BRADENTON, FL - The Chicago Fire began the exhibition portion of its 2007 preseason schedule in impressive fashion on Saturday by shutting out a pair of foes on the campus of the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla. The "Men in Red" opened the proceedings on a winning note with a 4-0 shutout of the University of South Florida Bulls in a morning contest before blanking the U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team by a 2-0 score in an afternoon affair. Forwards Calen Carr and Jerson Monteiro each contributed a goal and an assist on the day, while midfielder Logan Pause was the only player to notch multiple assists with a pair of helpers. In all, six different players would tally a goal and eight players picked up an assist among the 30 players that saw action for the "Men in Red" across the two contests.
Fire 4, Univ. of South Florida 0
The Fire jumped out quickly in the opener - played in three, 30-minute periods - with a pair of goals in the opening half hour. After taking a corner kick in the 13th minute the Fire twice disallowed the Bulls to clear the ball out of danger, and the persistence paid off when defender Jeff Curtin's deflection bounced right to Monteiro, whose half-volley from 15 yards out found the upper right corner to put the Fire up 1-0. Chicago would cash in on a nice build-up in the 29th minute, as a cross from the right wing by midfielder Logan Pause into the area found forward Chad Barrett near the penalty spot. Barrett deftly laid off to midfielder Ivan Guerrero, who hit a low blast from 16 yards out into the back of the net to double the Chicago advantage. South Florida nearly got one back at the end of the 30 minutes on a corner kick, but a 12-yard effort from straight out clanged off the right post and out of danger to end the period.
South Florida's best chance of the match came in the 48th minute on a quick counter-attack, but Fire goalkeeper Josh Saunders, fresh off the bench in place of David Mahoney, made the stop of the match, making a low, reflex save to keep the Bulls off the board. Three minutes into the third stanza the Fire struck again, as forward Calen Carr put forward Andrae Clarke into space on the right flank, from where he sent a powerful pass across the penalty area that midfielder Roody Lormera headed home from eight yards to put Chicago up 3-0. The Fire would end the scoring in the 87th minute when Carr - last year's preseason leading scorer for the Fire - collected a long pass played over the defense by midfielder Brian Plotkin and dribbled around the drawn-out Bulls goalkeeper before patiently cutting into the middle of the area and slotting home from 12 yards out.
Scoring Summary:
CHI - Jersan Monteiro 1 (Jeff Curtin 1) 13
CHI - Ivan Guerrero 1 (Chad Barrett 1, Logan Pause 1) 29
CHI - Roody Lormera 1 (Calen Carr 1, Andrae Clarke 1) 63
CHI - Calen Carr 1 (Brian Plotkin 1) 87
Fire Lineup (3-5-2): GK-David Mahoney (Josh Saunders 45); D-C.J. Brown (Bakary Soumare 30), D-Jeff Curtin (Jim Curtin 30) (Daniel Woolard 60), D-Gonzalo Segares (Jordan Russolillo 30); M-Logan Pause (Erik Hort 30), M-Diego Gutierrez (Chris Armas 30) (Mark Totten 60), M-Ivan Guerrero (Brian Plotkin 30), M-Floyd Franks (Pascal Bedrossian 30) (Derek Kosek 60), M-Mike Banner (Nate Norman 30) (Andrae Clarke 60) (Asmir Pervan 75); F-Chad Barrett (Roody Lormera 40), F-Jerson Monteiro (Asmir Pervan 30) (Calen Carr 60).
South Florida Lineup: #2-Tom Markey, #3-Jason Devenish, #5-Yohance Marshall, #9-Jordan Seabrook, #13-Kevon Meaves, #14-Joey Brown, #18-Francisco Aristequiela, #19-Joris Claessens, #21-Simon Schoendorf, #23-Oqi Perucica, #25 Mark Doherty, #26-Anothony D'Oyley
Discipline Summary
None
Fire 2, U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team 0
The Fire used a goal apiece from midfielders Pascal Bedrossian and Floyd Franks to earn a 2-0 victory over the U.S. Under-17 National Team in a 70-minute scrimmage this afternoon. While the first half proved to be sluggish, the Fire would again get off to a quick start on Bedrossian's goal just 10 minutes into the contest. Midfielder Mike Banner played set-up man, first taking the ball down the left side before darting in along the endline, from where he cut back a low, sharp cross that Bedrossian easily redirected from five yards out to put the Fire in the lead. Chicago would control possession during most of the half but would see the rest of its chances go for wanting, most notably in the 33rd minute when Bedrossian tried to return the favor by laying off a ball for Banner, who drilled his attempt from 10 yards over the crossbar.
