In a preseason rematch between 2000 MLS Cup Playoff quarterfinalists, the New England Revolution defeated the Chicago Fire 2-1 on March 22 at Lockhart Stadium. The Revolution (1-2) notched their first victory in the 2001 MLS Preseason Tournament, while the Fire (2-1) suffered their first defeat of the spring. “Winning or losing in the preseason doesn’t matter so much, but it’s better to win going into the regular season,” Revolution Head Coach Fernando Clavijo said. “With 16 days before the start of the season, I know who can do what now and which combinations work best.” New England forward Eric Wynalda provided a dramatic game-winning strike in the 89th minute, to break a 1-1 stalemate. Wynalda, who substituted into the match in the 72nd minute, gathered a breakaway feed from defender Joe Franchino and easily beat Fire goalkeeper Chris Snitko. The Revolution struck first in the 43rd minute, as midfielder Cate found forward William Sunsing streaking along the right side of the box. Sunsing, a standout on the Costa Rican national team, beat Snitko with a 12-yard strike into the back of the net. New England dominated play for the majority of the first half and tested Snitko three times, while the potent Fire attack failed to get a shot on goal. Chicago midfielder Dema Kovalenko scored the equalizer in the 77th minute on assists by Jesse Marsch and Yuri Lavrinenko. Kovalenko hammered Lavrinenko’s lofting cross past a defenseless Jeff Causey to knot the score. Overall, New England outshot Chicago 11-8. Snitko made four saves while Causey made one save. Chicago played without midfielder Chris Armas and forward Josh Wolff, who reported to U.S. national team training camp in preparation for their World Cup qualifier at Honduras on March 28. Fire forward DaMarcus Beasley was also absent, as he was in Trinidad & Tobago with the U.S. under-20 national team. Newly acquired forward Matt Okoh made his New England debut, starting and playing a total of 87 minutes on the left flank. The physical forward generated several scoring chances and led the Revs with three shots on goal. Chicago midfielder Peter Nowak left the game in the 44th minute with a minor left hamstring strain. March 22 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. New England Revolution 2 Chicago Fire 1. Goals: Sunsing (Cate) 43, Wynalda (Cate, Franchino) 89; Kovalenko (Marsch, Lavrinenko) 77. New England — Jeff Causey, Mauricio Wright, Brian Dunseth, Alan Woods, Joe Franchino, Leonel Alvarez (Shaker Asad 58), William Sunsing (Patrick Shamu 85), Marco Antonio Cate, Shaun Tskaris, Wolde Harris (Eric Wynalda 72), Matt Okoh (Nacho Conte 87). Chicago — Chris Snitko, Matt Chulis, Jim Curtin, Carlos Bocanegra, Justin Evans, Peter Nowak (Yuri Lavrinenko 44), Dema Kovalenko, Jesse Marsch, Diego Gutierrez, Johnny Menyongar (John Wolyniec 61), Hristo Stoitchkov (Kent Njoku 46).