Chicago Fire Defeats Morelia 3-1 In Mexico

The Fire defeated Monarcas de Morelia in Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico last night 3-1. Chicago got things started in the 34th minute when Justin Mapp placed a free kick into the box where Brian McBride was waiting with that brilliant head of his, putting the Fire up 1-0 going into halftime. Morelia would eventually get on the board in the 58th minute on a PK by Sergio Blancas, after Austin Washington was called for a hand ball inside the box. Just four minutes later the Fire would regain the lead off a corner kick by Chris Rolfe. This time Washington was on the recieving end, scoring his first goal of the preseason. The game would stay that way until the 89th minute when Mike Banner placed a free kick around the wall and in, to give him his second preseason goal from distance. Richard Jata, Stefan Dimitrov, Jokull Elisabetarson, David Sias and Roland Paul Bebey Kingue did not see any playing time in last nights' match, which makes it seem like Hamlett really wants to get his starting squad playing full games together in preparation for their season opener against FC Dallas on March 21st. The team will be returning to Chicago on Thursday(February 26th) where they will stay until leaving for California on March 2nd. The Fire will play their final two preseason games against Chivas USA on March 7th, at the Home Depot Center and the LA Galaxy on March 12th in Tempe, Arizona.

This was the Lineup(with subs) for the Chicago Fire:

Nick Noble (Andrew Dykstra 45), Tim Ward, Dasan Robinson, Bakary Soumare, Gonzalo Segares (Daniel Woolard 84), Chris Rolfe (Marco Pappa 80), Logan Pause (Wilman Conde 63), Baggio Husidic (Austin Washington 45), Justin Mapp (Mike Banner 80), Patrick Nyarko (Cuauhtémoc Blanco 45), Brian McBride.

This was the Lineup(with subs) for Monarcas de Morelia:

Moisés Munoz, Enrique Perez, Mauricio Romero, Alberto Lucio, Marcos Uribino, Carlos Jiménez (Jesús Castillo 65), Ignacio Carrasco (Oscar Rojas 45), Marvin Carrera (Jorge Kalu Gastelum 45), Miguel Sabah, Ever Guzman (Sergio Blancas 45), Mario Moreno

Scoring Summary

(34') CHI - Brian McBride - Assisted by Justin Mapp
(58') MOR - Sergio Blancas - Unassisted PK
(62') CHI - Austin Washington - Assisted by Chris Rolfe
(89') CHI - Mike Banner - Unassisted