BRADENTON, Fla. --- Similar to last Sunday's contest, a first-half strike was followed by a flurry of second-half goals and FC Cincinnati found themselves on the losing end of a 3-2 result against MLS club, Chicago Fire, in their second preseason friendly Wed. at IMG Academy. Djiby Fall, who had an assist last Sunday against OKC Energy FC, scored his first goal for FCC and Kenney Walker brought the team to within one with a late 25-yard strike in the 90th minute.
"I was very impressed today to see how our team played in the first 30 minutes," said head coach Alan Koch. "I thought we had solid defensive shape and we were able to create some good goal-scoring opportunities. Considering where we are in our preseason phase, it was not surprising that our lack of match fitness caught up with us. The second half was one of those crazy preseason halves where anything can happen. I was impressed with the group that came on for the final 30th minutes and the resilience that they showed in the game. We are in a building phase and are taking big strides forward. The results are immaterial right now and we can take a lot of positives from how the players have responded over the course of the last few days. We are working now to ensure that we are still playing in November."
Luis Solignac put Chicago on the scoreboard in the 31st minute, using a header to finish off a cross from John Goossens, who found the forward unchecked in front of the FCC goal.
Michael de Leeuw made it a two-goal game with a tally in the 70th minute. De Leeuw collected a cross from Patrick Doody and sent a shot at Dallas Jaye, who was able to deflect the initial attempt but was unable to keep the ball out of the net.
Fall trimmed the lead to one for FCC in the 88th minute. The striker took a long cross from Paul Nicholson and headed the ball over Stefan Cleveland to notch a point in his second straight appearance.
The Fire answered quickly in the 89th minute behind Matej Dekovic, who benefitted from an unsuccessful clearance off a corner kick to put the ball away and re-establish a two-goal margin.
FCC continued to battle and was rewarded with a free kick in the 90th minute, setting the scene for Kenney Walker, who beat Cleveland on the left side.
The match started with even play from both sides. FCC looked to have the lead in the ninth minute after Aodhan Quinn struck a line-drive shot from the top of the box that flew past goalie Jorge Bava, only to have the goal negated by an offside call.
Mitch Hildebrandt made a double save on a hard shot by Juninho in the 19th minute, blocking the shot into the air and then turning to punch the away ball a second time to keep it out of the goal. The goalie had to contend with another attempt, this time in the 27th minute, making a dive to his left to deny David Accam.
Although FCC was able to create opportunities, the Orange and Blue found themselves forced into a defensive posture towards the end of the first period. Juninho put a shot on goal in the 37th minute with Hildebrandt handling the shot. Accam used a burst of speed to work his way towards the FCC goal minutes later and Hildbrandt was able to break up the play.
Following the break in the 53rd minute, Jimmy McLaughlin put pressure on the Fire defense, crossing the ball to an oncoming Victor Mansaray, but the floater stayed high and bounced out untouched for a goal kick.
Jaye made his first save of the game in the 64th minute, making a diving stop on a shot by de Leeuw.
FCC returns to action this Sat. against Ottawa Fury FC with kickoff set for 4:00 p.m. ET.
Lineups:
FCC: Mitch Hildebrandt, Matt Bahner, Austin Berry, Harry Delbridge, Tyler Polak, Aodhan Quinn, Andrew Weideman, Daryl Fordyce, Kadeem Dacres, Jimmy McLaughlin Victor Mansaray
Chicago: Jorge Bava; Michael Harrington, Johan Kappelhof, Jonathan Campbell, Brandon Vincent; Dax McCarty, Juninho; John Goossens, Luis Solignac, David Accam; Nemanja Nikolic
Goals
31st: Luis Solignac (John Goossens) - CHI
70th: Michael de Leeuw (Patrick Doody) - CHI
88th: Djiby Fall (Paul Nicholson) - FCC
89th: Matej Dekovic - CHI
90th: Kenney Walker - FCC
