Chicago falls, 3-1, at New England

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (May 5) – The Chicago Fire fell from the unbeaten ranks of Major League Soccer (MLS) with a 3-1 loss to New England in an Eastern Conference clash at Gillette Stadium. The loss was Chicago's first of the season, halting the best start in franchise history.

Steve Ralston registered a goal and two assists to propel the Revs (3-1-2, 11 points) into a second-place tie with New York in the East. Chicago (3-1-1, 10 points) stands alone in fourth, just two points behind front-runner Kansas City.

Ralston's redirect of a Khano Smith cross in the 68th minute broke a 1-1 deadlock at the half. Ralston setup the game's first goal in the 16th minute with a corner kick that Jeff Larentowicz poked in from six yards out.

The Fire's lone goal came off the foot of Chris Rolfe, who trapped a clearing pass in the 45th minute and launched a low shot past outstretched goalkeeper Matt Reis. The goal was Rolfe's third in as many games and extended his points streak to a league-high five games. Rolfe also showed his defensive prowess, sliding in the box at the last second to knock a dangerous ball off the feet of Taylor Twellman during a first-half counter attack.

Chicago, which won the season-opener against New England (1-0) on April 7, saw any hopes for another win dashed in the 81st minute when Wells Thompson shook off a defender in the box placed a shot inside the near post.

"I thought we beat ourselves tonight, frankly," said Fire coach Dave Sarachan. "We weren't going to go undefeated, as much as we wanted to. Obviously I feel very good about my group and we're going to bounce back. We just have to clean up some things. Tonight they (New England) finished a couple of chances they got and that was the difference."

The Fire concludes its three-game road trip next Saturday (May 12) at Toronto FC (2:30 p.m. CT/Fox Soccer Channel).

Notes:

· Justin Mapp, who missed last week's game due to injury, spelled Chad Barrett in the 75th minute.

· Matt Pickens finished with a season-high six saves, making his 17th consecutive start dating to last season.

· New England holds a 13-11-6 edge in the all-time MLS regular season series against Chicago.

Contact: Daniel Jankowski / 708.921.6504 / djankowski@chicago-fire.com

Scoring:

NE -- Jeff Larentowicz 1 (Steve Ralston 4) 16

CHI -- Chris Rolfe 3 (unassisted) 45

NE -- Steve Ralston 1 (Khano Smith 1, Jeff Larentowicz 1) 68

NE -- Wells Thompson 1 (Adam Cristman 3, Steve Ralston 5) 81

Discipline:

CHI -- C.J. Brown (caution; Pushing, Holding) 38

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Game Stats
	Chicago Fire	New England Revolution
Total Shots:	11	14
Shots on Goal:	7	6
Total Saves:	3	6
Fouls:	9	15
Offsides:	3	1
Corner Kicks:	6	8

Referee: Alex Prus Referee's Assistants: C.J. Morgante; Paul Scott 4th Official: Abiodun Okulaja Time of Game: 90:00 Weather: Clear -and- 54 degrees

Attendance: 9,508