The Chicago Fire successfully continued their run towards a record 5th Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday after a 4-1 pasting over the visiting Cleveland City Stars of the USL-2 league.

After failing to score in the last 333 minutes of their regular season, a few lesser used Fire players were able to earn some time Tuesday night and showed the starters how scoring is done. Sec ond year player Mike Banner was able to find net early in the game when in the 13th minute he had time to line up and put a ball past Cleveland keeper Hunter Gilstrap. The Fire kept the pressure on and 10 minutes later doubled their lead when Calen Carr, instrumental in Chicago's 2006 Open Cup Championship, snuck a softly hit ball inside the post and past a diving Gilstrap.

With the defense playing strong and Cleveland only able to put 1 shot on target in the first half it wasn't long until the City Stars became frustrated and took down Chad Barrett, who started at forward along with Chris Rolfe, and a penalty kick was awarded. Chad calmly slotted it to the goalie's right side and made the score 3-0 with almost 20 minutes left in the first half.

Cleveland was able to regroup, however, and in the second half they came out strong. The City Stars had 7 of their 8 shots on goal in the final 45 minutes and it seemed like a comeback might just be on the horizon when in the 61st minute, Adam Ruud, a Hanover Park, IL native, found a pressing Kiel McKlung on the left side of the Fire's box. McClung took a look far post and put a bending shot that was able to get around starting Fire keeper; Nick Noble's outstretched hand and score one of the best looking goals of the tournament thus far.

With 30 minutes to play and Cleveland looking to score again, Mike Banner, eager to break into the starting 11, faked out a Cleveland defender on a Peter Lowry cross. Faced with an open shot Banner proceeded to blast the ball over the shoulder of Gilstrap and nearly through the back of the net and into Section 8. This made the score 4-1 in the 73rd minute and Cleveland visibly lost momentum.

After missing time with contract issues and injuries, the newest Fire member, Parguayan Lider Marmol played the full 90 minutes last night and looked strong in defense. His size and skill was apparent and although it was tough to judge his play against a lower division team, Marmol looked confident and relaxed in the backfield combined with Daniel Woolard and Austin Washington, who also played an excellent game. Brian Plotkin was the 4th defender but was often seen using his midfielder skills and pressing up with the offense to put pressure on the City Star defense.

In the 85th minute Denis Hamlett decided to bring in fan favorite Cuauhtemoc Blanco, which brought cheers and whistles from the crowd and allowed the Fire to control the ball and run out the clock.

With a 4-1 final the Fire will travel to Maryland next week where they will face a rising DC United team which won 2-0 against the USL-1 Rochester Rhinos.