Ruiz's goal tops Fire, ends Union's winless streak

Saturday, May 21, 2011
Posted: 10:12 p.m.Updated: 11:57 p.m.

By Ryan Bright
CSNPhilly.com Contributor

BOX SCORE

CHESTER, Pa. -- The Union may have found a simple cure for their offensive woes: shooting the ball.

With the game tied at one in the 75th minute, after the Union and Chicago Fire traded goals late in the second half, Union leading scorer Carlos Ruiz pulled a rabbit out of his hat.

In no-mans land immediately between the top of the Fire box and midfield, Ruiz took a hip-high bouncer in traffic. Without waiting to gain possession, he fired a prayer of a bender that dipped like a sinker ball over goalie Jon Conway and under the cross bar to giving his team the 2-1 lead and eventual win on Saturday night at PPL Park.

I was thinking just to shoot on goal because if I stop the ball or think twice, I could have lost it, said Ruiz. I shot it on goal and thats the goal you never think about. You just shoot it and see what happens.

We deserved to win this game. We played better and its a good result for us.

It was just the first multi-goal game of the season for the Union, who now have eight in 10 games. It was Ruizs third of the season.

Its a good step forward, especially that we scored two goals, said coach Peter Nowak. There are still a lot of things to improve on but I think we found a way to win.

The victory ended a three-game winless streak for the Union, while also keeping them undefeated at home with a 4-0-2 record, 5-3-2 overall. With the New York Red Bulls tying the Houston Dynamo, 2-2, the Union regained first place in the Eastern Conference with 17 points.

We believe in each other, and after each win you can fix some things better during the week, said Ruiz. We are in first place again. We have been fighting for that position and this is good for everyone.

What appeared like another fruitless effort by the Union offense was immediately altered in the 64th minute, when Roger Torres earned his team a free kick from the left side of the Fire box. Taking the kick, Kyle Nakazawa charged at full steam before passing it back to rookie Michael Farfan, standing uncovered at the top of the box. Farfan launched a low dribbler that deflected off a Fire defender and past Conway to give the Union the 1-0 lead.

We had a couple of free kicks earlier that we tried to send in the box, said Nakazawa. They took a break and didnt notice we had a man at the top of the box. Michael has a good shot, we know that, so I just played it to him.

It was the first goal of Farfans MLS career. He was the Unions second-round draft pick in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft.

I saw Kyle put it on top of the box for me and I just wanted to make sure I got it, said Farfan. Luckily, it deflected off and went into the back of the net.

The celebration was short-lived. Four-minutes later, the Fire locked the game at one when striker Dominic Oduro beat Farfan one-on-one at the top right of the Union box. Heading in alone on net from an angle, Faryd Mondragon expected a cross and began to cheat to the middle, allowing Oduro to slip the ball between the goalie and the post.

Its a sign of our ability to bounce back and its the difference between this year and last year, said Nakazawa. I think weve done a tremendous job so far that when we do take goals, we dont get down on ourselves. Its always nice bouncing back, stepping up and to keep pressing. Its a good sign for the rest of the season.

After leveling the score, the Fire held momentum and looked to take the lead, when in the 71st minute, Oduro released a shot from the right of the box that beat Mondragon but was saved at the goal line by defender Sheanon Williams. It saved the game for the Union, who took the lead four-minutes after.

Sheanon made a great save, it was the save of the day and it got the ball out of our end, said Nowak. the players competed.

The opening 45 minutes of the matchup was a display of dominance from the Union offense, as they leaned heavily on the Fire goal. But they failed to capitalize on their chances.

Leading the charge was Ruiz, who received a golden pass off the foot of Nakazawa in the 36th minute. The pass lofted over the Fire defender and onto Ruiz deep in the box. Instead of take the one-touch and get off a clean shot, Ruiz attempted to one-time the pass and his chance went wide.

One minute later, Ruiz earned another chance which came from the top of the box. Gathering the ball through traffic, player nicknamed El Pescadito, or Fish, took a low hard shot in an attempt to find the right post. The ball was saved by a diving Conway to keep the game scoreless at the half.

Its nothing that we havent been doing since week one, said midfielder Justin Mapp. Its just one of those things, guys are working hard. We hope the results come and all we can do is give it our best effort.

E-mail Ryan Bright at ryanbright13@gmail.com