Chris Brady's heroics keep the Fire in the playoff race
When Ariel Lassiter blasted a shot towards goal from close range, it should have resulted in a winning goal for CF Montréal against the Chicago Fire. It should have sent the electric crowd at Stade Saputo into a state of delirium, sending his team one step closer to returning to the playoffs. Chris Brady ensured that none of that happened.
His 92nd-minute save, tipping Lassiter’s thunderbolt over the crossbar, was his fourth clutch stop in as many minutes, and it preserved a 0-0 draw under difficult circumstances. Brady’s heroics near-single-handedly won a point for the Fire and should restore some faith in a backline that had brutally conceded 11 goals in just four games prior to Saturday.
“One of the things we discussed this week was just getting that confidence back,” Brady said postgame last weekend. “Just returning to old ways, if you will. [S]omething we worked on quite a bit throughout this last week was just maintaining a solid, compact unit anywhere on the field as a team, and I think we showed that very well tonight, and that's why we got the shutout.”
In truth, the Fire’s defense did have a shaky start from the opening whistle. After all, it was only a matter of seconds after kickoff that Zachary Brault-Guillard found himself in behind the back four, though he failed to make Brady work when his shot hit the side-netting. The 19-year-old goalkeeper was forced to make a big save against Kwadwo Opoku 15 minutes into the game, and midway through the half, George Campbell came the width of the crossbar away from heading Montréal into the lead. Nonetheless, the Fire were unphased, and even as they bent, they did not break.
In the second half, the game was inching towards a 0-0 draw. Montréal introduced top scorer Chinonso Offor, dynamic playmaker Bryce Duke, and returning star Romell Quioto in the second half, a trio of substitutes that did cause trouble going forward, injecting more energy into the crowd and pinning the Fire further back into their own half. In the 88th minute, Offor got his head on a cross that very nearly broke Fire hearts, and after a slight deflection off of Rafa Czichos, Brady made a huge save.
“It's not really a preferred situation you want to be in where guys are kind of getting a little tired and dropping back and just letting the pressure come to them,” said Brady. “As a goalkeeper, that's not really preferred, but I get it.”
Brady would be further tested a minute later when Mathieu Choinière put in a very dangerous cross. The goalie managed to get a hand on the ball, but it fell to Duke, who had plenty of space in the box. With an incredible reaction save from his outstretched foot, Brady kept the ball out of the net; the frantic moment was met with muted celebrations from the Fire’s reeling defense and shocked silence from the home players and supporters.
Two minutes later, another dangerous ball from Duke could not be cleared efficiently by Arnaud Souquet, handing a golden opportunity on a platter for Ari Lassiter. The Costa Rican international hit his shot with power, and had it not been for the instincts of Brady, it would likely have drilled a hole in the net. Luckily for Frank Klopas and the Fire, desperate to get a point on the board in a tight playoff race, Brady kept the ball out.
“Chris made the key saves that he needed to make,” Klopas said Saturday. “He's maturing and improving with every game. The thing I like about him, [...] he really has a presence. He's growing. He's really young, but he's really maturing. And I tell you, he's got a really bright future.”
