Fire II playoff run ends in Columbus loss
Fire II hosted their second-ever home playoff game at SeatGeek looking to advance to their first-ever Eastern Conference final in the team’s third season as they hosted Crew 2. The team battled, but ultimately fell short, conceding a 3-2 decision to Columbus in a match that saw the Ohio team into their third consecutive Eastern Conference final in MLS Next Pro.
Fire II Head Coach Ludovic Tallandier had most of his preferred lineup available, including first-team players Javier Casas, Sergio Oregel and Justin Reynolds, alongside league Golden Boot winner David Poreba and Guyanese international Omari Glasgow, with one notable omission: Neither Patrick Los nor Jeff Gal were available in net, giving 17-year-old Patryk Stechnij his first professional start in just his second professional appearance.
Going into the match, the Fire II had some reason for confidence: The team held the conference’s best record at home through the regular season and were undefeated against Columbus throughout the year, emerging victorious in each match whether in regulation or through penalty kicks.
Early on, the Fire II held momentum, but Columbus grew into the game. Crew 2 forward Jayden Da tested Stechnij in the 14th minute, but the young netminder was equal to the task. Three minutes later, Lamont Rochester had a strong chance off a header that flew just high and wide of the net for Fire II. Columbus increasingly held the momentum and struck first off Gibran Ray’s header from a cross from Naperville, Illinois native Chase Adams, putting Columbus up 1-0.
Columbus continued to press, but the Fire II’s Luka Prpa was given a pass in the center of the box by Christian Koffi and connected, leveling the game in the 41st minute.
Just when it looked the teams might go into the half level, Adams again connected with a Crew 2 attacker, this time Da, whose shot from close range gave Stechnij virtually no chance of a save, putting the Crew 2 ahead just two minutes after Chicago had equalized. Columbus knocked at the door a couple times in added time, both attempts were blocked and the score was 2-1 as teams returned to their locker rooms at half.
On the restart, Fire II looked to have used the break to full advantage and emerged the stronger team on the restart.
In the 50th minute, Poreba set up Casas with a shot from the top of the arc that missed – but not by much. Two minutes later, when Fire II had numbers in Columbus’s penalty area, Poreba drew Jacob Greene into a yellow that resulted in a penalty for Chicago. Taking his time to make the shot, the Golden Boot winner made no mistake, sending a shot low and leveling the teams for a second time.
The lead wouldn’t last long, however, as Xavier Zengue had a shot from outside the box that wasn’t handled well by Stechnij, putting the Crew ahead in the 53rd minute. Although Stechnij performed well throughout the match, it felt like this goal might have been preventable by the young netminder.
After that, the Crew 2 conceded shots, but not the momentum, as the Fire were able to create pressure but precious few real chances on the Columbus net. Fire II’s strengths – their cohesion as a unit, their gumption as a team, and the skill of individual players – as well as their limitations, as they were unable to break through a Columbus team that, wearing yellow, seemed content to park the bus sitting in a low block – were on full display as the end for this Chicago team’s season drew to a close.
Ultimately, it was a year of advancement for Fire II, something not lost on Head Coach Ludovic Tallandier, who said after the match “I love patterns. In 2022, we are eight in this conference, in the end, in 2023, we are six, in the end. In 2024, we are fourth. That means next year, we will be second … Last year, we qualified for the playoffs for the first time,” he said, after the team had won its first game but failed to win a second. “But most important is the way we play the talent on the field.
In addition to advancing in the standings, the team, which Tallandier noted consisted of a mixture of homegrown players and talent scouted from around the world, showed backbone, as noted by center back Diego Konicks after the match, who said “we always came back the moment when we were down 4-0 against New York Red Bulls away, and that was the moment that we looked at each other and knew that we were going to turn it around,” with the team ultimately finishing that match in a 5-5 draw after regulation.
Despite the progress this group showed, as is frequently the case with reserve teams, especially with change in the Fire’s sporting operations with Director of Football Gregg Berhalter incoming, there is also the realistic possibility that the Fire II team that takes to the pitch next year will be significantly different from the one the gathered fans saw take to the pitch for the conference semifinal this year, particularly with key players including Omari Glasgow out of contract and likely searching for first team deals, whether in Chicago, elsewhere in North America or somewhere else in the world.
