Kacper Przybyłko got the opening goal and defender Kendall Burks netted a brace as the Fire were victors in the third round of the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament against Midwest Premier League side Chicago House AC. Following the match, Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson, Burks, and goalkeeper Spencer Richey assessed the team's performance. Read their quotes below.
Chicago Fire FC Quotes
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson
On a strong performance by players returning from injury...
"Well, it's good. You know, it just means that as a team, we're getting stronger. Let's take Fede Navarro, for instance. He's a guy that is a very big part of this team and he hasn't been able to play many minutes for us since the first game of the season. He was able to play some in Atlanta and helped us change that game around. So, we're very happy to have him.
Alonso, you know, we're finding out more and more every day what he's capable of, and he put on a good performance tonight, so that was good to see. We're not fully there, as far as injuries, in our recovery. [Jairo] Torres is still out but we're almost to the full tilt as far as player availability and that's always nice to have – it changes what you can do in the end of games."
On the victory's impact on the regular season...
"It was very good and it's very good for our morale. One of the big things that we've been talking about all year is just finishing out games. And what I told them tonight was, ‘Hey, it doesn't matter what the score is in the 75th, 80th minute – let's make sure we finish strong tonight.’ And I thought we did that. They started to push forward a little bit, started to press a little bit and even on all corner kicks, there would be four guys up and they were very aggressive.
So, I'm happy for the boys that they finished out strong tonight. And this is something that we have to take into the league play; we have to make sure that, when we're up on teams like this, that we stay strong and we finish out games strong. So, that's the final part of maturation that we just don't have as yet and it's good to see that. Hopefully, tonight starts things in that direction."
On the significance of the U.S. Open Cup to Chicago...
"What we told the players is, any competition that we enter, we want to win trophies. And it's been a long time since this organization has lifted a trophy. Tonight was an opportunity for us to start changing that. It's been some years now. It's a way to reconnect with our fans. This tournament, especially having played in it, having coached in it before, it's something that the supporters are really up for and it can really, really ignite and energize your fan base.
I think that's something that we need to do as an organization – as a club, as a team – is to reconnect with our fan base. And what a better tournament to do it than the Open Cup? This organization has won it four times now and why not make it a fifth? But it had to start tonight because it's a win-or-go-home type tournament. So, I'm glad that the boys came out and did what they were supposed to do.
As far as it being a derby, it's a local team. So, whenever we're playing a team like that, we want to show that we're the better team. They're in a lower division, so we're supposed to win these games. And I'm glad that we came out and did that tonight, as opposed to what transpired last year."
On the performance of the Homegrown players...
"Well, it's always good to get these guys some games with the first team; they've been playing a lot of minutes with the second team. It's an opportunity for us to further evaluate them and see, when put under the microscope, when under pressure, how they perform and I thought they did well tonight. In the second half, we lost our way a bit – again, not putting chances away. But I thought everyone showed really well for themselves. It's good to see that these guys are developing, because these guys are the future of the franchise. So anytime we have an opportunity to get them on the pitch, get them in pressure situations, it's good for their development. So that was good to see that they showed up tonight and we were able to rest some of our first team guys. Because with the injuries, we've been having to run a lot of guys out, for a lot of minutes, in a lot of games. So, it's nice when you have opportunities like this to play these younger players, that they're able to step up and do the job."
On being satisfied with the final result...
"Well, if you've been following this team all year in MLS play, it's something that has plagued us where we've gotten up on teams, we get into the second half, we have the opportunity to go up to 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, and we don't take those and it has come back to haunt us. So, it's nice to see that tonight, when we did get up, that we still created the chances. I'm not satisfied that we didn't take those chances, but look at it positively: we didn't give up on the other end, so we were able to maintain our lead and win the game. But this is something that we have to continue to work on because too many times in MLS play, we get up on teams like this, we create chances to go up 3-0 or 4-0, we don't take them and then late in the game, we let them back into the game. So, this is a step in the right direction tonight."
On the performance of Alonso Aceves...
