Chicago Fire II Defeats Forward Madison 2-0 in U.S. Open Cup

Chicago Fire II handled business on their home turf Wednesday, defeating Forward Madison 2-0 in the second round of the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at SeatGeek Stadium.

The Fire’s MLS Next Pro side didn't concede a single shot on target against their USL League One foes from across the border in Wisconsin in the first-ever match competitive between teams in those two leagues. Madison beat Fire II 2-0 in a friendly before the 2024 season.

Madison qualified for the second round after defeating amateur side Duluth FC 2-0 in the opening round of the Open Cup while Fire II took down Chicago City SC 6-0 in the first round with the largest margin of victory in the opening stage of the tournament.

The wet conditions didn’t help Madison and the ‘Mingos conceded an early goal due in no small part to the cold rain.

After a stop-and-start beginning to the match, a mistake gifted Fire II a goal in the 11th minute. Omari Glasgow made a run down the right side and played a cross toward Madison’s goal. The ‘Mingos goalkeeper Martin Sanchez attempted to claim Glasgow’s cross but allowed a rebound that Fire II’s David Poreba easily tapped into the net to give his side the 1-0 lead. Fire II’s captain did well to follow up Glasgow’s cross in the windy South end of SeatGeek Stadium.

Poreba said all the credit for the goal should go to Glasgow for constantly pressuring the Madison defenders on Wednesday evening.

“Credit to Omari [Glasgow] because – not even for that play, throughout the game – he was putting in some really good crosses from the wing,” said Poreba. “We knew that with the weather, that the ’keeper could spill some shots, so I was happy with the goal.”

Moments following a yellow card assessment, Harold Osorio nearly doubled Fire II’s lead in the 25th minute. Omari Glasgow turned and found Osorio 30 yards from goal. The Salvadoran forward’s ambitious effort flew over the hands of an outstretched Martin Sanchez but rang off the crossbar, sparing Madison from an early 2-0 deficit in Bridgeview.

Madison limited the damage before halftime and only allowed two shots on target despite not recording a single one of their own. The ‘Mingos outshot Fire II 6-5 but failed to test goalkeeper Patrick Los.

Fire II came out to sleet following halftime but nearly scored moments after the break in the disgusting conditions.

Glasgow made another run down the right side and floated a cross right in front of Madison’s net in the 48th minute. His dangerous cross just missed the toe of teammate Christian Koffi inches from the goal line and harmlessly went out of play.

The hosts continued to pressure Madison and Martin Sanchez denied Fire II from a spectacular goal in the 55th minute. A loose ball came to Lamonth Rochester on the left side and the Fire II left back rocketed a shot from 25 yards that Sanchez barely tipped over the crossbar despite the ball rising in-flight.

Omari Glasgow made another strong run down the right side in the 70th minute after Sergio Oregel turned and found him across midfield. The Guyanan winger entered Madison’s penalty area, cut to his left, and knocked an on-target effort that was initially fumbled, but Martin Sanchez ended up falling on the ball. David Poreba had a follow-up shot that Sanchez saved after a poor clearance attempt from Madison.

Fire II’s Jason Shokalook came within inches of scoring a goal twice before the end of the match. Omari Glasgow played a cross in from the right side in the 85th minute that the former Akron Zip dove headfirst toward but just missed out on the ball. Shokalook dove headfirst once again toward a cross from David Tchétchao Karo in the 87th minute but just missed out on connecting with the point-blank chance.

Shokalook finally broke through and scored his first goal in the 90th minute. He fought off multiple Madison defenders to collect the long ball from Lamonth Rochester and buried his shot in the corner of the net, making it 2-0 and securing his side’s victory.

Shokalook couldn’t hide his happiness when discussing his first professional goal post-match.

“The goal is super special,” said Shokalook. "I've been really close the past couple of weeks, but finally, you know it just went my way tonight. I thought after missing two diving headers that it wasn't going to happen. But you know, it was great. It was a great first goal. I'm so grateful just to have the opportunity. My teammates set me up well and everything and I mean, maybe Ludo’s right. I told him to keep doing the same thing. It's worked out well.”

He came off the bench at halftime against Chicago City, and Fire II finally started 16-year-old goalkeeper Patrick Los in the Open Cup tie versus Madison. The Fire Academy product didn’t have to make a save in the contest but was kept busy and had 28 touches while punching away a great Madison cross in the 82nd minute.

Wyatt Omsberg started and played the first half for Fire II after missing last weekend’s first-team match in Atlanta due to injury. Omsberg, who played 15 games with Forward Madison in 2019 when the Wisconsin side was Minnesota United’s reserve squad, did well to help prevent his former team from scoring in Bridgeview.

Fire II head coach Ludovic Taillandier was happy with his side’s effort against the side that had defeated them in the preseason.

“It's definitely a game that tested differently than the first one we had this year,” said Taillandier. “Also, because we were a little more ready for it. They were also more ready for it because when we played them, they had like maybe three weeks in the preseason. And this was a very different game where we played the first game in preseason with way younger players. What’s good to know is that right now our best U-17s are at the GA Cup. So we didn’t have the young players we had in the first round.

"But no, in general, we are very happy with the game. It was in general, controlled, I felt. We could have created more chances from the situations we tried, but it's a good win. Definitely, we are very happy with the result and with the way in general.”

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