Watch: Shipp, Wright-Phillips trade hat tricks, Fire outlast Red Bulls in 9-goal thriller
Chicago Fire rookie Harry Shipp scored the first three goals of his career to help the club to a wild 5-4 win over the New York Red Bulls (Warren Wimmer/Icon SMI)
The Chicago Fire went the unconventional route to finally get their first win of the MLS season.
Early Rookie of the Year favorite Harry Shipp scored the first three goals of his career, and the Fire withstood a New York Red Bulls rally -- which included Bradley Wright-Phillips' second hat trick in four games, marking the first MLS game with two hat tricks -- to record a wild 5-4 victory at Red Bull Arena Saturday night.
Shipp, the 22-year-old Homegrown Player who now has three goals and four assists in his first eight pro appearances, opened the scoring in the fourth minute in controversial fashion, only to be matched by Australia World Cup camp-bound Tim Cahill two minutes later. After Wright-Phillips and Quincy Amarikwa traded goals on either side of halftime, Shipp went on a rampage, finishing off his hat trick in the 53rd and 58th minutes before assisting Patrick Nyarko's ridiculous long-range, angled attempt in the 64th to give Chicago a commanding 5-2 lead.
Wright-Phillips, who leapfrogged Clint Dempsey in the MLS Golden Boot race on the night and now has nine goals on the season (eight in his last four games), nearly brought the Red Bulls all the way back with two more strikes, but Sean Johnson held firm in the Chicago goal, and the Fire corralled their first three-point haul of the season.
Enjoy the highlights of the rare nine-goal thriller below (video via MLSSoccer.com):