The Chicago Fire are counting on their deep roster to carry them through the postseason. Saturday night, the squad took another hit when Chris Rolfe was sidelined with a hamstring injury, but Brian McBride broke out of his scoring funk in the second half and led them to a 2-2 draw with Toronto FC at Toyota Park.
Minutes before the match began, Patrick Nyarko was named as a replacement for Rolfe. Newly acquired Costa Rican defender David Myrie was added to the substitutes list.
It didn't take long for the visitors to take charge as Toronto struck first in the sixth minute. A long ball out of the back from Nana Attakora was misplayed by a pair of Fire defenders and Dwayne De Rosario raced to latch onto it and headed for goal. De Rosario sent the ball past Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch and into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Poor Fire defense equaled plenty of chances for the visitors in the first 13 minutes of play. And then Chicago got lucky. McBride sent the ball into the box for Patrick Nyarko. Toronto defender Nick Garcia turned to clear the ball out of danger, but instead knocked into the back of the net, tying the match at 1-1.
Chicago took five shots in the first half, but none of them were on goal. Justin Mapp had a near miss for Chicago in the 19th minute, sending the ball inches wide of the left post. In the 32nd minute, Attakora took down Nyarko. Mike Banner sailed the free kick over the crossbar and out.
McBride found himself in prime position in the 34th minute. Banner crossed the ball into the box. McBride caught up with the ball and and sent it high over the goal.
Toronto FC regained the lead seconds into the second half. De Rosario was the instigator, getting the ball on the left flank and putting a cross, and former Fire striker Chad Barrett buried a sliding shot into the net for a 2-1 advantage.
The Fire started to put on some pressure, but to no avail. Mapp lobbed the ball into the box in the 58th minute. No one was able to get to it, except for Toronto goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who knocked it out for a corner kick. Mapp sent the ball into the box 10 minutes later; this time Garcia knocked it out.
In the 78th minute, McBride finally broke through for the Fire. Mapp again crossed the ball into the box, where McBride headed it past Frei from the top of the six. The goal marked McBride's seventh of the campaign and first since May 16 (a 2-0 win over Toronto), also having just returned from shoulder surgery on Sept. 12
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Despite two late attempts by Logan Pause and Peter Lowry and Calen Carr, the Fire couldn't find the net again. Nyarko sent the ball into the box in the final seconds of extra time. Carr barely missed, sending the ball wide left.
Chicago remains in second place in the East, now five points behind the Columbus Crew. They travel to The Home Depot Center next Friday, where they will take on the Los Angeles Galaxy. Toronto FC have next week off, returning to action Oct. 11 when they play host to the San Jose Earthquakes.
Kathryn L. Knapp is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
