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Ruiz snuffs Fire with stoppage time equalizer

Frisco, TX (Sports Network) - The Hispanic stars were on display Thursday night when the Chicago Fire traveled to Frisco to take on FC Dallas in a Major League Soccer match.

The Hoops featured the likes of Brazilian Denilson, Colombian Juan Toja and Guatemalan Carlos Ruiz while the Fire featured Mexican Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Costa Rican Paulo Wanchope, but it was a couple of Americans that had the biggest impact for over 90 minutes of the match.

Fire forward-turned-midfielder Chris Rolfe created numerous offensive chances before scoring an impressive goal in the 56th minute while old warhorse defender Chris Armas was instrumental in shutting down the high-powered Hoops attack from his defensive midfield role for much of the game.

But in the end, it was one of the Hispanic stars that stole the show when former MLS MVP Ruiz scored the equalizer in the 93rd minute to steal a share of the points from the Fire in a 1-1 contest.

The loss of the two points is heartbreaking for the Fire (8-10-7), who are struggling to get into the MLS Cup playoffs. They are in the eighth and final spot by just two points over the Colorado Rapids with the same number of games played ahead of a match against league-leaders D.C. United on Sunday. Colorado plays at Real Salt Lake - which is second-to-last in the league - Saturday. Both teams have five games remaining.

"We didn’t play the best first half, but made a couple of adjustments which worked for us in the second half," Fire assistant coach Daryl Shore said. "Obviously we’re disappointed with the way the game ended."

The game started with the Hoops pressuring the Fire behind the strong play of Denilson. In his third game since signing with the club as a designated player, the team seemed to be trying to funnel its offense through him while having Toja drop into a more defensive role in the midfield.

The Fire didn't have a legitimate chance until Wanchope got behind the defense in the 13th minute, but defender Clarence Goodson got back to deny a shot or a pass to a wide open Chad Barrett at the top of the six-yard box.

In 17th minute, Ruiz capped off a Dallas buildup with a shot over the goal. The play started with Chris Gbandi at left back and ended with a Denilson dummy in the box to give Ruiz a clear shot that he put well over the goal from about 15 yards.

Arturo Alvarez showed his skill in the 19th minute when he cut between two Fire defenders before firing a shot from about 15 yards on Matt Pickens, but the Chicago goalkeeper did well to punch the ball away as Abe Thompson was charging for the rebound.

Rolfe had his best chance of the first half when he took control of the ball from about 25 yards out at the top of the box, turned inside and fired a hard shot with his left foot. Hoops goalkeeper Dario Sala did well to dive to his right to knock away the shot with his right hand while at full extension. The ball deflected off Sala then hit the crossbar and was cleared by the defense.

Ten minutes after the break, Chicago had another quality chance when Bruno Menezes fired a hard shot from the top of the box after a failed clearance attempt on a corner kick. Sala, who made four saves in the game, again stopped the shot while at full extension to keep the game scoreless.

Less than a minute later, however, Rolfe was able to score his fifth goal of the season and first since May 12 after suffering a severe ankle injury early in the season. The Ohio native took control of the ball on the left flank, cut inside, took two touches and unleashed a rocket with his right foot that found the far post side netting from about 35 yards out.

The Fire went into a defensive shell about 10 minutes later, bringing in the likes of Diego Gutierrez and later Bakary Soumare to play in the middle with Armas to try to close out the game.

The strategy seemed like it was going to work until Ruiz scored his seventh goal of the season and third in the past two games to tie at one.

After a ball from the defensive third was skipped at the top of the box by Goodson - who was pushing up from his defensive position - to Ruiz at the top of the area, he cooly took a touch around a charging Pickens and past the defense before firing a shot into the back of the net.

The goal was Ruiz' second stoppage time equalizer of the season after doing the same thing in a 2-2 tie at Real Salt Lake in the opening weekend of the season.

Dallas (12-9-4) will be back in action Sunday at Los Angeles while the Fire host D.C. the same day.

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