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Fire snap five-game winless streak

Jun 4, 2007 - 2:21 AM BRIDGEVIEW, Illinois (Ticker) -- After not winning for the entire month of May, the Chicago Fire started June with a victory.

Willian Olveira had a goal and an assist and Matt Pickens made some crucial saves as the Fire snapped a five-game winless streak with a 3-2 triumph over the Columbus Crew.

Chicago took a 2-1 advantage when Oliveira scored his first goal of the season after deflecting a free kick past Andy Gruenebaum in the 61st minute.

"We had practiced some new plays off direct kicks, so what I would do depended on the goalies position," said Olveria via an interpreter. "He wasn't in the right place so I was able to shoot."

Chad Barrett gave the Fire some breathing room, when he forced a turnover and scored on a breakaway to open up a 3-1 lead in the 78th minute. The goal came when the Fire were a man down and it was Barrett's third of the season.

"I was cramping up during the run and I knew the defender was closing, so it was short touches all the way," Barrett said. "I knew it would be my last run of the night so I needed to make it count."

"That goal was ridiculous, you can't give up goals like that," said Crew coach Sigi Schmid. "I didn't know Chad was that fast with the ball, apparently he is."

Columbus cut the Chicago advantage in half on Chad Marshall's first goal of the season which came in the 84th minute.

"We were down 3-1 and my goal made it 3-2," Marshall said. "It gave us hope because there was still time, we just couldn't get the third one to tie the match."

Pickens stopped Frankie Hedjuk's shot on goal in the 92nd minute to preserve the win for the Fire, who took sole possession of fourth place in the East.

"Obviously a win was very important and so was getting three points," said Chicago coach Dave Sarchan. "We had seven potential starters unavailable tonight. We were just a team that was determined to win this game."

Pickens also made a big save on Alejandro Moreno's breakaway opportunity in the 51st minute which kept the game tied.

Chicago started the scoring in the 25th minute on Jeff Curtin's first goal of the season off a corner kick by Oliveira. Curtin was ejected later in the second half.

"I was real happy scoring a goal, then I had to go get kicked out and I didn't feel so good," Curtin said. "I am just glad Chad scored his goal and our defense held on."

The Crew answered in the 38th minute when Duncan Oughton scored his first goal of the season. After Dasan Robinson was issued a yellow card, Oughton headed Guillermo Barros Schelotto's free kick over the outstretched arms of goaltender Matt Pickens into the upper right corner.