Fire down - but knowing this team, not yet out

At halftime of its first-round playoff against New England, the Fire trails 2-1.

With 90 minutes to play Saturday night at Toyota Park, the Fire again finds itself in a tight spot.

"We put ourselves in a little bit of a hole, but we're OK. We're not going to panic. We get one goal and it's tied up again, and we've got time to get the second," goalkeeper Jon Busch said. "We're in OK shape. We're concerned, but we're not worried about it. We know what it's about, and we just have to come out on Saturday night and play well."

Still, all the pressure is on the Fire, right, C.J. Brown?

"I wouldn't say there's any pressure," the captain said after Wednesday's practice. "There's pressure on them because they're winning. They've got to keep the win. For us technically if it was one game we're already out, so we get a second chance to make something happen. For them they need to hold onto this lead, and it's hard to hold onto leads in this league, I think."

(A loss or tie Saturday in the second leg of the two-game series means the Fire is on winter vacation. If 90 minutes ends Saturday with the Fire leading by 1 goal, tying the series, then the teams play another 30 minutes to break the tie. If that extra period still doesn't decide anything, they go to penalty kicks.)

Nothing comes easy with this team.

This is a team that went two months at the end of the season without a win, then won its final regular-season match to finally clinch a playoff spot, and a good one at that. Maybe the Fire is just saving its best for the last possible moment again.

This is a team that has endured countless injuries, plus the very public divorce from defender Bakary Soumare, and the announcements that Chris Rolfe and Cuauhtemoc Blanco will be playing elsewhere come January, though Blanco could return after the World Cup.

Defender Wilman Conde did not practice Wednesday, and defender Gonzalo Segares reaggravated his knee injury Sunday in New England and looks doubtful the rest of the season. Defender Tim Ward looks close to returning, as does midfielder John Thorrington, who took another yet knock toward the end of Wednesday's practice. The second-team defense seems likely to start again Saturday.

"This whole season for the Fire has been up and down," captain C.J. Brown said, "with players in and out, on a good winning streak, to losing a few games here and there, to playing some good soccer games but actually losing, to playing some bad soccer games but winning. We've done it all this year. I don't think this is unusual for us, not having certain players."

New England is a physical, defensive team, and now it's got a lead to protect. The Revolution won't make it easy for the Fire to score. The Fire will have to finish its chances this weekend. Shooting the ball squarely into a post won't be good enough.

"For what we've dealt with on and off the field this year, I take my hat off to the players," Busch said, "because we've been through a lot. And for us to still be standing and still be standing where we are, I'm very proud of the boys, especially the young boys who have come through who were unproven in those situations.

"I'm excited for us, because I know we're ready for it, I know the mentality of the boys, and we're excited to get that game going."

The Fire is down now. The team has been down much of the season. It hasn't been out yet.

Soehn out of D.C.: D.C. United coach Tom Soehn announced Tuesday will not seek to renew his contract with the team.

United missed the playoffs the past two seasons.

Soehn, a former Fire defender and coach who grew up in the northwest suburbs, is one of the league's good guys. He'll catch on somewhere soon.