The Chicago Fire U16 and U18 U.S. Soccer Development Academy sides are good. Both sides concluded the 2011/12 regular season on Sunday at Indiana Fire Academy with the U16s taking a 2-2 draw and the U18s a 3-1 victory.
Both results helped keep the sides first in the Great Lakes Division with the U18s going 13-0-3 (18-2-3 overall) and the U-16s going 11-1-4 (15-3-5 overall) on the campaign.
With the finish, the U18s also remained the number one ranked team in the country while the U16s finished fifth in the nation -- both are the top ranked MLS Academy in their age group with the next being the LA Galaxy (#4 at U18 and #8 at U16).
Yesterday, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced the draw for the 2012 Developmental Academy playoffs, set to begin Monday, June 25 in Frisco, Texas. See the results below...
U-18s
Group 7
Chicago Fire (Bridgeview, Ill.)
Solar Chelsea SC (Dallas, Texas)
Albertson SC (Great Neck, N.Y.)
Concorde Fire (Atlanta, Ga.)
U-16s
Group 4
Chicago Fire (Bridgeview, Ill.)
Real Salt Lake AZ (Casa Grande, Ariz.)
Seattle Sounders FC (Tukwila, Wash.)
Clearwater Chargers (Clearwater, Fla.)
Only the top team from each group will advance to the Academy Finals week, set to be held in Houston, Texas from July 16-23.
Earlier Tuesday,
Fire Academy Director Larry Sunderland
took both sides to a mini-camp in South Bend, Ind. to prepare for next week's playoffs. Joining the teams in Indiana are first teamers and Academy eligible players Victor Pineda and Kellen Gulley.
Check
Chicago-Fire.com
Wednesday for an exclusive podcast interview with Sunderland about the team's progress heading into the postseason.
