CHICAGO FIRE 2, COLUMBUS CREW 2
COLUMBUS CREW ASSISTANT COACH ROBERT WARZYCHA
On his team's persistence and willingness to fight back after an early deficit:
"You wish to have a team like this that will fight until the end, as a coach. If you give up after the first 15 minutes, then why do you coach? Then why even be here? We've tried to put a group of guys [together] who fight until the end and I think today was a very exciting game."
On his thoughts when the Crew went down 2-0:
"To be honest with you, I wasn't worried. Chicago came out flying and the two goals they scored were pretty good, they caught us on the counterattack. With Rolfe and Carr, who are so fast, they did good. But I wasn't worried, to be honest with you. I knew we were going to score goals."
On young forward Steven Lenhart, who had the Crew's late equalizer:
"I think since he cut his hair, he's scoring some goals. He's a good player to have on the bench for you. Especially being down, 2-1, you are looking for somebody who is going to score a goal."
COLUMBUS CREW DEFENDER FRANKIE HEJDUK
On the team's confidence after going down two goals early:
"We knew we were going to come back, we just felt like we were, and sure enough we did, and we could have even gotten a third. The first 20 minutes killed us and then we were having to chase the game a bit, but saying that, we chased it pretty good. We got the two goals back and we created a lot of chances."
On the Crew's effort:
"At the end of the day, I thought we played well enough to win, but saying that, they did a good job of doing what they had to do, too. They always are a thorn in our side here at home in Columbus, and they made it difficult for us again. But at the same time, we did well by coming back and battling back and not giving up."
COLUMBUS CREW FORWARD ALEJANDRO MORENO
On the team's mentality after going down early:
"You do the work during the week, then you come on Saturday and you hope that the players react well. Obviously we give up two goals real quick, but we showed some fight, we kept coming and we would have liked to get three points, that's for sure."
On teammate Steven Lenhart, who scored the Crew's late equalizer:
"I think what he does is that he comes in and he's going to battle in the box and he gives us another body that gets in the box with the same kind of intensity, that I do, so it gives us a second runner that's trying to get in on the end of things and trying to find his way to get in on the end of crosses, and he did a fantastic job again today."
CHICAGO FIRE HEAD COACH DENIS HAMLETT
On Chicago's hot start in the match:
"We had a very good start to the game. We got two goals early, 25 minutes into it, and it felt pretty good. I think them scoring that first goal off our mistake was key tonight."
On the Crew's late equalizer:
"Credit to them, I think their subs came in and really got some balls in the box. We gave up too many corner kicks in the second half, which with their team, they have some big guys, and with Schelotto's service it makes them dangerous. We actually got lucky at the end because I thought we fell asleep on the free kick that probably could have been a goal."
On the Crew's increased pressure in the second half:
"It's a credit to them, they were pushing the game, but I think at times we didn't make quite the right decisions because, as they're pushing, that leaves them open in the back and we had a couple counters that we didn't too well with tonight."
CHICAGO FIRE FORWARD CHRIS ROLFE
On scoring a goal in front of his friends and family back home in Ohio:
"It always feels good to get a goal, especially in front of my friends and family here at home. It was a big goal for us because we got on the board early and I feel like it hopefully picked up the guys' spirits."
On giving up the late equalizer:
"It's always disappointing to give up a late goal, but getting a point on the road is always a good thing, so hopefully we can build on this performance on the road and go from here."
CHICAGO FIRE GOALKEEPER JON BUSCH
On the Fire's attempt to defend against the late equalizer:
"If we would have stayed smart defensively, we would have ended up with three points instead of one, but at the end of the day we got one point on the road. It was a great game, it was back and forth; both teams had chances. We had chances to get the third and they had chances to get the second, before they did, so I guess that's where it should be at the end of the game."
