Fire settles for draw following goal in final seconds

Prince scores twice in 5-1 romp over Real Colorado

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By Curt Herron

There was a stunned silence on the U-18 Chicago Fire's bench following their match with Colorado Rush AJ Auxerre on Sunday.

The Fire looked to be headed toward its fourth straight victory in Central Conference Frontier Division play at Argo High School.

But Colorado Rush had other ideas as it stunned the Fire by scoring a goal in the final seconds to force a 1-1 draw in Summit.

Chicago (3-2-1) was on the verge of capping a successful weekend which started in a very disappointing fashion one day earlier.

Fire standout Bryan Ciesiulka suffered a serious injury in the seventh minute of the team's 5-1 win over Real Colorado on Saturday.

Despite the loss of their standout for the rest of the season, the Fire still turned in a dominating effort against Real Colorado.

Chris Prince scored a goal in the first minute and the Fire added three more scores before the break to claim a 4-0 halftime lead.

While the U18s had more chances than the Colorado Rush finished with in Sunday's match, they had a difficult time finding the net.

Things looked good after Prince put his team ahead in the 70th minute and the hosts seemed to be on the verge of the shutout win.

But just as regulation play was ending, Seedy Bah got free and got a shot from close range that found the opposite side of the net.

Right after play resumed, the final whistle blew and the Fire only picked up one point in the division standings as opposed to three.

Meanwhile, Colorado Rush (7-1-5) remained in first place in the point standings with 26 while the Fire are seventh with 10 points.

Utilizing a wind advantage in the second half, the Fire had had plenty of chances against the squad that beat them 1-0 on March 27.

Harry Shipp got things after the break with a pair of liners before Marco Gutierrez headed an attempt over the net a short time later.

About midway through the new half, Prince headed a ball that just sailed over the net following a corner kick from Tyler Engel.

The Fire moved in front a few minutes later Mitch Albrecht sent a pass through to Prince, who was open on one side of the net.

Prince fired off a shot that just found its way inside the opposite post and the Fire seemed to be in control with a 1-0 lead.

A couple of minutes after that, Bah nearly tied things with a header, but keeper Charlie Lyon made a diving deflection on the try.

The defense of Albrecht, Billy McGuinness, Scott Lakin, Mike Enghofer, Brian Lunar seemed to be on their way toward a shutout.

But the squad's hopes for a second scoreless effort in the last three matches were dashed when Bah connected in the final seconds.

While there were plenty to be pleased with in Saturday's decisive win, much of the enthusiasm was dimmed due to Ciesiulka's injury.

Prince set the tone for the Fire romp when he scored from close range during the opening minute to put his team ahead for good.

About six minutes after that, Ciesiulka was injured near one corner flag and following a long delay had to be carted off the field.

Oliver Mayer entered the match as the Fire made adjustments in the midfield following the loss of an integral part of their attack.

Things went smoothly enough as Shipp sent a liner that forced a leaping deflection and Wojciech Wojcik followed with a header.

In the 27th minute, Wojcik bounced a shot off the post, Mayer's rebound try was deflected and Wojcik put in the loose ball for a goal.

Prince found the net again in the 41st minute when he scored from close range to give the Fire a 3-0 advantage.

Then in the final minute of the first half, Shipp raced toward the goal and put a shot into the opposite side of the net.

Real Colorado got on the scoreboard in the 49th minute when Robert Derschang got off a shot that went over Lyon's head.

But about three minutes later, Shipp was tripped up in the box and Engel put in the penalty kick to close out the scoring.