If the Dallas Burn is the main challenge for second place in the Western Conference, then the Fire should be prepared for home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Fire rolled past the Burn 4-1 Wednesday night in front of an announced crowd of 13,615 at Soldier Field. The victory was the 10th in the row for the Fire (12-5) and extended its lead over Dallas to 15 points. The two teams meet again Saturday in the Cotton Bowl.
But maybe more important, the Burn (9-8) lost another player to an injury. With forward Dante Washington already on injured reserve with a severely sprained ankle, Washington’s running mate, Damian, had to leave the contest in the 23rd minute with a knee injury. Dallas coach Dave Dire said he thought Damian would be out three to six weeks.
“(Damian) did it over the ball,” Fire defender C.J. Brown said. “I think the ball got too far out in front of him when he tried to cross it.”
All the goals came in the first half, with the Fire scoring the last three in a 20-minute span.
Lubos Kubik, who scored the only goal off a penalty in the Fire’s 1-0 victory two weeks ago, put Chicago in front in the seventh minute. Kubik wandered up to the top of penalty area from his central defense position and took a pass from Jerzy Podbrozny. Seeing Burn keeper Garth Lagerwey about three yards off his line, Kubik placed a delicate chip over Lagerwey into the goal.
Two minutes after Brian Haynes scored for Dallas, Ante Razov knocked in his fifth of the season to put the Fire back on top. Roman Kosecki made it 3-1 four minutes later with his seventh goal, a blast from about 25 yards out and Podbrozny finished the scoring in the 36th minute with his fifth goal. Podbrozny had another strong effort with a goal and two assists.
