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Rapids-Fire Preview

Aug 22, 2009 - 6:19 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Colorado (8-6-6) at Chicago (9-5-8), 6:00 p.m. EDT

Last month, Chicago Fire notched their first road victory over the Colorado Rapids in nearly 10 years.

The Fire enter Sunday's home match with the well-rested Rapids looking for a first-ever season sweep that would undoubtedly help what's been a tumultuous couple of weeks.

Chicago (9-5-8) had lost a season-high three straight when it traveled to Colorado on July 4, but left with a 2-1 win behind early goals from Marco Pappa and Wilman Conde. The Fire used that victory as part of a 3-0-2 run that ended with a 3-2 loss at Houston on Aug. 9.

The defeat also featured a halftime altercation between coach Denis Hamlett and defender Bakary Soumare.

The team fined both of them an undisclosed amount on Aug. 15 for the incident. Soumare, who was named to the MLS' Best IX last year, has not played since and it's unclear if he'll return to the team.

"If you look at what we've done without him in other games, we've been fine," goalkeeper Jon Busch said. "We have quality defenders. We're professionals. We get paid to play soccer. All the other stuff is (expletive). We don't make excuses."

In addition to Soumare's likely absence, Chicago will also be without midfielder John Thorrington because of yellow-card accumulation.

The Fire opened a three-game homestand Wednesday night with their first loss at Toyota Park in nearly 2 1/2 months. In a 2-0 defeat to Los Angeles, Chicago failed to put any of its 10 shots on goal and remained four points behind Eastern Conference leader Columbus.

"If you can't get up for big games like this, then I don't know what the problem is," Busch said. "This is when big players step up. It doesn't have to be fancy soccer. It has to be effective soccer. It doesn't matter about flicks and fancy ... that's (expletive)."

Colorado, meanwhile will have the benefit of 15 days off before taking the field Sunday. The Rapids (8-6-6), trying to earn their first playoff berth since 2006, are in the middle of the Western Conference standings and nine points behind first-place Houston.

Since losing to Chicago, Colorado has alternated wins and losses over its next five matches. In a 4-0 win Aug. 8 against Chivas USA, Pablo Mastroeni scored his first goal in more than four years 26 seconds into the match, and Conor Casey followed with three goals before halftime.

Casey took over the league goal-scoring lead with 11, and Omar Cummings' three assists gave him an MLS-best 10 this season.

"Conor had a big night for us, but it was Pablo that gave us the big lift early," coach Gary Smith said. "He hit a real scorcher."

The Rapids are 0-3-1 in their past four trips to Chicago and have one win in their last 11 - a 3-0 victory on Aug. 14, 2004. They are also winless in their last three road games since May 30.