Fire, Toronto goalies make big saves down stretch

Toronto's Stefan Frei and the Chicago Fire's Sean Johnson made big saves in the final 25 minutes as the two teams battled to a scoreless tie Wednesday night at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.

Toronto (7-9-7) earned a point to move into ninth place in the overall MLS standings with 28, 4 behind Seattle and San Jose - currently in the last two MLS Cup playoff positions. The Fire (6-7-8) is 11th with 26 points.

Toronto FC is 0-3-2 in its last five games, and the Fire is 0-2-2 in its last four.

Johnson made a pair of saves in a four-minute span in the second half, stopping midfielder Nick LaBrocca's curling shot from 20 yards, and covering O'Brian White's point-blank chance from the right crease.

Frei twice corralled long shots by Nery Castillo, and grabbed a hard shot by midfielder Mike Banner in the 90th minute en route to his eighth shutout of the season.

The first real scoring opportunity came in the third minute of the second half, when the Fire's Freddie Ljungberg fired wide right from 14 yards on a breakaway.