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Fire shut out MetroStars in opener
CHICAGO (AP) -- Dema Kovalenko had a goal and an assist Tuesday night as the Chicago Fire beat the New York-New Jersey MetroStars 3-0 in the opener of their MLS semifinal series. The best-of-3 series continues Saturday night at the Meadowlands. Game 3, if needed, would be back in Chicago on Friday, Oct. 6. Chicago, which has never lost a home playoff game in three years, dominated the first half. Standing just left of the net, Hristo Stoitchkov took a long pass from Kovalenko in the 21st minute and easily beat goalie Paul Grafer, who was out of position. It was Stoitchkov's third goal in four playoff games. "Stoitchkov was certainly the [Chicago] player that made the difference tonight," said MetroStars coach Octavio Zambrano. "We expect that in New York it's going to be a different situation."Fourteen minutes later, Kovalenko took a ball bouncing off a defender's leg and scored from about 10 yards out, putting Chicago ahead 2-0. In the 84th minute, DaMarcus Beasley passed up a shot from the left side of the net, instead passing to Ante Razov, who scored his third goal and notched his 10th point of the playoffs. Zach Thornton posted his second shutout of the playoffs. He had eight stops, including sprawling back-to-back saves on close-range shots in the 69th minute. The Fire and MetroStars combined for nine goals in two regular-season games they split. Both teams were playing without two Olympians. Tim Howard and Ramiro Corrales of the MetroStars, and Josh Wolff and Evan Whitfield of the Fire should be back for Game 3, if it is necessary. Post-game quotesFire coach Bob Bradley "It is nice for us to know the job is only half done. We have a tremendous amount of respect for New York and the season they have had, and now we need to see if we can do a good job going into the Meadowlands on Saturday." On the shifting of Fire defenders throughout the year: "We've had to make adjustments throughout the season. When Lubos was injured, Andrew Lewis came in. Then Andrew got hurt, and we made changes again. It's just been this way throughout the season, but the understanding [among our players] has been good and we've continued to improve. Diego Gutierrez did a very good job with Chris Armas." Bradley on Peter Nowak's return: "We're going day by day with that." MetroStars coach Octavio Zambrano "We didn't come out the way we should have come out. We gave far too much respect to the opponent, and it cost us the game. It was a mental thing, and it was a little bit of the heart as well. We need to fix that. I was completely surprised by our [performance] in the first half. We were late to every ball. We lost the ball. It was really not the team that I know and it was a complete shock for me. We probably played one of our worst games]." Fire midfielder Dema Kovalenko "The win was huge for us. The home-field advantage was a big factor, as it's been throughout the season. We had great fans today. We knew we had to come out and press a lot. Zach was unbelievable, he was the key. If they would've scored first, it would have been a different game. If we come out and play like we did, I don't think any team [in this league] could beat us." Fire forward Hristo Stoitchkov "We must prove we are a much better team than the MetroStars. Our objective is to always play well and win. We have to take this mentality to New York now, so we can finish the series there." Fire goalkeeper Zach Thornton On the win and the Fire's backline: "We played well at home. New York is a good team. It will be tough to beat them this weekend. Carlos, Tenywa and C.J. have done a tremendous job in the back. Tenywa is so fast and talented, he makes my job much easier."
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