Fire II Advance to Eastern Conference Semifinals
The victory came at Bridgeview this afternoon as Chicago Fire II advanced to the MLS Next Pro Eastern Conference semifinals with a shootout win over Orlando City B. New head coach Gregg Berhalter and owner Joe Mansueto were among those in attendance.
“Orlando is probably the best team in the conference,” head coach Ludovic Taillandier said after the match. “It was a good performance. We're happy. But I told the guys that we are just halfway. Our objective is to go to the trophy, and it’s three more games to the trophy.”
As the fourth seed in the East, the Fire didn’t have the power to pick their first-round opponent. Orlando were the team “nobody wanted to play against,” and had beaten the Fire 3-0 in their most recent meeting a few weeks ago. However, in front of a home crowd, the Fire felt more energy entering the match.
The Fire started the game on the front foot, with wingers Omari Glasgow and Christian Koffi getting early touches in. However, it was Orlando who opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. 2023 Next Pro Golden Boot winner Jack Lynn was the man to do so, capitalizing on an error from Diego Konincks to chip the ball over goalkeeper Jeff Gal.
Nonetheless, the Fire maintained pressure on their opponent after falling behind. In the 45th minute, an in-form Koffi collected an inch-perfect long pass from Sergio Oregel, isolated a defender, and laid the ball off for 2024 Golden Boot winner David Poreba to tie the game. Poreba’s league-leading 18 goals carried the Fire to their solid final position in the regular season, and his red-hot form has translated into the postseason so far.
In the second half, the momentum flipped away from the confident Fire, and Orlando quickly grew into the game. A truly heroic, acrobatic save from Gal in the 71st minute kept the game level. Moments later, Koffi was denied by an incredible save of his own from Orlando’s Carlos Mercado.
The even scoreline sent the game to overtime, but there was little action at either end throughout the 30-minute period. Both teams managed just one shot on target, and both made changes shortly before the end to prepare for an inevitable penalty shootout.
To begin the shootout, both teams immediately traded goals, with Alex Freeman and Yeiler Valencia converting for Orlando and David Poreba and Harold Osorio converting for the Fire. After the Fire’s regular takers, they had to depend on their teenage substitutes, with Peter Soudan (17) and Vitaliy Hlyut (16) scoring to answer Wilfredo Rivera and Tahir Reid-Brown.
As the shootout entered sudden death, talented Orlando City homegrown and Chilean-American youth international Favian Loyola stepped up to the plate; the 19-year-old confidently took a winding runup in an attempt to throw off Gal, but it backfired when the ball cannoned off of the frame of the goal.
Loyola’s error handed defender Jean Alpha Diouf a chance to win the game for the Fire. With the game on the line, the Senegalese 21-year-old did what he had to do and converted the penalty.
With the 5-4 shootout win, the Fire advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals, which will be held next week. They will face FC Cincinnati 2 or Crown Legacy FC in the next round, with the host determined by seeding.
“The vibes in the locker room were incredible,” Fire II captain Poreba said after the match. “It was amazing to have (Joe Mansueto) come in and say some words. Just so amazing.”
“We have just one goal in mind, and this was just the first game to check off.”
Read More:
https://meninred97.com/fire-ii-creating-a-standard-in-third-season/
