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 Saturday, April 14, 2001 23:24 EST

Fire wins its home opener

CHICAGO (AP) – Josh Wolff and Dema Kovalenko scored second-half goals Saturday night as the Chicago Fire won its home opener, 2-0 over D.C. United.

Carlos Bocanegro redirected Kovalenko's free kick across United's box to Wolff, who scored on an 8-yard shot past goaltender Mike Amman in the 57th minute.

Kovalenko scored unassisted from 6 feet in the 78th minute after Raul Diaz Arces' attempt to clear went directly to the Chicago midfielder.

Midfielder Marco Etcheverry had D.C.'s best opportunity to score in the 53rd minute, but Fire goaltender Zach Thornton made a diving save. Etcheverry also earned a red card in the first minute of stoppage time for tackling Kovalenko at midfield.

Thornton has allowed only one goal in the first two games.

Chicago was 13-2-1 at Soldier Field last year and is 37-11-1 in four seasons of play at home. Saturday's attendance was 19,241.



MLS Scoreboard

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 Josh Wolff boots the loose ball past D.C.'s goalie for Chicago's first goal.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN
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 Chicago's Dema Kovalenko scores as D.C. United fails to clear the ball.
avi: 1170 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN
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