Fire Sidebar (With Gallery): Fire Growing in Confidence

Chicago Fire Captain Dax McCarty Sees Confidence Building.

BRIDGEVIEW, IL—Struggles on a recent road trip trying to score have changed very quickly over the last week. Chicago has found the back of the net with good fortune and a pair of home victories in a row.

The latest one was a 2-0 shutout over visiting Minnesota United FC at SeatGeek Stadium on Saturday night.

Chicago also had a recent 5-0 home victory over New England on Wednesday night which carried the Fire to an even 4-4-4 record for 16 points and moving them up to 7th the Eastern Conference standings after Saturday night’s games.

However, the recent success seems to be at home and that’s something positive for the club. Trying to win on the road has been another story this season and over recent years.

“The last few games have been important for the confidence of the group,” Dax McCarty said. “We felt over the last year in a half, we haven’t put together two wins in a row. Which was kind of crazy when you think about it for us. So, that was a big focus for us.”

Still, the club has put together now three clean sheets including one on the road in LAFC.

“Coming off LAFC, we knew we had two home games,” McCarty said. “We knew that we dropped some points at home earlier in the season. So, picking 6 points over the last two games was crucial and its a good feeling putting together three consecutive good performances. You feel like you have some good momentum going into the summer.”

For what the Fire has on the field with its players, there is a better group this year as a core and it’s coming together a lot quicker than expected.

“It says that we have more quality,” McCarty said. “It says that we have more confidence. I think it says that we’re building towards something that could be pretty special if we continue on the same path. But, we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. The expectation is to win at home and that’s what we have done. We have held serve, if you will.

“Now, we have to go on the road and do the same. That’s going to be the pressure for us to replicate these performances on the road and see if we can pick up three points. If you win all your home games and lose all your away games, then your probably sitting somewhere in the middle of the pack. That’s not where you want to be, you want to be somewhere near the top of the table.”

Chicago will hit the road back out to the West Coast with a match up against San Jose on Saturday afternoon.

Editor’s Note: Please enjoy some of our photos from the match courtesy of our photographer Amanda Cortese!