Sat Jul 5 22:16:28 2008

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Late Lenhart equalizer saves point for Crew at home vs. Fire

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Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - The Chicago Fire snapped an extended scoreless streak that reached over three games, but had to settle for a 2-2 draw with the Columbus Crew on Saturday night after scoring the first two goals in the Major League Soccer fixture.

With the draw, the Crew (8-4-3) are just three points behind the league- leading New England Revolution in the Eastern Conference table with a game in hand. Chicago (6-5-3), on the other hand, is nine points back of the leaders.

The Fire got on the board first in the eighth minute when Cuauhtemoc Blanco looped a pass over the top of the Crew defense to midfielder Justin Mapp in the penalty area. The winger fired a shot off the left post, but Chris Rolfe followed up and knocked the rebound home from the penalty spot for the 1-0 lead.

Chicago doubled its lead in the 25th minute when Rolfe found defender Gonzalo Segares making an overlapping run down the left side. The Costa Rica international then fired a perfect cross on the ground to Calen Carr, who fired past Will Hesmer for his second goal of the season.

About nine minutes before the first half break the Crew were able to pull a goal back when Emmanuel Ekpo scored his second goal in as many games. The chance was made by Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who stripped the ball away from defender Bakary Soumare and crossed to Ekpo, who roofed a shot over Jon Busch from in close.

That was how the score stayed until the 87th minute when late substitute Steven Lenhart knocked in another Schelotto cross to tie the game at two, giving the Crew a valuable point in their effort to stay with the Revs.

The Crew travel to take on Real Salt lake in their next league fixture next Saturday while the Fire will aim to gain ground when they host Toronto FC earlier the same day.