BRADENTON, FL - Fire forwards Chad Barrett, Andy Herron and Calen Carr all tallied a goal and midfielder Will Johnson added a pair of assists to help the Chicago Fire to a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Crew in an exhibition contest today at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL. The win, which came in Chicago's first preseason match against a fellow MLS opponent, gave the Men in Red an undefeated 4-0-1 finish for the Bradenton leg, which ends tomorrow with a final morning practice before the squad breaks camp for the long Presidents Day weekend.
Columbus midfielder Sebastian Rozental took the match's first threatening shot three minutes into the contest, his heavily weighted shot sailing wide right. From that point forward it was all Fire in the first 30-minute period, but the offense would pick up only after a scary moment in the 8th minute, when defender Gonzalo Segares sprained his left ankle while challenging for a ball on the Columbus endline. The combination of Fire midfielders Johnson and Ivan Guerrero would begin to sync up after the 10th minute, repeatedly creating havoc down the left flank. The combo would pay off in the 14th minute, when Johnson played Guerrero into space beside the penalty area, where the Honduran international sent in a low across that skipped across the six-yard box. Barrett crashed the area towards at far right post, sliding in and getting a shot off that beat Crew netminder Jon Busch to give Chicago the early lead and Barrett his first tally of the spring.
Chicago would dominate possession more and more as the stanza went on, but chances from Johnson and midfielder Justin Mapp in the 17th minute and Herrons finish off a lengthy run in the 27th minute would go for naught. Columbus had a clear chance to tie it up in the 29th minute, but Crew defender Chad Marshall's 10-yard header off a corner kick sailed well high of goal.
The Men in Red would continue firing on all cylinders into the middle half hour, and the attack would hit paydirt once again in the 40th minute when Johnson played a ball through the middle of the field to Herron. The Costa Rican striker seized the chance well, chipping a shot past Busch to double the Chicago advantage. The Fire nearly got on the board 10 minutes later when Barrett took his last shot of the day, collecting a pass 15 yards from goal before turning hard and crushing a shot that missed the upper right corner of goal by a foot. Columbus' best chance of the period came in the 54th minute when former Fire forward John Wolyniec beat everyone to the left endline and sent in a dangerous low cross that went through the six-yard box but failed to find a teammate.
Columbus would get one back shortly after the beginning of the third half hour, a play that started when an attacker was tripped two yards inside the penalty area in a crowd of players contesting for the ball, resulting in a penalty kick. Knox Cameron would step up to take the kick, which he roofed into the left side of the net despite Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens guessing to the correct side. Chicago would get its two-goal cushion back in the 73rd minute, when midfielder Brian Plotkin played a long diagonal ball over the defense down left flank. Carr would take it from there, running onto the ball and beating a defender with speed before turning inside towards goal and connecting on a low shot that beat Crew keeper Bill Gaudette, giving the Fire a 3-1 advantage and Carr his team-high third goal of the preseason. Carr nearly had a chance for another just a minute later, but he was issued a questionable yellow card for diving after going down after contact while trying to go through a pair of Columbus defenders at the top of the penalty area.
After returning to Chicago on Friday and enjoying three days off, the Fire will resume its 2006 Spring Training by departing for a 10-day excursion south of the border to Guadalajara, Mexico next Tuesday, Feb. 21.
Scoring Summary:
CHI Chad Barrett 1 (Ivan Guerrero 2, Will Johnson 2) 14
CHI Andy Herron 2 (Will Johnson 3) 40
CLB Knox Cameron (penalty kick) 65
CHI Calen Carr 3 (Brian Plotkin 2) 73
Fire Lineup (3-5-2): Zach Thornton (Matt Pickens 45) (David Mahoney 75); Dasan Robinson (Jeremy Ashe 60), Jack Stewart (Idris Ughiovhe 60), Gonzalo Segares (Jordan Russolillo 8) (Ezra Prendergast 60); Justin Mapp (Bushy Moletsane 54), Logan Pause (Richard Mupfudze 60), Scott Buete (Brian Plotkin 45), Will Johnson, Ivan Guerrero (Leonard Griffin 45), Chad Barrett (Andy Rosenband 50), Andy Herron (Calen Carr 45).
Columbus Crew Line-up (4-4-2): Jon Busch (Bill Gaudette 60); Rusty Pierce (Tim Ward 60), Chad Marshall (Jed Zayner 60), Marcos Gonzalez (Knox Cameron 60), Ritchie Kotschau (Chris Corcoran 30) (David Testo 60); Dayton OBrien (Jamal Sutton 30) (Duke Hashimoto 60), Sebastian Rozental (Eric Vasquez 60), Danny Szetela (Ivan Becarra 60), Peter Swierczewski (Brandon Moss 30); Edson Buddle (Kei Kamara 60), Aleksey Korol (John Wolyniec 30) (Jason Garey 60).
Discipline Summary
CHI Gonzalo Segares (caution) 8
CHI Will Johnson (caution) 61
CLB Brandon Moss (caution) 66
CHI Calen Carr (caution) 74