"Well, the players hear from us every day that you play based on your performance when you get your opportunity, based on how you do in training. He's been training well, so he got to start tonight, performed really well, probably was the best player on the pitch for us tonight. Very dangerous on the set pieces even, but even in the run of play, his crosses, his ability — his defending, everything was very good tonight, so that's good to see. And that's why we brought that player here, because we knew when we saw what he could do on the pitch. So it was good to see him get his first start tonight and perform well. And that bodes well for us, that lets us know that he's someone that we could put on the pitch on Saturday nights in MLS games. So, I'm happy for him. He's been working hard and that showed tonight. So, you will see a lot more of him going forward."
Chicago Fire FC Defender Kendall Burks
On his two goal performance…
Like I said, being a center back, we don't expect to score a lot of goals, let alone two in one game. So it was definitely good to get on the score sheet. The first goal, Alonzo threw in a good ball and I was able to just get free and rise. Then the second one, I think it was Alonzo again, played another good ball and then Wyatt was able to put a good flick on it for me to just make it happen. And so like I said, as a center back it's always good to get on the scoresheet.”
On his relationship with Wyatt Omsberg and level of comfort playing alongside him…
“Yeah. Wyatt’s an experienced guy and he’s been in the league for a while now and I try to just learn off him as much as I can as well as the other center backs on the team. Because they have a lot of experience in the pro game. So I try to learn as much as I can. Because the more I learn, the more I can improve.”
On his mom’s emotional reaction on social media to his performance tonight…
“I haven't checked my phone yet. But yeah, my mom gets pretty emotional sometimes when big events happen. She gets pretty excited. So I'll give her a call after this and say what's up to her.”
On taking advantage of the opportunity to play in an Open Cup match…
“Yeah. Anytime you step on the field, it's a chance to prove yourself and to prove yourself to an opponent, doesn't matter the opponent. It's a big tournament for us. A big Open Cup is huge for the Chicago Fire and we talked about it in the locker room all the time. It's something that we want to win and something that we think we can win. And this is the first step of doing that. So whenever we step on the field we want to compete, and I think I think we did a good job of that today.”
On how his performance assured his decision to stay in Chicago…
“Since I've been here I've been really happy and I feel like I've been improving each day and I think that's the biggest thing for me is to continue to improve and being in the starting 11 today, obviously is a good confidence booster even if it is just a US Open Cup match. But it's a big tournament so obviously it's huge for me to be in the 11 anytime I can, and when we stepped on the field together as a group, we wanted to make sure that we could get the job done.”
Chicago Fire Goalkeeper Spencer Richey
On how it feels getting a win against Chicago House…
“Yeah, it feels a whole lot better than last year, that's for sure. It's obviously a team on paper we're supposed to beat and we know that. It was no different last year against Omaha, but there's no easy Cup game. I said that in the locker room before. Every time you play a lower division team, they're going to come out and just leave it all on the field. So that's something that you have to get yourself up for, to match that and win it in the end with your quality. And I thought that guys did a really good job of that tonight.”
On when Ezra made him aware of starting for the U.S. Open Cup match…
“They let me know just after the Atlanta game on Sunday. And in terms of the armband, it's a great honor. Obviously, I take a lot of pride in trying to be a leader on the team and to help young guys. When I was a younger guy, I had some veteran guys that helped you out tremendously that I looked up to. And I also played with some guys that were not so helpful to me if you will. From a young player, I knew the kind of veteran that I wanted to be. The positive impact that I want to try to have on guys and specifically guys like Gaga and Brady so it's a great honor. But, it's more about what you do in the locker room than just wearing the armband.”
On how much the U.S. Open Cup is discussed in the locker room…
“Yeah I think it is. Especially at a club like Chicago, that has such a rich history of success in the Open Cup. It's something that you know, we stress as a team, the coaching staff has stressed to us that it's important that we do well in this competition. And obviously last year it didn't go the way we wanted. It's always one of those, you don't want to run guys into the ground, so to speak. It's tough for the same 11 that plays this Sunday to play tonight and then to play again on Saturday. So there's always going to be some rotation especially in the earlier rounds and hopefully, whatever the group is that's on the field for the next round can get the job done and then we'll go from there.”
