The Chicago Fire lost 2-1 to the Houston Dynamo tonight in front of 17,183 fans at TOYOTA PARK in Bridgeview, Ill. Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark opened scoring in the 17th minute, but Fire forward Calen Carr leveled the score in the 28th minute with a header into the right side of the net. Dynamo defender Bobby Boswell notched the game-winning goal with a header in the 82nd minute.
• With a record of 5-2-1, 16 pts., the Chicago Fire sit tied in second place with the New England Revolution and 3 pts. behind Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference Standings.
• Fire forward Calen Carr recorded his first start and goal of the 2008 season tonight. Carr last scored on 8/25/07 against Kansas City - a span of 12 games.
• The Fire are now even with HOU in the all-time regular season series 2-2-1.
• Chicago has yet to beat the Dynamo at TOYOTA PARK in 3 tries (0-2-1).
• Defender Wilman Conde saw his first minutes tonight since coming in for 1 min. on 4/26/08 vs. COL.
• Tonight's attendance at TOYOTA PARK was 17,183.
• Chicago snapped a 3-game winning streak tonight.
• Head Coach Denis Hamlett only made one change to the starting 11 he used in the two previous matches, slotting Calen Carr into the attack for injured John Thorrington (back spasms).
• Fire forward Tomasz Frankowski played 10 minutes off the bench, his first minutes since playing 85 min. on 4/26/08 vs. COL.
• Houston outshot Chicago 12-9, and had more shots on goal 8-5.
• Tonight marks the first Fire loss to a Western Conference opponent in 2008.
• The Fire are 1 goal away from scoring 500 goals all-time in regular season play.
• With two fouls today, Fire Defender Diego Gutierrez is now 3rd all-time in MLS history for fouls committed with 431, one ahead of former midfielder Chris Armas.
• Busch, Pause, and Blanco have played every minute (720 minutes) for the Fire this season.
• The Chicago Fire return to action on Wednesday, May 21, as the team plays Polish First Division club Wisla Krakow in an international friendly at TOYOTA PARK.
• Fire resume MLS play on Sunday, May 25, at the New York Red Bulls (2:00 p.m. CT, My50 Chicago).
Chicago Fire 1, Houston Dynamo 2
May 17, 2008
Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett
On the game:
"I felt that we made a good push in the first half, and had a number of chances. I've set it before, they are a good team."
On Houston's game-winning goal:
"Whether it was offside or not, they scored and won the game."
Fire Forward Calen Carr
On his goal:
"That play is something the Cuauhtémoc [Blanco] and I have been working on in practice. It felt really good to get that goal, but obviously we didn't get the result that we wanted out of the game."
Fire Midfielder Justin Mapp
On the game:
"I was Disappointed, I thought we put a lot into it; gave them credit, because they did well, but we came up short.
On what can be improved upon:
"Just stay positive; learn from mistakes watch the tape and keep doing the same things we've been doing".
Dynamo Head Coach Dominic Kinnear
On the game:
"I think our attacking group played well. From the first minute their movement, they created some good chances. Like last week you know, we didn't finish our chances but at the same time it's good that you can create these new chances, and it's going to turn where you do finish them. Tonight a different guy stepped up and finished two chances and we got the win, and that's the most important thing."
"It just came together. I thought we played pretty well. I think the rain helped us out, it made the ball move a little quicker.
Dynamo Midfielder Ricardo Clark
On the game:
"It just came together. I thought we played pretty well. I think the rain helped us out, it made the ball move a little quicker. You know we're trying to come here twice to win instead of sitting back. I think we showed that by keep on attacking obviously they through a lot of guys forward there at the end. I think we withstood a very good, very scary first two and a half minutes from them."
