The Chicago Fire defeated the St. Louis Lions 4-2 in PDL action on Tuesday, May 31, at the Toyota Park Turf Field courtesy of a first half Mark Segbers hat trick.
The Fire started fast and created many dangerous chances in the opening minutes but had trouble putting them away. After a few finishing mistakes, the confident and resilient Fire team kept pushing and the flood gates opened. In the 5th minute Brody Kraussel slid a ball across the box where Mark Segbers clinically placed it into the back of the net.
It took another 20 minutes but the Men in Red managed to double the home lead with a similar setup from Kraussel leaving Segbers with a brace off of a beautiful flick on past the St. Louis keeper. Charlie Mertz then found Segbers on the edge of the box in the 28th minute where Segbers managed to strike it around the keeper for an impressive first half hat trick. The Fire looked to be in control of the game early, however it did not take long for St. Louis to answer back. In the 33rd minute Joe Lamont managed to put his team back in the game after Evan Garcia found him in the box with a calmly placed cross.
Chicago came out of the half looking to put the game out of reach fast. Louis Bennett managed to do so with a confidently taken strike in stride from just outside the box in the 55th minute. With the game seemingly out of reach, St. Louis was sparked back into the game when Cody Blentlinger beautifully placed a through ball between the Fire central defenders which Nijaz Muratovic was able to connect with and place past Andrew Putna in the 66th minute. With St. Louis pushing to come from behind for the important road point, Chicago managed to stand strong and keep the game their way.
The Fire finished the game with the 4-2 scoreline and once again walked out of Toyota Park with a commanding win. The two teams match up again this coming Saturday, June 4, when the Fire travel to St. Louis.
Chicago Fire: Andrew Putna, Gonzalo Romo, John Freitag, Mauricio Pineda (Jeremiah Gutjahr 60'), Michael Jimenez (Rece Buckmaster 60'), Louis Bennett, Djordje Mihalovic (Elliot Collier 60'), Cameron Lindley, Mark Segbers (Andrew Gutman 60'), Charlie Mertz, Brody Kraussel (Connor Alba 70')
St Louis Lions: Lain McTurk, Trenton Thielfoldt (Kyle Weinrich 65'), Dylan Cassidy (Christopher Johnson HT'), James Morris (Ryan Kennedy 35'), Patrick Power, Joe Lamont, Yeoyada Cohen, Duncan Corbett (Jeffery Palomarez 60'), Evan Garcia (Carson Pryor 60'), Nijaz Muratovic, Vadim Cojocov (Cody Blentlinger 60')
Scoring Summary:
CHI – Mark Segbers (Brody Kraussel) 5'
CHI – Mark Segbers (Brody Kraussel) 25'
CHI – Mark Segbers (Charlie Mertz) 28'
STL – Joe Lamont (Evan Garcia) 33'
CHI – Louis Bennett (unassisted) 55'
STL- Nijaz Muratovic (Cody Blentlinger) 66'
Misconduct Summary:
STL – James Morris (Caution) 30'
STL– Duncan Corbett (Caution) 45' (+2)
STL– Joe Lamont (Caution) 66'
