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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CHICAGO (AP) -- The Chicago Fire stayed alive in the MLS Western Conference semifinals with a 4-0 victory over the Dallas Burn on Saturday night.
Chicago evened the best-of-3 series, with the deciding game to be
played Wednesday night in Dallas.
The Fire, the defending MLS Cup champions, dominated the play
early, and it paid off when Peter Nowak opened the scoring in the
18th minute. Diego Gutierrez sent a pass to Nowak, who was alone in
the box, dribbled ahead to his left and sent a shot past Dallas goalie Matt Jordan.
The Burn had a six-game winning streak entering the match but were 0-9 this season when conceding the first goal.
The Fire put the game away with two goals in the last 10 minutes of the first half.
Roman Kosecki's shot in the 36th minute found the left side of the net when it deflected off the leg of Dallas defender Richard Farrer.
Ante Razov gave Chicago a 3-0 lead in the 43rd minute. With his
back to the goal just outside the box on the right, he turned and
fired a shot that curved into the left side of the net. Jesse
Marsch and goalie Zach Thornton earned assists on the play.
Mark Dodd replaced Jordan in goal for Dallas at halftime, but it didn't slow down the Fire.
Halftime substitute Dema Kovalenko gave his team a 4-0 lead in
the 46th minute when he knocked Kosecki's pass down to his left
foot in front of Dodd, just to the left of the net, and converted
the point-blank shot. Nowak also earned an assist on the play.
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ALSO SEE
Soccer Scoreboard
Head-to-head: Chicago vs. Dallas
Dallas Burn playoff roster
Chicago Fire playoff roster
Major League Soccer playoff schedule
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