BRADENTON, Fla. - The Chicago Fire kicked off its 2008 campaign with a 3-1 win in a preseason scrimmage against the U.S. U-17 Men's National Team at Field 5 of the IMG Academies facility in Bradenton, Fla. The Fire played varied lineups in three separate 30-minute intervals, with veteran Fire midfielder Diego Gutierrez wearing the captain's armband for the first session.
The Fire went down a goal early in the first minute of play when U.S. U-17 forward Donovan Henry picked off an errant back pass from Chicago defender Wilman Conde and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Jon Busch. The Fire had few offensive chances throughout the next 20 minutes as the U-17's had the run of play.
Chicago made line-change substitutions at the 30-minute mark, with forward Chris Rolfe taking the captain's band for the second stanza. The Fire nearly tied the game in the 40th minute when midfielder Justin Mapp sent a left-sided cross to the feet of forward Floyd Franks, but his volley from point-blank range went just over the crossbar. Just before the 45th minute mark, Mapp was substituted out due to a right forearm injury.
The Fire had another chance to even the score in the 50th minute when rookie midfielder Peter Lowry sent a through-ball to Franks for an attempt on-goal, but the U-17 goalkeeper saw the play develop and dove to make the save. In the 60th minute, a cross into the box from was chested down by Lowry right to the feet of Franks. Franks' shot from eight yards out skimmed wide left of the frame.
Chicago made another mass substitution in the 60th minute, with Franks taking the captain's band. A ball out of the back from Fire defender Daniel Woolard in the 74th minute fell right to Franks, and the forward made no mistake with a strong finish to knot the game at 1-1. One minute later, rookie midfielder Tim Conway struck a 30-yard attempt that hit the left post but was eventually cleared off the line.
Fire midfielder Brian Plotkin substituted in for Franks in the 76th minute and made his presence known three minutes later on a corner kick. Plotkin's service from the left corner connected with the head of rookie forward Patrick Nyarko, who redirected it into the back of the net from six yards out to give the "Men in Red" a 2-1 advantage. A give-and-go between rookie midfielder Kei Kasiguran and Plotkin freed Plotkin for a one-on-one opportunity in the 86th minute, but his right-footed shot pinged off the right post and out of the penalty area.
The Fire netted a late insurance goal in the 89th minute, when a pass from Plotkin connected with rookie midfielder Zach Pope near the end line. Pope sent the ball back into the box for Nyarko to one-time it low into the net for the game's final tally in a 3-1 Fire win.
Chicago Fire: GK-Jon Busch, D-Diego Gutierrez, D-Wilman Conde, D-Austin Washington, D-Tim Regan, M-Logan Pause, M-Mike Banner, M-Stephen King, M-Cuauhtémoc Blanco, F-Chad Barrett, F-Tomasz Frankowski.
30': GK-Nick Noble, D-Brian Plotkin, D-Daniel Woolard, D-Osei Telesford, D-Bruno Menezes, M-Bakary Soumare, M-Just Mapp, M-Chris Rolfe, M-Peter Lowry, F-Calen Carr, F-Floyd Franks.
60': GK-Dominic Cervi, D-Daniel Woolard, D-Jeff Curtin, D-Tim Bode, D-Iradj Farahmand, M-Tim Conway, M-Adrian Bumbut, M-Kei Kasiguran, M-Zach Pope, F-Floyd Franks, F-Patrick Nyarko.
Scoring Summary:
U17 - Donovan Henry (unassisted) 1
CHI - Floyd Franks 1 (Daniel Woolard 1) 74
CHI - Patrick Nyarko 1 (Brian Plotkin 1) 79
CHI - Patrick Nyarko 2 (Zach Pope 1, Brian Plotkin 2) 89
Referee: Paul Denton
Referee Assistants: William Watson, Rob Joyner
Attendance: 158
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 75 degrees
