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In Open Cup, it's all about pride

Wednesday night's soccer game at Toyota Park was about much more than advancement in the U.S. Open Cup.

It was about pride.

The Chicago Fire defeated Indy Eleven 4-3 in penalty kicks after they were tied at 1-1 through 90 minutes of regulation time and two 15-minute overtime periods.

"We tried to focus on this competition," Fire captain Razvan Cocis said. "We like this competition. It's an opportunity for us to win something. It's just five games, four to go. It's very important for us."

The fourth-round Open Cup match was scoreless through regulation time, but Indy Eleven forward Justin Braun turned and scored from about 14 yards out late in the first 15-minute overtime period.

The Fire's David Accam evened the match in the 111th minute with a shot from the right corner of the goal box.

"The most important thing is we kept our focus and we came back," Cocis said. "Even in the penalties we were down one."

For the Fire it meant trying to avoid an upset to a second-division team and losing something to play for the rest of the season, considering it's dead last in Major League Soccer through 12 games for the 34-game schedule.

For Indy Eleven the game was about showing its NASL spring-season title, which it claimed Saturday night, was no fluke. It was about showing it could play with a first-division team.

Just as it has been since the season opener, scoring continued to be a problem for the Fire. Chicago has managed just 10 goals in 12 MLS games. The Fire outshot Indy 27-16 and 8-4 on shots on goal. It had some great opportunities but couldn't put them on frame.

"I think we deserved to win also because we created a lot of chances," Cocis said. "We just didn't score. Hopefully, all these chances we'll be scoring the next game (8 p.m. Saturday at Colorado)."

The Fire lost second-year midfielder Matt Polster to an apparent concussion at halftime after he was hit in the face by an Indy Eleven clearance late in the first half.

• Follow Orrin on Twitter @Orrin_Schwarz

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