The Fire owns a conference championship and a U.S. Open Cup title, but Damarcus Beasley says there are still reasons to play.
“No letdown,” the Fire midfielder said. “[Now] we’re playing for the Supporter’s Shield–[for] the best record in the league. We’re not playing for anything less than that. We haven’t gotten it in our six years and it would be great to get.”
The Fire moved closer to that objective Saturday night when Chris Armas scored a game-winning goal in the 94th minute to lift the Fire to a 4-3 Soldier Field victory over Colorado before 28,154 fans.
Colorado reserve Zizi Roberts forced a 3-3 tie in the 87th minute and the teams appeared ready to go into overtime. But that all changed when Armas launched a 16-yard shot from the left of Colorado goalie Scott Garlick in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
The goal was the second of the night for Armas, who had not scored since May 1, 1999.
The Fire (15-6-8, 53 points) grabbed a 1-0 edge when Ante Razov collected his fifth penalty-kick goal of the season in the 11th minute. Razov, who now has 14 goals on the year, took the shot after forward Nate Jaqua was tripped in the goal box by midfielder Nat Borchers.
Colorado (11-11-7, 40 points) evened the score two minutes later when Chris Henderson beat Fire goalie Zach Thornton on an 11-yard shot. The tally ended Thornton’s unscored upon streak at three games.
The Rapids kept the pressure on, and Thornton made a spectacular save on a John Spencers attempt in the 22nd minute after the ball got away.
Armas broke the deadlock just before half with his first goal in four years. Armas had a tough angle to the right of Garlick but sliced into the corner.
In the 66th minute, Beasley swooped around the left of the goal box and sent a successful shot into the corner past a frustrated Garlick, who then rocketed the ball toward midfield.
The goal proved crucial because the Rapids narrowed the margin to 3-2 in the 72nd minute when Roberts beat Thornton. Roberts then added his second in goal 15 minutes later.
