Chicago Fire FC II (6-3-5-4) lost 5-1 at Crown Legacy FC (6-5-3-2) Sunday night in North Carolina. Following a lengthy weather delay before the match, Fire midfielder David Poreba scored a league-leading 10th goal of the year. Crown Legacy followed with a weather-interrupted five unanswered goals to earn the win.
The Fire came out of the first weather delay looking for the early opener. Striding forward from the left wing, Omari Glasgow spotted Poreba sprinting toward the far post. The Guyanese winger switched the ball to the right, where the open Fire captain simply tapped it home to open the scoring. The Fire captain’s goal made him the first player to reach double digits in scoring during the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season.
Only three minutes later, the home side found an equalizer. Nick Scardina ran down the right side to the byline and cut back to an open Aaron John on the far post. Crown Legacy FC’s leading scorer finished Scardina’s deflected cross to even the score with his sixth goal of the year.
Chicago held more of the possession in the first half, but Crown Legacy took advantage to take the lead in transition. Legacy forward Dylan Sing forced a turnover and found an open Scardina, who found ample room on the right side to finish past goalkeeper Patrick Los. Another weather delay interrupted the match soon thereafter, quelling the visitors’ momentum to equalize before finally reaching the halftime whistle.
The teams resumed play quickly after a shortened halftime break. Less than 10 minutes into the half, JahLane Forbes took advantage of a Fire turnover to make it 3-1. Chicago sought to get back into the match, but the home side would instead see Nifasha Berchimas come off the bench in place of Forbes to score a brace and shut the door on a rainy Sunday night.
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Box Score:
Crown Legacy FC 1:5 Chicago Fire FC II
Goals:
CHI - Poreba (10) (Glasgow 1) (WATCH) 5’
CLFC - John (6) (WATCH) 8’
CLFC - Scardina (4) (Sing 1) (WATCH) 27’
CLFC - Forbes (3) (WATCH) 54’
CLFC - Berchimas (2) (Sing 2) (WATCH) 75’
CLFC - Berchimas (3 (John 5) (WATCH) 89’
Discipline:
CLFC - Ouedraogo (Yellow Card) 25’
CHI - Prpa (Yellow Card) 33’
CLFC - Tuiloma (Yellow Card) 41’
CHI - Diouf (Yellow Card) 42’
CHI - Soudan (Yellow Card) 68’
CLFC - Duke (Yellow Card) 68’
CLFC - Mayaka (Yellow Card) 71’
CHI - Heuer (Yellow Card) 81’
CHI - Osorio (Yellow Card) 90+1’
Chicago Fire FC II: GK Los, D Diouf (Granda, 79’), D Konincks, D Shannon, M Glasgow, M Oregel (Heuer, 72’), M Osorio, M Prpa (Shokalook, 64’), M Soudan (Hlyut, 71’), F Poreba (capt.), F Koffi
Subs not used: GK Stechnij, D Cupps, M Blake, M Calle, F Borso
Crown Legacy FC: GK Marks, D João Pedro (Bravo, 45’), D Ouedraogo, D Tuiloma (Sangoquiza, 45’), D Lindsey (Romero, 45’), M John, M Mayaka (capt.) (Peña, 76’), M Duke, F Forbes (Berchimas, 74’), F Sing, F Scardina
Subs not used: GK Holliday, M Tonidandel, F Josué, F Nyandjo
Stats Summary: CLFC / CHI
Shots: 11 / 15
Shots on Goal: 6 / 5
Passing Accuracy: 80.9% / 85.1%
Saves: 4 / 1
Corners: 4 / 9
Fouls: 12 / 15
Offsides: 2 / 2
Possession: 44.2% / 55.8%
Referee: Melvin Rivas
Assistant Ref 1: Josh Lampkins
Assistant Ref 2: Aaron Riley
4th Official: John Rush