The second 35 minutes would be a more even affair, but it didn't start that way as the Fire nearly got on the board in the 37th minute when Monterio cut his run down the left flank towards the arc and laid a pass off for fellow rookie midfielder Mark Totten, but the James Madison product would see his first-time attempt stay wide of the right post. Three minutes later it was the U-17s getting their first quality chance thanks to the individual skills of Axel Levry, who reminded onlookers of another famous U-17 midfielder that donned #7, DaMarcus Beasley, by splitting a pair of Fire defenders on the endline and cutting a pass back to midfielder Ryan Garcia, whose blast from 15 yards was deflected, casuing it to go just over the crossbar for a corner. A lazy play in the back by the Fire in the 47th minute gave the U.S. U-17 captain Daniel Wenzel a good look on goal from distance, but his 25-yard shot was well high of the target.
The Fire would begin to assert its will with 15 minutes to go, creating a flurry of chances, starting with a Diego Gutierrez blast that sailed high and a Montiero shot that just missed the upper right corner in the 55th and 56th minutes, respectively. The offensive onslaught paid off in the 57th minute on a nice build up on the right side, Monteiro into space for Pause, who would take the ball 20 yards before playing a square ball to an onrushing Franks, who pounded home the chance first-time from just inside the area to double the Fire advantage and end the scoring.
Scoring Summary:
CHI - Pascal Bedrossian 1 (Mike Banner 1) 10
CHI - Floyd Franks 1 (Logan Pause 2, Jerson Monteiro 1) 57
Fire Lineup (3-5-2): GK-Dane Brenner (Nick Noble 35); D-C.J. Brown (Dasan Robinson 35), D-Jim Curtin (Jeff Curtin 35), D-Gonzalo Segares (Daniel Woolard 35); M-Roody Lormera (Mark Totten 35), M-Chris Armas (Diego Gutierrez 35), M-Derek Kosek (Logan Pause 35), Pascal Bedrossian (Floyd Franks 35), M-Mike Banner (Ivan Guerrero 35); F-Calen Carr (Andrae Clarke 35), F-Asmir Pervan (Jerson Monteiro 35).
U.S. Under-17s Lineup (3-5-2): GK-Josh Lambo, D-Brice Carr, D-Howard Turk, D-Chris Klute (Chris Cummings 60); M-Kofi Sarkodie, M-Jesse Paredes (Amobi Okugu 60), M-Daniel Wenzel, M-Ryan Garcia (Scott Caldwell 60), M-Alex Dixon (Eder Arreola 60); F-Axel Levry (Dersu Abolfathi 60), F-Billy Schuler (Gale Agbossoumonde 65).
Discipline Summary
USA - Daniel Wenzel (caution) 40
CHI - Jeff Curtin (caution) 60
Training Camp Notes
Forward Chad Barrett named to U.S. Under-23 National Team Camp Roster
U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradley has called 20 players into training camp at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., in preparation for a two-match tour of Japan. Fire forward Chad Barrett, one of 17 MLS-based players called into the camp, played 40 minutes in the Fire's 4-0 exhibition victory over South Florida this morning before leaving the Chicago side's preseason camp in Bradenton to join his U-23 teammates in Southern California.
This will be the first gathering of the U-23 MNT since the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament in August of 2004, and the first under Bradley and assistant coach Peter Nowak. The U-23 squad will train for a week in Carson before departing on Feb. 16 for Japan. The U-23s will play two matches, against the Japan Under-22 Men's National Team on Feb. 21 and a Japanese club team two days later.
U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team Camp Roster
Goalkeepers (2): Tally Hall (Esjberg FB), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)
Defenders (7): Adam Cristman (New England Revolution), Hunter Freeman (Colorado Rapids), Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Nathan Sturgis (Los Angeles Galaxy), Julian Valentin (Wake Forest University), Rob Valentino (University of San Francisco), Tim Ward (Columbus Crew)
Midfielders (7): Arturo Alvarez (FC Dallas), Nico Colaluca (Colorado Rapids), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Will John (Kansas City Wizards), Quavas Kirk (Los Angeles Galaxy), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Ryan Solle (New England Revolution)
Forwards (4): Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire), Michael Harrington (Kansas City Wizards), Jacob Peterson (Colorado Rapids), Jamie Watson (Real Salt Lake)
