Fire stands united, advances
WASHINGTON -- With a big lead over a team it had always dominated in the postseason, the Chicago Fire surely had no reason to worry during the second half of its playoff game against D.C. United.
Then United scored. Then they scored again. Then in the dying minutes, they desperately pushed everyone forward to get the one more they needed.
For the Fire, time stood agonizingly still.
"The last three minutes were like 35 minutes," captain Chris Armas said. "You're almost out of gas. You're fighting. Give them a lot of credit for the push, and give our guys credit for holding them off."
The Fire's curse over United lived on Thursday night, but barely. Two first-half goals were enough to withstand a thrilling D.C. comeback in a 2-2 tie that sent the Fire to the Eastern Conference final.
The result gave the Fire a 3-2 aggregate win in the two-game, first-round series, following their 1-0 victory at home last week.
"We are very pleased. We are very happy," said coach Juan Carlos Osorio, who took over at midseason and led a late charge that was just enough to claim the final berth in the MLS playoffs. "We have put in a lot of hard work. We believe that we have all the attributes to go farther and into the finals."
The Fire will visit the winner of the first-round series between the New England Revolution and the New York Red Bulls in next week's conference final. The Revolution and Red Bulls, tied 0-0 after the first leg, will play the second Saturday.
The Fire improved to 5-0-2 in the playoffs against United, which failed to convert the league's best regular-season record into a championship for the second straight year. This loss was particularly tough because Washington is hosting the MLS Cup this month.
"The final's here -- and we're not in it," United coach Tom Soehn said. "Of course, I'm bitter."
After falling behind 2-0, United played frenetic but magnificent soccer in the second half -- as if they were really were the best team in the league -- but they couldn't get the third goal needed to tie the series and force an overtime period.
"A little more time -- and we would have gotten the result we needed," Soehn said. "That's soccer. Not always the best team comes out on top."
In injury time, Christian Gomez sank the hearts of the Fire when he put the ball in the net again. But he had shoved defender Dasan Robinson in the process and also appeared to touch the ball with part of his arm. The goal was disallowed.
Chad Barrett and Chris Rolfe stunned the RFK Stadium crowd of 19,438 by splitting the middle of the defense with similar goals two minutes apart in the first half.
In the 31st minute, Calen Carr lifted a pinpoint 40-yard pass ahead to Barrett, who ran unmarked through two defenders to connect on a 12-yard, left-footed half-volley into the left side of the net.
In the 33rd, MVP candidate Cuauhtemoc Blanco headed to Rolfe, who scored his second goal of the series with a 12-yard, right-footed volley into the left corner.