Blue Ash Sports Complex.

Meanwhile, Chicago’s U-16 and U-18 teams will host Columbus Crew at Endeavor Health Performance Center on Saturday.