Chicago Fire Premier News Release -- www.chicagofirepremier.com
Saturday, May 28, 2011
EVANSTON, Ill. – A dramatic late winner by Chris Estridge preserved Chicago Fire Premier’s unblemished record and ensured the team would be in the hat for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup draw. 
Estridge scored on a chip a minute into second-half stoppage time, giving the Fire (3-0-0, 9 points) a 1-0 victory over Louisville-based River City Rovers (0-1-2, 2 points) in Premier Development League action on Saturday at Evanston’s Lazier Field.
The three points mean the Fire clinch the Great Lakes Division’s spot in the cup with a game to spare. The first four PDL contests of this season doubled as U.S. Open Cup-qualifiers.
Now, the Fire can look forward to Tuesday’s cup draw and a game next month against a team from elsewhere in the U.S. soccer pyramid.
As Saturday night’s contest hit stoppage time at 0-0, Fire Premier seemed destined to go into Monday’s game at Michigan Bucks needing a result to achieve their cup dream.
Just then, Fire midfielder Kenney Walker won a ball in the defensive third and fed creator Harrison Shipp near midfield. Shipp sent long through-ball in Estridge’s direction. The midfielder ran onto the pass, took a touch and sent a left-footed chip over the head of Rovers keeper Kees Heemskerk and into the net.
Estridge, who now has scored in all three Fire games, had been struggling in front of goal up to that point. He slid a ball just wide of an open goal in the first half and had a breakaway saved in the second half.
“I would have felt bad if it ended 0-0. I had two chances I probably should have put away,” Estridge said. “I kept it a little late. But it was good to put it in. It was a nice through-ball. I got a little underneath (the shot). It was a little bit lucky.”
Perhaps the Fire were due a bit of luck after narrowly missing a number of good chances and having a potential Estridge breakaway nullified by a disputed offside call.
“It’s a relief, but I think we deserved the win,” Fire Premier head coach Mark Spooner said. “We created good opportunities and didn’t put the ball away. We finally did. It’s a 90-minute game. It doesn’t matter if it comes in the first or the 89th minute, you have to get one.”
It was appropriate Walker played a role in the game-winning sequence because the combative midfielder had a fine evening for the Fire. After playing through a minor leg injury last week against Cincinnati, Walker once again looked the player he had been in the season-opener at Akron. He won balls in the midfield, tracked back to help the defense, showed good vision with his passing and twice troubled the keeper with powerful free kicks. Walker appears to have formed a solid defensive-midfield partnership with Goffin Boyoko.
“Kenney was fantastic today. That’s the Kenny I know,” Spooner said. “He covers so much ground, wins tackles and can play passes. He’s got a real future in the game. He’s a 90-minute player from the first to the last. He’s a real grafter.”
Walker was playing against a River City team that included Louisville teammate Ryan Smith and others Walker knew growing up in Ohio. In fact, Walker said he and a few Louisville teammates had contemplated remaining in Kentucky for the summer and playing for the Rovers. But he said it was impossible to turn down the chance to play for Fire Premier.
“The environment (at Fire Premier) is great,” said Walker, who was on the team last season. “They bring in a bunch of top college players and it’s pretty much like a professional environment. They treat us like a professional team. It’s like practice for the next level.”
The Fire still have yet to concede a goal this season. River City’s best spell came 15 minutes into the second half. Fire keeper David Meves saved a shot from foraging right back Albert Edward. Two minutes later, River City’s Smith directed a cross just wide of the Fire net. Chicago has started the same back four, five if you include Meves, in each contest this season. The central defensive pairing of Kevin Cope and Jonathan Raj was called into action on several occasions as the Rovers tried to play long balls to South African target man Gonya “Ace” Lwandiso.
“I think Raj and Kev dealt with it fantastically because that center forward was a real handful, a real handful,” Spooner said. “(The central defenders) proved their worth again. Three games and three clean sheets, a lot of it is to do with those two guys. The whole back four (also including fullbacks Harrison Petts and Tyler Polak) has been fantastic again.”
Saturday also marked the season debut of Fire Premier’s Ian Christianson, a Chicago Fire Homegrown Player from Georgetown University. Christianson started and played 68 minutes atop the Fire’s 4-2-3-1 formation before giving way to Andy Craven.
“He can play striker,” Spooner said about Christianson. “Maybe he doesn’t play (in college) as a lone striker, but he can definitely play it. He’s on our Homegrown List and we’ve known about him for years. It was his first game in awhile. I thought he looked pretty sharp in moments, but there is definitely some work to do. But we’ll get back on the training ground with him.”
Fire Premier visit Michigan Bucks at 6:30 p.m. Central on Monday before returning home to Evanston at 6:30 p.m. Friday to face the Hamilton FC Rage.