Chicago Fire Juniors North Red U12 Boys Win Disney Soccer Junior Showcase

The Chicago Fire Juniors North U12 Boys traveled to Orlando, Florida over Thanksgiving to play in the Disney Junior Showcase played at the ESPN Wide World of Sports facility. The boys were matched against many of the nations top teams over the 3 day event. On Friday, the team opened competition with a tie against Miami based Weston Academy 1-1 on a goal by Brian Perez with 30 seconds remaining. In the afternoon match, they shook of the nerves and beat North Carolina’s #1 ranked CASL Juniors 2-0 on a goals by Axel Alejandre and Alan Dizdarevic, and a dominating performance in goal by Nate Crockford to preserve the shutout.  In a “must win” on Saturday, the boys beat Florida’s #1 ranked Orlando City Academy on a goal by Shea Betchel, earning a spot in the Sunday semi-finals. In the semi, the boys faced Ohio’s #2 ranked Crew Challenger Academy and prevailed with a 3-1 win on 2 goals by Alejandre and an own goal credited to Charlie Crockford. With that victory the Juniors earned a spot in the final against the nationally #20 ranked Dallas Texans. The Juniors went up a goal in the 13th minute, but the Texans equalized just minutes later. The deadlock lasted until 3 minutes remaining when the Junior’s got the game winner on a determined effort by Dalton Hass.  This tournament victory was a team effort...all 14 player who traveled were instrumental in the win for the FIre Juniors.

The boys traveled to Florida with a group of 50 parents and friends, which made for a great atmosphere with chants and continued support. All of this was made possible by 10 months of fundraising by the players and families.

The U12 boys have been hand selected as one of 24 teams to play in the Dallas SuperCopa in June.

Winning Roster: Jacob Cordero, Junior Brito, Axel Alejandre, Mateo Acosta, Danny Campos, Mike Malyszek, Charlie Crockford, Nate Crockford, Dalton Hass, Alan Dizdarevic, Shea Betchel, Christian Martinez, Brian Perez, Sebastian Jaime