Soccer: Chicago Fire torch FGCU in exhibition

AVE MARIA — Florida Gulf Coast University’s underclassmen learned some serious lessons during an exhibition against a Major League Soccer team Wednesday night.

The Chicago Fire burned the Eagles 3-0 in a game played almost exclusively on FGCU’s side of the field on the rain-slicked turf of Ave Maria University, where the Fire have been training.

The matchup was broken down into three 30-minute segments as Fire coach Frank Klopas wanted to play each of his three teams for a half-hour.

“It was kind of what we expected,” FGCU coach Bob Butehorn said. “First game of our mini-year. It was good. It was fast-paced. It was good for the kids, and they played well in spurts. This was to be expected. They’re pros and guys trying to make the pros, but it was a good effort by us.”

Last year, these teams battled to a 2-2 tie, and this was the first of three MLS exhibition encounters for Atlantic Sun regular-season and tournament champion FGCU. The Eagles will play the Philadelphia Union in Orlando on Feb. 11 and face the Seattle Sounders in Bradenton on Feb. 19. Chicago, meanwhile, wraps up its time at Ave Maria on Friday.

The bigger Fire players, clearly much quicker, more skilled and obviously much more experienced than the young Eagles, came out sizzling. Midfielder Marco Pappa scored from the left side with a sharp kick past FGCU freshman goalkeeper Nathan Ingham in just the seventh minute.

Pappa got an assist to forward Dominic Oduro in the 21st minute to cap the scoring in the second segment.

Chicago, which went 9-9-16 last season, continued taking it to the Eagles, getting a point-blank goal from forward Orr Barouch on an assist from Federico Puppo in the 60th minute during a tight tussle that found Ingham, who made several diving, applause-inducing saves, out of the net.

“The pace was a lot quicker,” Ingham said. “(The Fire) was a lot quicker and had a lot more size and everyone has a very good touch, are very technical as a whole. We’re getting close. We see the progress we are making. It was fun.”

Overmatched FGCU, particularly without its all-conference seniors, managed only a few shots on goal and no real threat against the rotating Fire goalkeepers while Chicago seemed to, well, fire at will.

Still, Klopas insisted his team got some good work against a talented foe.

“For sure, it’s a very good school,” Klopas said. “We played them last year and it’s a competitive match. It’s good to see some future MLS players here. It’s good for us to play against these kids. It’s a competitive match, a good game for us, for sure.

“We got out of it what we wanted to get out of it and I’m sure they did the same thing.”