Forgive Dave Sarachan if he begins to feel a bit like Phil Connors, Bill Murray's character in Groundhog Day. Every game day he wakes up in a hotel, his team puts on their road kit and then plays to a draw.
That's the way life is for the Chicago Fire, until their new home in Bridgeview, Ill., is open June 11. And what feels like a never-ending array of road games, the Fire played the New York Red Bulls to a 1-1 draw Saturday night at Giants Stadium.
"Being on the road is not easy and it's a credit so far to our guys and their mentality," Sarachan said. "I think the wear and tear of flights and hotels is beginning to seep in a bit but the mindset is very strong. I think as long as we can hang in there, I think we can position ourselves so that when we get to Bridgeview we're in the hunt."
Thanks to Diego Gutierrez's 68th-minute penalty kick, the Fire earned their sixth point in six games away from home. Nate Jaqua, who replaced Leonard Griffin in the 63rd minute, drew the penalty when he was taken down at the penalty spot by Danny O'Rourke.
Gutierrez beat Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway, a last-minute replacement for an injured Tony Meola, to the 'keeper's left. It was his first goal of the year.
"Games on the road are difficult if you just have them once in a while but to have seven, eight, nine in row, it's quite difficult," Gutierrez said. "We've hit a bit of a fatigue point but we'll get together again during the week, take care of our bodies and make sure that we get our minds in the state where we're relaxed a bit."
The Fire carried the game early and had several quality chances, but Conway, who made his first MLS appearance since Oct. 9, 2004, came up big. He stopped Chad Barrett early, coming off his line to make a stop in the fourth minute.
In the 21st minute Conway again got the better of Barrett, making a save of his shot from 16 yards and two minutes later Thiago found Barrett, who had acres of space down the right side. But again Conway stopped Barrett, making a kick save.
Six minutes later, the Red Bulls took the lead when recently acquired Jean Philippe Peguero leapt over C.J. Brown and headed in Seth Stammer's cross. Despite having the better of play, the Fire went into the locker room at the half trailing for the first time this season.
"I was pleased with my guys in the second half," Sarachan said, "because we said, 'look, you don't have to go out and equalize in the first five minutes. Be patient and the chances will come.' Nate came in as a reserve and really was a handful, he created the penalty and Diego stuck it and we battled back and got out of here with a point."
Both teams had quality chances in the final 10 minutes with Youri Djorkaeff putting the ball off the far post from 20 yards out in the 82nd minute and Jaqua's blast from the top of the penalty area ringing off the crossbar a minute later.
But when the Fire left Giants Stadium, to board another bus, to go back to another hotel room before taking another flight back to Chicago, they'll do so with another point from the road.
And next week, they'll try to do it all over again.
"We're all competitive and we'd like to be greedy and think we should get three points," Sarachan said. "But at the end of the day to continue to accumulate points on the road is really what's important now because of the long stretch on the road that we have."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
