Union blanks Chicago Fire

JACK McINERNEY scored his seventh goal and Zac MacMath earned a shutout as the Union defeated the host Chicago Fire, 1-0, on Saturday.

"Every game you know you are going to have to make saves to keep your team in it, especially on the road when you are trying to get the shutout," MacMath said. "We have to do the same things going forward that we did today, which was fighting, having heart even when things aren't pretty. The guys stayed together. We didn't quit and as a result we got the three points."

The Union improved to 4-3-3 while the Fire fell to 2-6-1.

"Zac was our man of the match for sure," Union manager John Hackworth said. "He made a couple huge saves to keep us in that game. Otherwise we really would have been in a bad spot. No question.''

Of the goal, Hackworth said, "It was a great play by Sebastien [Le Toux], and Jack got the goal. Sebastien played great coming off the bench. So did Antoine Hoppenot. By far and away, Zac was really good."

Said McInerney: "It was an unbelievable game. In fact, I think that it was [MacMath's] best game of the season by far. He definitely kept us in the game in the first half and that was the goal, to get through [the first half] 0-0. It was just an unbelievable game and I doubt we even come away with a tie if it wasn't for him."

The Union returns to play on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Galaxy at PPL Park. The game will begin at 7:30 and be televised on The Comcast Network.