Strong finishing kick for Fire

The Chicago Fire spent Saturday night showing its fans what might have been, with a little bit of what was mixed in.

Playing one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, the Fire finished the season on a 7-2-1 roll with a 3-2 victory Saturday night over the Columbus Crew at Toyota Park.

The Fire (9-9-16, 43 points) won’t be in the MLS playoffs, falling just short after winning just two of its first 24 games.

But what if it had squeaked through? As the hottest team in the league, the Fire really might have gone far.

“Absolutely,” captain Logan Pause said. “I said as soon as we started winning those games that if we make the playoffs, no one is going to want to face us.

“Kind of how the league is structured, a lot kind of rides on the teams that get momentum toward the end of the year. You see it translate right into the playoffs.

“That was one thing in the way that we looked at it, and we had to look at it, was our playoffs started two months ago, knowing that we had to win games and a lot of games. It somewhat came down to the last couple of weeks, which is exciting, but, yeah, it’s disappointing not to be playing next week.”

The Fire had a great start Saturday in front of an overflow crowd of 20,237. Rookie defender Jalil Anibaba twice scored on headers, in the 11th minute off Pavel Pardo service and again in the 30th from Cory Gibbs’ assist.

Like it has much of the season, the Fire defense had a letdown in the second half, giving up goals to Emilio Renteria in the 73rd and Dilly Duka in the 79th. Yet another tie looked inevitable.

But the Fire team that won seven of its last 10 prevailed. Diego Chaves knocked in the game-winning goal in the 80th minute after Columbus goalkeeper William Hesmer gave up a rebound on a Dominic Oduro shot.

“We made it exciting again, but it was great to finish on a positive note, for sure,” interim coach/technical director Frank Klopas said. “There’s not much to say. It’s very exciting at the moment.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed not to be in the playoffs … but I feel very good at this point of the season with where we are now as a team than I felt last season.”

oschwarz@dailyherald.com

ŸFollow Orrin Schwarz on Twitter @orrinsoccer.