In a weekend of inclement weather, Team Chicago Academy-Internacional fought through the mud, standing water, wind, and torrential rains to take 2nd place at Puma Cup in Rockford, IL.

After a disappointing 4-0 opening loss to long-time rival Midwest Reign Knockouts, Internacional bounced back with two impressive 7-0 and 5-1 wins against Freeport Fire and F.C. Milwaukee to set up a re-match against the Knockouts in the final.

Playing in their 4th game in 28 hours, and into wind, the Internacional players came out a little flat, but managed to make it to halftime only 1-0 down. 2nd half brought a much better performance, and with a little bit of composure and/or luck and we would have been up 2-1 in the first 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and instead the Knockouts scored on their only chance of the 2nd half to make it 2-0. With 15 minutes left Internacional threw all caution to the wind in an attempt to get back into the game, but it was all for naught as the Knockouts held on to their 2-0 lead and the championship.

It was a disappointing result, but based on the 2nd half a very good performance. And overall, it was a good weekend for Internacional, and a great start to the outdoor season.

On Saturday 3/14 Team Chicago Academy – Internacional had a very productive Scrimmage-Date with the two top clubs in Michigan.

Playing at the impressive Total Sports Complex in Wixom, MI, Internacional played two 11v11 scrimmages on FieldTurf against the Michigan Hawks and Vardar. Over the past 10-15 years, the two clubs have shared almost every single Michigan State Championship between them, so they were formidable opponents.

At 2pm Internacional squared off against the Hawks in a 60-minute scrimmage with no halftime, and considering that it was the first 11v11 game in more than 4 months, Internacional played really well. The Hawks probably had a little bite more of the play, but we were still unlucky to lose 1-0 in a very hard-fought game.

After only a 90-minute break, Internacional faced a Vardar team, which was playing in its first game of the day in a 2×35-minutes game. And while Internacional played some great possession soccer and created a few good chances, the extra spring in the Vardar players’ steps allowed them to win the game by a flattering 3-0 score-line.

All-in-all, it was a great day for Internacional. It was exactly the type of experience the team needed in preparation for the fast approaching Spring season. And it allowed Coach Phil to see the players in a new 4-2-3-1 formation against two of the best teams in the Midwest.

The performance in the scrimmages bodes well for the Spring season.

Team Chicago Academy – Internacional participated in the Darien Valentine’s Day Tournament at the Max McCook Indoor facility.

With two comfortable wins over Team Elmhurst and local foe ASC, Internacional had secured the berth into the Final before the final game of the group stage. So with an eye on the upcoming Final we didn’t play as well in the third game and only managed a 3-3 tie against a feisty Darien Dynamo team.

In the Final we were matched against Team Extreme, and although we carried most of the play and had most of the chances we had to settle for another 3-3 draw. So off we went to the shootout, and unfortunately lady luck was not on our side today, and we ended up runners-up in the tournament.

Overall it was a great experience, though, and it was nice to play some new competition and on a surface more similar to real grass.

Hey everyone. Thanks for signing up. I am very excited about this site. I think it will make everyone’s jobs much easier – especially as it comes to communicating new events, scheduling changes etc.

If you make this your homepage in your browser, it will load every time your browser loads and this will help getting our page up the ladder in Google searches.

Don’t worry. I have hidden any of the personal stuff, so strangers will only be able to see the general announcements etc.

Phil,

Welcome to the Team Chicago Academy Website! Here is where you can post and find your team schedules, news, scores, photos, documents, and message boards. It should make it easier to know what’s going on with the team.

So check it out and give it a try. If you have any questions call the TeamPages support line at 1-800-500-7203 or email support@teampages.com