Fire U-17/18 has unbeaten streak snapped following Indiana United rally

By Curt Herron

A good opportunity certainly presented itself for the Fire's U-17/18 team during Sunday's Great Lakes Division home match with Indiana United.

The Fire scored just after halftime to grab the initial lead as they looked to conclude play at Toyota Park's practice field on a winning note.

Chicago had gone 4-0-2 in its last six matches and was assured of moving into second place in the division behind Derby County with a victory.

But Indiana United grabbed the upper hand instead, responding to the Fire goal by collecting a pair of their own during the next 20 minutes.

After the Fire was unable to rally late during a heavy rain, the visitors added a score in the final minute to wrap up a 3-1 win in Bridgeview.

That was the only action between the two clubs on Sunday. The U-15/16 match never even started due to the storms that rolled through the area.

As a result of its defeat, the Fire fell to 5-4-4 and 19 points while Indiana United moved into second place with a 6-4-4 record and 22 points.

It capped a disappointing ending for the Fire on their turf field adjacent to Toyota Park. The squad only went 2-4-2 in its eight home dates.

Chicago has its work cut out in remaining matches at the Chicago Magic (5-3-4, 19), Internationals (5-2-5, 20) and Columbus Crew (4-4-4, 16).

The Fire had only given up two or more goals on four instances, with all but one of those coming during their first three division matches.

Their defense had performed very well during the recent unbeaten streak, allowing just three scores over the course of half a dozen outings.

This match was similar to the squads' April 16 meeting in Indianapolis in just one way, and that was that it was competed in wet conditions.

Indiana United and the Fire played to a scoreless draw in that earlier match, and the teams continued that type of play in the opening half.

The visitors had two good chances in the initial part of that half, including a liner from Andrew Oliver that keeper Zak Allen hauled in.

Then during a stretch just prior to the one-third mark of the match, the Fire responded with four good threats against keeper Joseph Mills.

Brady Wahl and Felipe Cortez were denied on liners while Daniel Lojek and Joey Calistri also had tries that were halted during that sequence.

Chicago got on the board in the 48th minute when Jacob Brindle, who entered at the break, scored on a header off a cross from Keaton Albert.

But the hosts didn't have long to enjoy their lead since Indiana responded in the 57th minute when Max Odgaard connected on a similar play.

Indiana kept the heat on over the next few minutes as Cameron Lindley was stopped on a short try and Nick Oliverio had a long shot halted.

It moved in front for good in the 66th minute when Oliver got free and scored from close range on a play that the Fire thought was offside.

Although the Fire still had plenty of time to get the equalizer, they didn't seriously challenge until there was less than 10 minutes left.

Despite an increasingly heavy rain that made execution difficult, Chicago managed to get a few good chances with about five minutes to go.

Cortez started things with a free kick from just beyond the top of the box that was deflected away, resulting in a corner kick by Cortez.

His first effort was the more successful one, resulting in a deflection that set up another corner, with the latter not leading to a shot.

Just before the referee blew the final whistle, and with even heavier rain falling, Matthew Ingram concluded the scoring for the visitors.