After letting up only three goals in their first seven games, most fans would think the last thing to let them down would be the Fire's defense, but Saturday against the Houston Dynamo it was just that which led to a 2-1 final and the Fire's second loss of the season.  

"The second half I thought we just defended too much." Fire center back Bakary Soumare told Backdraft after the game. Bakary was upset after the Fire seemed to lose concentration in the final 10 minutes and let a quickly restarted free kick find Bobby Boswell's head and the back of the net as Houston won its second game in as many weeks, seeming to have finally found their rythmn. 

    Chicago started out the game with 2 quick scoring chances, and it looked like the Fire were going to continue with the form that had helped the team start the season with an impressive 5-1-1 record. This early energy by the Fire was quickly subdued by the visiting Dynamo.  Houston continuously kept the Fire off balance with quick counters which seemed to surprise the Fire midfielders who had pushed up to join in the attack on Houston keeper Pat Onstad.

    In the 17th minute Houston midfielder Ricardo Clark took a shot which was deflected and caused Fire goalie Jon Busch to change directions in mid-step.  The ball was able to sneak past his outstretched hands for Houston's first goal of the night. "When he hit it, it was going to my right, it hit someone, hit another person goes back to my left....it's part of the game, You deal with it." Busch said.  

    The Fire finally did deal with the pressure put on by Houston when in the 28th minute a Cuauhtemoc Blanco free kick found an open Calen Carr, starting for an injured John Throrrington, and he was able to bounce the ball into the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.   

    In the second half, Chicago seemed to have lost the edge which had helped them score 5 goals in their last 2 games and were continuously sending long balls to the head of Chad Barrett.  This strategy proved to be futile as Chicago was only able to manage 1 shot on goal in the final 45 minutes of play. "Second half it was just coming at my head and that's where their bread and butter is. They got some tall guys back there, real aggressive in the air. They're going to win most of these balls because I've got nobody to flick on to," said Barrett when asked about the lack of scoring.

    This did not stop the Houston Dynamo who were looking to remain in 3rd place in the Western Conference. In the 82nd minute, Houston took advantage of some sloppy defense and lack of concentration by the Fire.  Richard Mulrooney, taking a free kick from one of Chicago's 15 fouls, found an unmarked Bobby Boswell who headed in the game winning goal, raising Houston's winning streak to two games.

    After the game, Fire head coach Denis Hamlett had plenty to say about Houston and his team's performance. "I've said this before, [Houston] are a good team.  They're defending champs two years in a row.  I think the first half we took it too them and created some good chances we didn't finish.  I think the second half they made a good push.  We stopped playing.   We stopped moving. It was an even game until the end.  I questioned the foul, but then I think our guys were a little bit sleeping on the set play and [Houston] did what they did best.  They put balls in the box, and they have some good guys that are good in the air, and they get a winning goal." When asked how he felt about Calen Carr's performance is his first start of the season Denis commented "To his credit he did well tonight, not because he scored a goal, but I think what we asked for him to do today.   He was able to get at their back 4, put pressure on the left back, and got himself in some good spots."

    Jon Busch seemed to sum it up best when asked what his thoughts were on the Fire's second half shut down "We stopped playing and did a lot of defending and that was hard for us. In those conditions and against those quality players, to constantly chase back and forth, they're a good team. And if you don't take care of the ball when you have it, good teams are going to punish you and that's what happened tonight. "

    Hopefully the Fire are able to work through this slip up and do their own punishing of  New York and former Fire coach Juan Carlos Osorio next weekend.