Wisconsin Soccer Central

Vitalis Takawira Jr. (Greendale) and the Chicago Fire Under-15/16 team is headed to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Championships.

Takawira scored his fourth goal of the season late in extra time, sealing the Fire's 3-0 victory over Weston FC in a quarterfinal Wednesday night in Miami.

Chicago (19-7-3) advanced to play FC Dallas (27-2-0) in the semifinals July 14 in Carson, Calif. The winner will take on the Los Angeles Galaxy (28-9-3) or Real Colorado (19-4-7) in the final July 16; the losing sides will play for third place.

After a scoreless 80 minutes, the Fire scored twice in the opening 4 minutes of the first 10-minute period of extra time against Weston (23-5-8) before Takawira ran on to a throw-in and scored an insurance goal. He has eight goals overall in Academy play this season, having scored four goals for the club's Under-17/18 team.

Stan Anderson (UW-Parkside), a former assistant in the UW-Milwaukee, Marquette and University of Wisconsin men's programs, is an assistant to Fire Academy head coach Gonzalo Segares.

• Defender Andre Baires, an incoming freshman at UW-Green Bay, scored on a header as the host Vancouver Whitecaps outscored Sacramento Republic 5-3 in a Development Academy Under-17/18 quarterfinal Thursday in rainy British Columbia. Baires has five goals on the season for the Whitecaps (23-1-11). New Jersey's PDA, FC Dallas and California's Nomads SC were the other quarterfinal winners; semifinal pairings haven't been announced.
• Midfielder Chris Geanon (Middleton) and goalkeeper Andre Wangard (Brookfield) played with Minnesota's Shattuck-St. Mary's at the Under-15/16 Development Academy Showcase from June 20 to 25 in Frisco, Texas. Geanon saw action in all three matches (two starts), while Wangard started one and came on as a sub in another.
• The FC Wisconsin Nationals Under-14 boys team was drawn into Flight C for next week's National Premier Leagues Finals in Aurora, Colo. The Nationals (12-0-3) will face Florida's GPS Orlando (11-0-2) on Thursday, GPS Massachusetts (10-0-1) on July 15 and Colorado's FC Boulder (6-1-0) on July 16. Coach Billy Solberg's FC Wisconsin side doesn't play California's Anaheim FC PDA or Oregon's River Plate SC 24K, which also are in the six-team group. Semifinals are July 17, with the final July 18. Full NPL Finals schedule, more information
• Twenty-seven state boys players have been in Saginaw, Mich., this week at the U.S. Youth Soccer Region II Olympic Development Program camp, while 19 state girls will participate in next week's girls camp. The camps are used to select the 2016-17 Region II ODP teams. (More information) Here are the Wisconsin players chosen for the regional camps, with club affiliations where available:

BOYS
1999: Seth Boldt (Central FC), Jackson Dryden (Bavarian SC), Michael Henry, Andrew Schweinert (Bavarian SC), Austen Schweinert (Bavarian SC), Manuel Josue Valenzuela (North Shore United).
2000: Evan Donini (Bavarian SC), Elian Haddock (Bavarian SC), Bryan Lopez, Nolan Wolf (SC Waukesha).
2001: Alexander Alvarado (Madison 56ers), Tamirat Knutson (Central FC), Tyler Silber (ACE), William Taylor (Madison 56ers), Jordan Thao (Central FC), Max Walters (Madison 56ers).
2002: Older - John Harms, Bennett Pauls (SC Waukesha), Thomas Priest (Appleton SC), Cole Walgren. Younger - Justin Howe (United Soccer of Allouez), Jackson Stencel, Chris Tiako (Fusion SC).
2003: Older - Nathan Donovan, Ryan Keefe (MC United), Matthew Roou (Bavarian SC). Younger - Timothy Browning (Rush Wisconsin), Connor Henning (Strike FC), Cooper Re (United Soccer of Allouez), Mateo Stoka (Bavarian SC).

GIRLS
1999: Kylie Gierach (Lakeshore United).
2000: Megan Crevoiserat (SC Waukesha), Hailey Farrington-Bentil (SC Waukesha), Haley Johnson (SC Waukesha), McKayla Kertscher (Lakeshore United), Katie Koker (SC Waukesha), Bonnie Lacey (Lakeshore United), Elaina LaMacchia (SC Waukesha), Brandi Thomsen (Elm Grove SC).
2001: Abby Gemza (Central FC), Harper Johnson (Madison 56ers), Madison Simpson (MC United).
2002: Older - Emily Wiebe (Fusion SC). Younger - Lauren Davis, Elena Rojas (Whitefish Bay SC).
2003: Older - Carina Murphy (North Shore United), Emma Pankiewicz (Croatian Eagles). Younger - Sophia Balistreri (Croatian Eagles), Summer Malinauskas (Croatian Eagles).