Pontius ends drought as Union triumph

Through a season that hasn’t met his expectations in a number of ways, Chris Pontius took heart in a nugget of soccer wisdom — that fate on the pitch could be fickle, and its nature could change just when you thought it wasn’t.

So Pontius may have been ruefully surprised that it took 27 MLS games for him to notch goal No. 1, the dam finally breaking 10 minutes into a 3-1 win over the Chicago Fire Saturday night at Talen Energy Stadium. But there was no shock that after a wait on the order of months for that first marker, the second done arrived a mere 45 minutes later.

“It seems to happen that way,” Pontius said. “It comes in bunches at times. You feel like you can do everything right in a few games. And then other games you’re putting in so much effort and things just aren’t falling for you.

“There have been a few games this year where I put myself in good spots and I just couldn’t finish it for whatever reason. Certainly confidence is a big key for that and it was nice to get one especially early in a game like this.”

CJ Sapong added the third goal, his 14th of the season to tie the franchise’s single-season record, that sealed a relatively comfortable win against the team sitting third in the East entering play.

The result was another lopsided home win for the Union (9-12-9, 34 points) against a likely playoff team. The win snapped a six-game winless streak, the club’s first win since Aug. 5.

Pontius’ season has been more productive than zero goals into the final week of September would indicate, a ledger where six assists and untold acres of defensive running paint a more useful picture than the goalcolumn goose egg. And fittingly, even had Pontius not found the score sheet Saturday but managed to frustrate speedy Fire winger David Accam up and down the field for 60 minutes as he did, the day would’ve been chalked up as a win in his individual column.

“I thought Chris did a good job in that regard,” manager Jim Curtin said. “Happy for him now in terms of confidence moving forward, and like in many instances when these guys get one, he gets another. And he could’ve had a third, to be honest. … Happy for Chris. He’s done a decent job for us on the assist side, and happy for him to get two goals.”

The season has been a conundrum for Pontius, who has interwoven the barren streak for club with success for country as part of the U.S. squad that won the Gold Cup in July.

Yet despite the come down from last year’s career-high of 13 goals, Pontius has soldiered on and impacted games in other ways. Though that doesn’t diminish the relief at hitting the back of the net at long last.

“It’s tough at times,” Pontius said. “The highs of winning the Gold Cup and then to come back and I’m my harshest critic. I know I could have played a lot better for this team. There have been games this year where I’ve played well and it just hasn’t come off. It certainly is nice to get on the scoresheet.”

“He’s one of the guys I’m closest with on the team and he’s never seemed down at all,” Alejandro Bedoya said of Pontius. Though there are stretches where the team may not feel as confident and I’m sure you know when you’re not scoring goals as a winger or an offensive guy, it gets to you maybe. But he’s always been relentless and he’s a leader in this locker room, and it shows on and off the field. I’m happy for him.”

Pontius got off the schneid with an assist from another player who’s endured a subpar 2017. Keegan Rosenberry’s feed off a cleared corner was spot on for Pontius to nod home and the near post, with Warren Creavalle notching the secondary assist.

Pontius scored a quintessential poacher’s goal in the 55th, capitalizing when Fafa Picault’s shot was pushed away by Matt Lampson. The goalie couldn’t clear the danger and Pontius pounced.

Sapong attained his bit of history in the 64th minute, tapping home Fabinho’s low-driven cross at the near post for his 14th goal of the season and 30th in a Union shirt. He ties Sebastien Le Toux’s tally from 2010 for the most in a season in club history.

Saturday’s game was notable for a tweak to formation by Curtin, who replicated what worked in the second half of last week’s 0-0 draw with the Red Bulls. Curtin inverted the midfield triangle, with Creavalle as the shield to the back four, giving Bedoya and Haris Medunjanin license to get forward more and clamp down on the space for Chicago’s midfield, particularly Dax McCarty.