Bradenton, Fla. - The Chicago Fire won its second straight preseason match, beating FC Dallas 3-1 earlier today off of goals from Chris Rolfe, Kelly Gray and Will John. The two teams played a 40-minute first half and a 35-minute second half during the match.
FC DALLAS STARTING LINEUP:
Goalkeeper: Henry Ring (Gomez 41')
Defenders: Chris Gbandi (Wagenfuhr 57'), Alex Yi (Goodson 57'), Aaron Black, and Drew Moor (Salyer 57')
Midfielders: Ty Maurin, Ramon Nunez, Kevin Wilson, and Arturo Alvarez
Forwards: Julian Nash and Abe Thompson
* First Half - 40 Minutes, Second Half - 35 Minutes
CHICAGO STARTING LINEUP:
Goalkeeper: Zach Thornton
Defenders: Leonard Griffin, Jack Stewart, C.J. Brown, Kelly Gray
Midfielders: Justin Mapp, Thiago, Chris Karcz, John Thorrington
Forwards: Chris Rolfe and Nate Jaqua
1 2 F
FC Dallas 1 0 1
Chicago 2 1 3
Scoring Summary:
CHI - Rolfe (Thorrington) 4', Gray 18', John (Ralph, Khumalo) 60' FCD - Alvarez (Nash, Maurin) 25'
*
First Half
- 40 Minutes, Second Half - 35 Minutes
The Fire took the early lead after Chris Rolfe struck home a goal in the fourth minute. John Thorrington put a nice ball through to Rolfe, who had a perfectly timed run. Rolfe was then one on one with FC Dallas goalkeeper and former Fire keeper Henry Ring. Rolfe scored to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. Just 14 minutes later, the Fire took a 2-0 lead on a goal by Kelly Gray. Gray beat an offsides trap and walked in alone on Ring to tally the goal. FC Dallas struck back in the 25th minute after Ty Maurin crossed the ball from the right to Julian Nash. Nash flipped the ball into the top of the box where Arturo Alvarez nailed a left-footed volley just out of the reach of Chicago goalkeeper Zach Thornton and inside the right post.
In the second half, Will John put the icing on the cake with a goal in the 60th minute of the scrimmage. Boyzzz Khumalo put a through pass to Damani Ralph who had a one on one with Chris Gomez and instead of taking on the goalkeeper he laid off a pass to John who was all alone in front of the goal. In the 48th minute of the second half, Chicago defender Jim Curtin received a red card after his tackle on Julian Nash.
