BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (August 3, 2025) – Chicago Fire FC II (10-5-4-2, 36 points) registered its third straight victory with a 6-1 win against Columbus Crew 2 (3-13-3-1, 13 points) Sunday afternoon at SeatGeek Stadium.
The result keeps the Fire in third place in the Eastern Conference standings, just three points away from Philadelphia Union II and six behind first-place New York Red Bulls II. Trip Fleming and Harold Osorio each scored twice, with Claudio Cassano and Dean Boltz tallying one goal each. With two assists on the night, Cassano became the first Fire player of the season to reach double digit assists, leading the league with 10 assists.
Fleming connected with Cassano in the second minute of play as Columbus tried to clear the ball after a corner kick. Cassano sent a driven ball from the left side toward the near post to an on-rushing Fleming. The midfielder redirected the ball with a powerful header to open the scoring with his sixth goal of the season.
Columbus leveled the score in the 15th minute but Chicago responded shortly before halftime through Cassano. In the 41st minute, Diego Konincks intercepted a Columbus throw-in with a header that he delivered into the box. Cassano, with his back to goal, received the ball with his chest and turned, scooting past his mark and sending a laser into the top left corner.
Fleming scored his second goal of the match in the 49th minute following a flurry of shots. After a couple of rebounds, Fleming’s attempt powered past the Columbus goalkeeper. Just two minutes later, Boltz scored his third goal of the season when he stepped up to the top of the box to clean up an errant ball. His strike snuck into the lower right corner through traffic.
Salvadoran international Osorio came in as a second-half substitute and registered goals in the 56th and 67th minutes to close out the scoring for the Fire.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago Fire FC II will travel to the Big Apple for an Eastern Conference rematch against NYCFC II on Friday, August 8.. First kick at Belson Stadium in Queens is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and can be streamed for free on MLSNEXTPro.com.
Social: X - @ChicagoFireFCII (Hashtags: #ChicagoFireII) | Instagram - @chicagofirefcii | Facebook
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC II 6:1 Columbus Crew 2
Goals:
CHI - Fleming (6) (Cassano 9) (WATCH) 2’
CLB - Gbamblé (1) (Rogers 1) (WATCH) 15’
CHI - Cassano (8) (Konincks 2) (WATCH) 42’
CHI - Fleming (7) (WATCH) 49’
CHI - Boltz (3) (WATCH) 51’
CHI - Osorio (2) (Cassano 10) (WATCH) 56’
CHI - Osorio (3) (WATCH) 67’
Discipline:
CLB - Josh Williams (Assistant Coach) (Yellow Card) 14’
CHI - Williams (Yellow Card) 45+1’
CLB - Randazzo (Yellow Card) 85’
Chicago Fire FC II: GK Dowd, D Diouf, D Pfrommer, D Konincks (capt.), D Reynolds (Kanyane, 77’), M Nagle, M Fleming (Montiel, 58’), M Williams (Osorio, 46’), F Hlyut (Borso, 46’), F Boltz, F Cassano (Herrera, 77’)
Substitutes not used: GK Molenda, D Oyegunle, F Shokalook, F Tchétchao
Columbus Crew 2: GK Puter, D Ferdinand (Lloyd, 59’), D Rogers (capt.), D Randazzo, M Presthus (Grinblat, 71’), M Sy, M De Libera (Adu Gyamfi, 59’), M Alaouieh, F Rincón, F Gimple (Forfor, 59’), F Gbamblé
Substitutes not used: GK Lapkes
Stats Summary: CHI / CLB
Shots: 26 / 10
Shots on Goal: 13 / 6
Passing Accuracy: 89.2% / 86.9%
Saves: 5 / 7
Corners: 6 / 4
Fouls: 7 / 9
Offsides: 3 / 1
Referee: Luis Arroyo
Assistant Referee 1: Rachel Smith
Assistant Referee 2: Fermin Sanchez
4th Official: Ryan Homik
