On Tuesday June 10th, the Fire traveled 3 hours south of Chicago to Bradley University in Peoria, IL where they met the Columbus Crew in a play-in game to the 2008 U.S. Open Cup. With a record crowd arriving on a warm, early evening at Bradley's Shea Stadium, the Fire took to the field looking like a team with something to prove after an embarrassing first round knockout in last year's Open Cup to the USL-1's Carolina Railhawks.  Fielding a team with many underused players, Denis Hamlett seemed to want to use this game to further develop and blend his 2nd stringers and the players returning from injury.

In the 63rd minute Ekpo was able to find an open run across Chicago's penalty area and put the ball in the upper corner on a hard shot past Busch's right shoulder.  This tied the score at 1-1 and also preceded 2 more goals in the next 4 minutes.  In the 65th minute Chicago retook the lead when a series of Chicago passes ended with Justin Mapp finding Andy Herron who headed the ball in, and gave Chicago a 2-1 lead. Two minutes later in the 67th, a defensive lapse by the Fire allowed Columbus to again tie the score. Orland Park, Il native Jed Zayner was able to get the ball to Jason Garey who then shot the ball through a cluster of players and past the Fire goalkeeper.

Will Hesmer, the Crew goalie, showed he had some skills as well, after he made a diving save on a low, dipping, Justin Mapp free kick in the 80th minute. Regulation ended scored 2-2 and both teams made substitutions for the 30 minutes of overtime that was about to be played.  Patrick Nyarko was shown his first team minutes as a pro and looked eager to be part of the game play, often calling for the ball even in the first few minutes of play.

In the 92nd and 106th minute, Jon Busch made saves that again showed why he is probably the top keeper in MLS.  Both shots were on semi breakaways and were low and to Busch's far post.  Busch's was able to get down and deflect or hold onto both shots and single-handedly kept the Fire from being a goal down.

Chad Barrett made his way onto the field in the second half of overtime, replacing Tomasz Frankowski at forward. Barrett was soon able to find Andy Herron, who had been playing the full 115 minutes, making a run. Chad played a perfect ball to Andy who made a move past a diving Will Hesmer, and was clipped in the process. Referee Tony Russo awarded Chicago a penalty kick and Andy Herron, who played all of last season with the Crew, was able to put the ball past Hesmer to give the Fire a 3-2 lead and a win in their first Open Cup game this year.

The Fire will play their next Open Cup game on July 1st with location and opponent TBA.

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Ben June 12, 2008	Let them eat cake!