Today we look back on one of the most impressive come back wins in club history which came almost 10 years ago when the Fire visited the Kansas City Wizards at Arrowhead Stadium on April 26, 2003.
While the team was destined for their first and still only MLS Supporter’s Shield that season, they hit early bumps in the road under new head coach Dave Sarachan (photo right), drawing their first two matches of the season (1-1 vs. New England and 0-0 at D.C. United).
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Early in this one, things didn’t seem to get any better as Preki’s free kick found Igor Simutenkov in the 25th minute before the naturalized U.S. international’s corner was headed home at the back post by Jimmy Conrad in the 38th to give KC a 2-0 halftime lead.
"The only [halftime] adjustment we made was to challenge them," Sarachan told the Chicago Tribune. "We asked them if they were going to hang their heads or do something about it."
The challenge was met just after halftime when Orlando Perez sent a blistering left-footed effort from just inside 30 yards out past Tony Meola in the 53rd minute.
Twelve minutes later Andy Williams would bring things level, receiving a pass from Perez on the left before right-footing his effort past Meola from just outside the box.
FUN FACTS
* Ralph’s match-winner was the first of his Fire career and one of 11 he would go on to score in his MLS Rookie of the Year campaign.
"I'm glad I gave the team the lift it needed and it gave me the confidence I needed too," he said post-game.
* The win was also the first of Dave Sarachan’s tenure as head coach and pushed the side on to that year’s Supporters Shield, still the only time the club has taken the honor.
This marked just the second time in club history the Fire came back from a two-goal deficit to win in regulation. The club has achieved that feat just three times in a total of 470 regular season matches.
The Others: Chicago Fire 4, Dallas Burn 3 (May 24, 2000), Chicago Fire 3, Colorado Rapids 2 (August 23, 2009)
The game was just the second of current Fire captain Logan Pause's career. Pause, DaMarcus Beasley and Carlos Bocanegra are the only three active players left out of the 23 that played on the day...
BOX SCORE
CHI – Zach Thornton; C.J. Brown, Jim Curtin, Carlos Bocanegra, Orlando Perez; Evan Whitfield, Logan Pause, Chris Armas ©, DaMarcus Beasley; Andy Williams (Kelly Gray 87’), Rodrigo Faria (Damani Ralph 65’)
KC – Tony Meola ©; Diego Gutierrez (Dario Fabbro 71’), Nick Garcia, Jimmy Conrad, Jose Burciaga Jr.; Chris Klein, Preki, Carey Talley; Eric Quill (Kerry Zavagnin 67’), Igor Simutenkov (Chris Brown 62’), Josh Wolff (Bo Oshonyi 82’)
Scoring Summary
KC – Igor Simutenkov (Jimmy Conrad, Preki) 25’
KC - Jimmy Conrad (Preki) 38’
CHI – Orlando Perez (unassisted) 53’
CHI – Andy Williams (unassisted) 65’
CHI – Damani Ralph (Andy Williams) 70’
Misconduct Summary
CHI - Evan Whitfield (caution) 43'
KC - Carey Talley (caution) 44'
CHI - Carlos Bocanegra (caution) 50'
