Fire can’t let U.S. Open Cup loss linger

When Brian Gutierrez was taken down in the 18-yard box by Dynamo goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell early in the second half of Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal, the Fire probably should have been awarded a penalty. If they had converted the spot kick, the Fire would have tied the score at 2 and had most of the final period to find a winner.

Unfortunately for the Fire, no penalty was called, and they eventually wilted in a 4-1 loss. To make something of a season that’s already teetering, the Fire must respond to adversity much better than they did against the Dynamo.

“If you get a call there and score, it goes to 2-2 at that time,” Fire goalkeeper Spencer Richey said. “But, with that said, we have to have a better response even with the no-call. We can’t let referees dictate games for us like that. It won’t be the last bad call or missed call, whatever you want to call it. That’s the reality of sports. We got to be better. Just getting on with it in the future.”

The Fire’s immediate future will only be darker if they don’t show more resilience or start better than they did against Houston, when they fell behind 2-0 in the first half. The officiating — which also gave the Dynamo a questionable first-half penalty — was just one issue the Fire couldn’t handle.

“It’s the way we started the game, our mentality in a big game like this,” Fire coach Frank Klopas said. “I felt that we were very sluggish, we were not sharp, so we got no one to blame but ourselves.”

By losing, the Fire squandered what was likely their best chance to win a trophy in 2023. They’ll still have the Leagues Cup later this summer, but that 47-team event with just MLS and Mexican clubs figures to be a steep climb for the Fire.

Knowing that, the best route left for the Fire to call this year a success is to do well in MLS play and make the postseason for the first time since 2017. But the odds of that happening don’t look great. As of Wednesday, the Fire had just a 24% chance to make the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Entering Saturday’s game against the Crew, the Fire have only 17 points in 16 matches, putting them on pace for around 36 points. Last year, Charlotte’s 42 points were good for ninth in the East, a total the Fire have hit or exceeded only twice since the end of 2013.

To overcome those numbers, the Fire must put Tuesday’s disappointment behind them and move on after getting banished from a tournament that means a lot to the club and its fans.

“I know that keeps being repeated by people, but it is truly something that us, as players, we felt, just in side conversations, saying to one another, ‘Damn, we really want to win this thing,’ ” Richey said. “But that’s life, and that’s [soccer] sometimes. So this one will hurt for a little bit, but we’ll have to get up off the mat and get ready for Saturday.”