Frustrated Fire hungry for success

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Soccer is unique to most sports because outcome does not always match performance. In other words, the better team doesn't always win. Or tie.

There doesn't appear to be any other explanation for the way the first half of the Major League Soccer season went for the Chicago Fire, who start the second half Saturday at home against Real Salt Lake.

The Fire was 5-1-1 through their first seven games, hot as a pistol thanks to a 5-1 win against New York at Giants Stadium on May 25. In the second seven games, the Fire went 1-4-2 (they ended the first half with a 2-1 win against Toronto FC last Saturday).

There was no traumatic event that changed the Fire from a team with a winning record to a team with a losing record. It's hard to know whether the Fire are the team from the first seven games, or the team from the second seven games.

"That's one of the frustrating things about soccer," Fire midfielder Chris Rolfe said. "You can dominate a team in possession and opportunities for goals and you could come away losing. That is just the way soccer is. It can be extremely frustrating."

The difference between the first seven games and the second seven games "was probably a combination of quite a few things," Rolfe said. "Early on the bounces were going our way, the next seven, we could say they weren't at times."

There are reasons to think the Fire is a solid defensive team. They still lead the league with only 14 goals against in 15 games, and have the only double-digit goal differential (10).

But the Fire are way behind the opposition in shots (189-164) and shots on goal (89-81) which makes it appear the offense still needs work.

The second half begins with a home game, which is not necessarily a good thing. The stoppage-time goal scored by John Thorrington last Saturday still raised the Fire's home record to a middling, at best, 3-3-1.

For the second half, the Fire can concentrate fully on their MLS games. Unlike some teams playing in the SuperLiga or still alive in the U.S. Open Cup, the Fire are out of non-MLS competition for the time being.

The loss to D.C. United in the Open Cup quarterfinal was difficult for the Fire, who have won the Cup four times in their first 10 years. But it does allow the team to focus on one goal.

"It helps us to be mentally focused on one thing right now," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said.

"It allows us to work on more things in practice, and we have more time on the practice field," Rolfe said. "We can do more on the practice field because we have a longer time to recover. That could help us as we go to the second half of the season."

The Fire have roster issues for this game. Forward Calen Carr is out for the season with an ACL tear, and forward Andy Herron remains unavailable following a concussion suffered two weeks ago. Defender Dasan Robinson is out with an ankle sprain and defender Gonzalo Segares is listed as doubtful with a sprained foot.

Segares is actually out of the game anyway with a yellow card accumulation as is Thorrington, the hero of Saturday's game.

The Fire were about two minutes away from a tie in that home game Saturday, so although Thorrington's goal did give them a win, it wasn't a win of overwhelming domination.

"It helps a lot," Rolfe said. "But because we got a late goal to win, that doesn't solve everything. It definitely helps the confidence and gives us something to build off of."