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Ruiz's late goal pulls FC Dallas into tie with Fire

Sep 21, 2007 - 4:27 AM FRISCO, Texas (Ticker) -- With possible postseason berths on the line for both teams, the intensity level between FC Dallas and the Chicago Fire climbed high on the pressure gauge Thursday night.

Carlos Ruiz's goal three minutes into second-half stoppage time lifted FC Dallas to a 1-1 draw with Chicago in a match that the hosts appeared to let get away at the end of 90 minutes.

With his team trailing, 1-0, and time running out, Ruiz seized a loose ball at the left corner of the goal area and sent a blast past goalkeeper Matt Pickens and into the back of the net for the equalizer, salvaging a point for FC Dallas.

"It felt good to get a goal at the end of the match because everyone is feeling under pressure," said Ruiz, who has five goals in his last seven games. "It doesn't feel good to lose points at home, because at home, we need to win every game. Sometimes we don't understand what's going on in the game. We need to see the mistakes we made and correct them before we play again."

"Carlos deserves a lot of credit at the end of the game," FC Dallas coach Steve Morrow said of Ruiz's game-tying goal. "I thought he finished it really well."

The Fire entered the contest hoping to win on FC Dallas' home turf for the first time since 1999. But with relatively few scoring chances in the first half, it appeared that the streak of futility might be extended.

Just 11 minutes into the second half, however, Chicago broke the deadlock on Chris Rolfe's first MLS goal in four months. He blasted a 28-yard shot into the upper right side of the net to give the Fire the lead.

"Usually on corner kicks, I try to hang around (the arc) and try to read where the ball is going," Rolfe said. "On this one, I read it and got a good kick in front of it. It was right in my sights, so I struck it, and as soon as I hit it, I knew it was going in."

The result left Chicago (8-10-7) in fifth place in the Eastern Conference and eighth in the overall playoff seedings, while FC Dallas (12-9-4) remained in third place in the Western Conference and fifth overall.

In addition, FC Dallas retained the Brimstone Cup, presented to the winner of the head-to-head competition between FC Dallas and the Fire, for the sixth straight season.