The Chicago Fire didn't get the three points they so tantalizingly came close to earning on the road, but considering the lack of goals in the previous three outings, a 2-2 tie maybe wasn't so bad after all.
The Fire held a 2-0 lead after 25 minutes on goals by Chris Rolfe and Calen Carr but were unable to put the match away before Crew rookie reserve Steven Lenhart poked in the equalizer in the 87th minute. Columbus had several more opportunities in stoppage time but could not get the winner.
"It's disappointing. We had such a good start to the game, got two goals and then to give it away that first goal it does feel like a loss," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. "But then again, given our stretch we had where we couldn't score goals and we got two tonight we have to draw some positives whenever you go on the road. Our guys are (ticked off) because we thought we had two points in the bag and let it slip away."
Forward Chris Rolfe, who grew up in Kettering, Ohio, and played collegiately about 60 miles west of Columbus at the University of Dayton, returned to the Buckeye State to put a damper on the festive crowd by scoring the first goal and assisting on the second before Emmanuel Ekpo cut the deficit in half in the 36th minute after a Fire turnover.
"It always feels good to get a goal, especially in front of friends and family here at home. It was a big goal for us because it got us on the board early," said Rolfe, who has six goals and two assists in 11 matches against Columbus.
The Fire are 0-3-2 in the past five matches but did improve to 4-0-3 in Crew Stadium since July 3, 2004. They hadn't scored in 333 minutes of league play but that stat went by the wayside very early thanks to the brilliance of Cuauhtemoc Blanco in the eighth minute.
The midfielder sent a quick, over-the-top service to midfielder Justin Mapp to beat an offside trap, and he fired a shot off the left post. Rolfe followed up and was in perfect position to drive in the rebound from 12 yards for his third goal of the season.
On the second score, Rolfe played a give-and-go with Gonzalo Segares before Segares spotted forward Calen Carr on a run down the center of the Crew defense. Carr was at full speed when he whistled a shot past Hesmer to notch his second score.
"It's always some combination of something but it was pretty good one-touch passing by Chicago," Crew assistant coach Robert Warzycha said. "After the first goal it was 'Oh, my god. They scored so early and we're going to have to push.' Before you know it the second goal came. After that we pretty much controlled the game."
On the tying goal, Lenhart took a service from Guillermo Barros Schelotto on his right shin and the ball bounced toward the goal. It appeared to hit both Fire defender Brandon Prideaux and Crew midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi on the way in.
"At the end they were pushing everybody forward. We're just trying to plug holes in the back," Busch said. "They've got some big boys. I thought Brandon did well on the first guy running. He (Lenhart) mis-hit it or something. I lost track of it after that. It was kind of a miss that hit the back of the net.
"That's what happens when you're dumping balls in the box and guys are fighting. They've got big guys. Balls are going to be knocked down; balls are going to be pummeled around."
The Fire were more disappointed that the Crew was in position to go for the tie at that point.
"It's a credit to them. They were pushing," Hamlett said. "At times we didn't make the right decisions. As they were pushing that leaves them open to counters. We didn't well with that, particularly the one with Justin going in on Danny (O'Rourke). That was a good opportunity to at least get a shot off and we ended up fouling it up. If we could have done better with those counters maybe we would have gotten that third goal and closed the game out."
Busch agreed. "We didn't do a good job killing the game. At times we did ... 60, 70, maybe 80 minutes we got a hold of the game and started knocking it. If we had continued doing that defensively we would have ended up with three points instead of one. At the end of the day it was a point on the road. It was a great game. Both teams had chances to get the third."
The 'keeper made sterling saves on Schelotto in the first half and Frankie Hejduk in the second to preserve the one-goal advantage in his first appearance against his former team. Busch had six saves, four in the second half but it wasn't enough.
He played from the Crew from 2002 until being released last year. He was with the Fire last season but did not play against his former club.
"It's just another game. I had my time last year. That was more emotional," Busch said.
"It's disappointing giving up a late goal but getting a point on the road is always a good thing," Rolfe said. "Hopefully, we can build on this performance and go from here."
Craig Merz is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
