TUCSON, Ariz. (Feb. 22, 2014) – The Chicago Fire Soccer Club continued their undefeated preseason run Saturday afternoon with a 2-0 victory over USL PDL side FC Tucson in the second match of the Desert Diamond Cup. Goals from Alex and Bakary Soumare gave the Fire their sixth consecutive victory.
The Fire opened scoring in the 19th minute with a quick counterattack. Chris Rolfe received the ball near the center circle and played it forward for Juan Luis Anangono. As the Ecuadorian striker raced into the box, Tucson ‘keeper Victor Rodriguez raced off his line and made the stop. The deflected ball fell to Alex, who lofted his header from just inside the 18-yard box over Rodriguez and into the open goal.
Soumare doubled the Fire’s lead in the 42nd minute with a brilliant effort. Rolfe played a quick ball to Patrick Nyarko, who dribbled down to the right endline and whipped in a cross to the far post. Without letting the ball drop, Soumare unleashed a wicked side-volley past Rodriguez for the 2-0 lead.
Next up for the Fire in Desert Diamond Cup action are long-time Eastern Conference foes New England Revolution on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 4:30 p.m. CT at the Kino Sports Complex.
Single game tickets to the Fire’s 17 MLS Regular Season home matches and to the July 26 international friendly against Barclay’s Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur FC are now available via Ticketmaster and www.Chicago-Fire.com.
Chicago Fire 2 – 0 FC Tucson
Chicago Fire: Sean Johnson; Lovel Palmer; Patrick Ianni, Bakary Soumare, Gonzalo Segares; Patrick Nyarko, Alex, Jeff Larentowicz ©, Dilly Duka; Chris Rolfe; Juan Luis Anangono
Subs not used: Kyle Reynish, Parker Walsh^, Marco Franco, Yazid Atouba, Steven Kinney, Giuseppe Gentile, Harry Shipp, Benji Joya, Victor Pineda, Quincy Amarikwa
- 2014 MLS SuperDraft Pick
^- Guest Player
FC Tucson: Victor Rodriguez; Sam Duininck (Travis Campbell 46’), Kareem Smith (Greg Carter 46’), Edgar Reyna (Nick Hamer 46’), Obed Rincon (Saeed Robinson 46’); Peter Kelly (Gabe Silveira 46’), Carlos Montes (Zach Bolden 46’), Ryan Gracia (Jason Romero 46’), Andres Acosta (Elijah Galbraith-Knapp 46’), Martino Rapella (Josh Phillips 46’); Dan Anoniuk (Anthony Salticcia 46’) (Reid Smith 70’)
Scoring Summary
CHI – Alex (unassisted) 19’
CHI – Bakary Soumare (Patrick Nyarko) 43’
Misconduct Summary
N/A
