The Chicago Fire had no trouble dispatching Florida Gulf Coast University 3-0 in their second game of the 2012 preseason. Marco Pappa scored a goal in the 7th minute and assisted on Dominic Oduro's goal in the 21st minute. Orr Barouch made it 3-0 in the 60th minute of the game on a Corben Bone corner kick. Barouch did use his feet to make the score. More notes and video highlights on the game after the break.
Last night's game was not streamed on the web or obviously televised. The few notes that we do have are courtesy of the newly debuted ChiFireMatch Twitter account, the team's press release, and the highlight video.
Frank Klopas used the following lineups for his 30 minutes per group plan.
Chicago Fire: Alec Kann*; Dan Gargan, Jalil Anibaba, Cory Gibbs, Gonzalo Segares (Ivan Guerrero*, 12'); Marco Pappa, Pavel Pardo, Patrick Nyarko; Sebastian Grazzini; Dominic Oduro, Federico Puppo
(30'): Paulo Tornaghi*; Michael Videira, Austin Berry, Stavros Stathakis*, Ivan Guerrero*; Tony Walls**, Daniel Paladini, Victor Pineda; Corben Bone; Kheli Dube, Orr Barouch
(60'): Carl Woszczynski**; Tony Walls*, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Stavros Stathakis*, Hunter Jumper**; Victor Pineda, Justin Chavez**, Pari Pantazopoulos; Corben Bone; Evans Frimpong**, Kellen Gulley
* - Trialist
** - MLS SuperDraft/Supplemental Draft selection
Kann and Woszczynski switched their spots in the rotation so Kann got his chance to play with the first team. Fire goaltender Jay Nolly sat out again so the team could continue to evaluate the younger goalies in camp. As we reported last week, Sean Johnson has been granted a rest after U.S. Men's National Team camp. He will rejoin the team for Phase Two of preseason beginning February 8 in Ventura,CA.
Captain Logan Pause did not play after flying home to be with his wife who gave birth to the couple's first child Tuesday night. Pause will also join the team in Ventura, CA.
Corben Bone and Victor Pineda seem to have gained the most from last night. The competition was college players but both got big minutes and good reviews. Chicago would have a lot of future problems solved if Bone can be the playmaker and Pineda could be the wing player that they have the talent ceiling for. Bone is on a shorter leash (Pineda's is miles and miles long with his age (18) and Home Grown status). These next couple of preseason games are huge for Bone on how many opportunities he'll get in 2012.
MLS SuperDraft selection, striker Lucky Mkosana was unavailable for selection, having returned to Dartmouth, where he's working towards his graduation in March. An Ivy League degree is worth much more than a MLS rookie contract but this is disappointing from a fan's perspective. You want the players to be with the first team training. Oduro, Barouch, Dube and Puppo figure to get the bulk of the minutes at forward to start off the season. Mkosana can train with the team while the season continues.
Evans Frimpong stands the most to gain from Mkosana's absence. I'd like to be optimistic but Chicago Fire draft pick Sam Arthur went to school instead of joining the team last year. To my knowledge, Arthur's never trained with the team to this day. Mkosana is a higher profile pick and Dartmouth is a higher profile school for education that the University of South Carolina but still, not a good parallel. Dave Clark's Sounder at Heart pointed out that Mike Fucito finished at Harvard rather join the Sounders right away in 2009. He's doing all right for Seattle and was a later draft pick than Mkosana was in 2012. We'll give updates on this situation as they come in.
Greek defender and trialist Stavros Stathakis got significant minutes in last night's match. The Washington Post's Steven Goff is reporting that the Chicago Fire have a put in a discovery claim on Stathakis. A signing could happen any day. Draft pick and center back Justin Chavez was used as a defensive midfielder.
The Fire continue preparations ahead of its 15th season when they take on Honduran side Real C.D. Espana at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans, La. on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 5:00 p.m. CT.
The Fire will conclude training in Ave Maria with a single session today, Thursday afternoon at 5:30pm EST.
Chicago Fire 3 - 0 Florida Gulf Coast University
Chicago Fire: Alec Kann*; Dan Gargan, Jalil Anibaba, Cory Gibbs, Gonzalo Segares (Ivan Guerrero*, 12'); Marco Pappa, Pavel Pardo, Patrick Nyarko; Sebastian Grazzini; Dominic Oduro, Federico Puppo
(30'): Paulo Tornaghi*; Michael Videira, Austin Berry, Stavros Stathakis*, Ivan Guerrero*; Tony Walls**, Daniel Paladini, Victor Pineda; Corben Bone; Kheli Dube, Orr Barouch
(60'): Carl Woszczynski**; Tony Walls*, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Stavros Stathakis*, Hunter Jumper**; Victor Pineda, Justin Chavez**, Pari Pantazopoulos; Corben Bone; Evans Frimpong**, Kellen Gulley
* - Trialist
** - MLS SuperDraft/Supplemental Draft selection
Florida Gulf Coast University: Nathan Ingham; Deion Jones, Jelani Smith, Christian Robbs, Federico Crespo; Andres Navas (Juan Castelon 61'), Tomas Granitto (Yianni Sarris 45'), Christian Velez, Juan Castellon (Henry Penagos 40'), William Morse (Santiago Echeverri 45', William Morse 61'); Xavier Silva (Nick Patterson 40')
Scoring Summary
CHI - Marco Pappa (unassisted) 7'
CHI - Dominic Oduro (Marco Pappa) 21'
CHI - Orr Barouch (Corben Bone) 60'
Misconduct Summary
CHI - Cory Gibbs (caution) 28'
FGC - Christian Velez (caution) 71'
Referee: Ted Unkel
Referee's Assistants: Carlos Morel, Randy Cook
Attendance: 1,096