BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The natural instinct when falling behind is to do something on the spot to correct the matter and even things up.
As the Chicago Fire wrap up their preparations heading into the second game of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the New England Revolution (7:30 p.m. Saturday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Fox Soccer Channel), the Fire players want to fix the situation -- not necessarily make a quick fix.
"You still have to have that disciplined, defensive mentality," Fire central defender C.J. Brown said. "You can't just attack, attack, attack. Which when we're at home, we kind of do that sometimes. So we still have to be disciplined and get everybody behind the ball. We're going to get our chances on goal. That's a given."
The Fire took an aggressive approach last week in Game 1 of the series, earning an early 1-0 lead and creating several other chances within the game's first 20 minutes. This was a tactic of a road team trying to expose some openings within New England's defense. It worked at the start, but the Revs found some momentum just before the half en route to a 2-1 victory.
Expecting the Fire to take an attack-minded approach to the extreme Saturday would leave them susceptible to the Revs' countering.
"We don't have to go crazy to try and get that first goal early," Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch said. "We don't want to open ourselves up and give them an opportunity for a counterattack. So I think as long as we settle into our game, we'll get our goal. And then hopefully it'll allow us to relax a little bit and then hopefully get that second one."
ODDS AND ENDS
Willis in the red: The tallest building in North America -- Willis Tower, still known by many as the Sears Tower -- will illuminate red with its two antennae this Saturday for the Fire's playoff game. Considering all of the other major sports teams in this city did not advance to their respective postseasons this year, I'd say this extra support is fitting.
Hossa skates in: The Fire's communications department said Thursday that Chicago Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa will be the official Chicago Fire flag-raiser for Saturday's game.
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Charlie Corr
Charlie Corr is a Chicago-based soccer writer and sports public relations specialist for two professional soccer teams. Contact him by clicking here.
