The Fire picked a good time to enter their hottest stretch of the season. Including, Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play, the Men in Red are unbeaten in their last eight. They moved into sole possession of second place in the east with a 2-1 win over New York on Sunday and into the U.S. Open Cup final with a 3-0 rout of D.C. United last night.

Chris Rolfe rejoined the team after a hamstring injury and dazzled the home crowd early Sunday. Rolfe stole the ball at midfield, blew past the Red Bulls defense and beat New York goalkeeper Tony Meola in the midst of a one-on-one in the 12th minute. He did however leave the game as a precaution at the half after experiencing tightness in his right hamstring.

Soon after though, Rolfe's replacement Diego Gutierrez added some insurance. Gutierrez picked the pocket of Red Bulls defender Seth Stammler in the 60th and beat Meola in yet another one-on-one.

The subbing in of Gutierrez for Rolfe at the half (instead of any number of more offensive oriented players like midfielder Justin Mapp or forward Chad Barrett) signaled an early move towards defense by Fire coach Dave Sarachan.

The risky move paid off during a hectic end to the second half that, despite many good looks, yielded only one Red Bull goal in the 78th from forward John Wolyniec.

Backup Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens started in goal on Sunday and again last night in place of injured starter Zack Thornton. Pickens had seven saves on Sunday and four saves in last night's shutout of D.C. United.

Rookie forward Calen Carr continued his stellar cup play with two goals in the win. Carr now has three goals and an assist in this season's cup action.

Midfielder Justin Mapp also tallied a Fire goal in the 58th.

Last night's cup semifinal in Bridgeview was a physical one. Immediately following Carr's first goal in the 76th, United forward Facundo Erpen was red-carded and ejected for a hard challenge from behind on Chicago midfielder Thiago (directly in front of the Fire bench no less).

Before Erpen could make his way off, veteran Fire midfielder Chris Armas shoved him, causing a brief fracas amongst all players on the field.

The Fire captain was promptly red-carded as well and will miss the next open cup game (the cup final).

Fire forward Andy Herron missed last night's game as he played for the Costa Rican national team in the Four Nations tournament in Switzerland.

Chicago will host the 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final at Toyota Park against the L.A. Galaxy on Wednesday, September 27th.