Yes, the Chicago Fire took a chance on signing Polish super scorer Robert Lewandowski at this late stage of his career this summer.
After all, he turned 38 on Aug. 21 and who knew what kind of player they were getting.
For now, they are getting vintage Lewandowski as he scored his sixth goal in his first nine MLS games in a 1-1 draw with Inter Miami on Sept. 9 in front of a team-record crowd of 63,094 at Soldier Field.
Having two international superstars on the field in Lewandowski and Miami’s Lionel Messi helped bring in the huge crowd.
“It was amazing,” Fire defender Jack Elliott said of the massive turnout.
Lewandowski scored in the 10th minute and fans chanted his name.
“I was happy it wasn’t a Messi chant,” said Fire goalie Chris Brady, who had six saves including stopping a Messi shot. Messi did help tie the game as his assist on a Casemiro goal in the 48th minute prevented a Fire victory.
Coach Gregg Berhalter has been impressed with Lewandowski’s scoring ability.
“He’s a guy that’s invested on what’s happening here,” Berhalter said. “We need to continue to do a good job of getting him the ball in good positions.”
The Fire (11-7-6) had their MLS unbeaten streak halted at seven on Sept. 13 when they lost 2-1 to New England at Soldier Field in front of 26,324.
Maren Haile-Selassie scored the lone goal for the Fire, who visit Nashville at 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 19.
The Fire II fell to 10-11-6 after a 2-1 loss to Philadelphia on Sept. 13 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview in an MLS NEXT Pro game.
Damyan Villanueva scored the lone goal for the Fire, who finish the season at 1 p.m. Sept. 20 hosting Chattanooga at SeatGeek Stadium.
Cougars fall to 0-2
St. Xavier’s football team dropped its second straight game on Sept. 12 with a 49-14 road loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater, which was ranked 12th in the nation in the NCAA Division III poll.
Quarterback Blainey Dowling threw for 161 yards and former Andrew star Dominic D’Ambrosio took some snaps and threw for 64 yards and a touchdown to Antonio Benson.
The Cougars (0-2) play their home opener at 6 p.m. Sept. 19 against Indiana Wesleyan, which is ranked ninth in the nation in the NAIA.
Chavez is First to Finish
Reavis senior cross country standout Santiago Chavez won the Class 3A division of the First to the Finish Invitational on Sept. 12 at Detweiller Park in Peoria — home of the state meet.
He finished first out of 302 runners with a time of 14 minutes, 31.8 seconds, two seconds ahead of Fremd’s David Moore. Lyons junior Brennan Monohan took seventh with a 14:55.6.
In the girls’ 3A race, Riverside-Brookfield’s Delaney Gidd took sixth with a 17:42.7.