Logan Pause scored in the 27th minute to lifted the Chicago Fire to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamon on Sunday night in a match shortened to 66 minutes due to lightning.
Will Bruin opened the scoring for Houston (2-1-1) in the 24th minute with a low shot from 14 yards out after taking a pass from Brian Ching. Bruin's shot whistled low and to the right of Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson, making his first start of the season following his stint with the U.S. Olympic team.
The advantage lasted only three minutes before Pause, diving out of the way of teammate Pavel Pardo's free kick, deflected the shot off the crossbar and into the net for Chicago (1-1-2).
The second lightning delay of the match resulted in the decision to end it 24 minutes early.
The first delay, in the 13th minute, was triggered by two lightning strikes near Toyota Park. Those prompted referee Geoff Gamble to rush the teams off the field. The delay lasted 1 hour, 8 minutes before the match was resumed, but another cell stopped play in the 66th minute. After a 40 minute wait, the match was called.
Chicago defender Arne Friedrich, a veteran of two World Cups for Germany, made his regular season debut for the Fire.
Houston was without three midfield regulars, including Brad Davis, runner-up for MLS MVP in 2011. Adam Moffet was serving a one-game suspension, while Colin Clark was out for the first of three games for verbal abuse of a ball boy in Houston's last match.
