Fire Take the Final Playoff Spot

NAPERVILLE, Illinois - The Chicago Fire clinched the eighth and final berth in the 2002 MLS Cup Playoffs Sunday with a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Crew at Cardinal Stadium. The result crystallized the final playoff seeding, officially eliminating the MetroStars from postseason contention.

The match was evenly played through the first half, with both squads probing the opposing defense looking for an exploitable weakness. Crew goalkeeper Jon Busch saw more action than his Fire counterpart Zach Thornton in the opening stanza, but Busch managed to keep the Fire off the board as the teams went to the locker rooms.

Chicago finally managed to get one past Busch in the second half, as midfielder Peter Nowak found the inside of the far post in the 72nd minute of play. Dema Kovalenko slipped a diagonal pass to Nowak on the left side of the penalty area. Getting behind defender Chris Leitch, Nowak flashed a quick shot across the mouth of the goal and into the far side netting.

In the 80th minute, midfielder Hristo Stoitchkov set up the Fire's second goal, running underneath a lofted pass from DaMarcus Beasley. Stoitchkov delivered a delicate one-touch pass into space for Ante Razov, who buried a blistering half-volley shot past Busch and into the back of the net.

The Crew managed to get a goal back in stoppage time, but were unable to complete the late rally. In the second minute of stoppage time Freddy Garcia sent a corner kick over the head of Thornton, to a wide-open Jeff Cunningham. Cunningham easily nodded the ball into the net from point-blank range, bringing Columbus to within one.

Thornton made a key save less than a minute later, diving to his left to pull down a Garcia rocket that threatened to knot the score at 2-2.

The Fire (11-13-4, 37 points) finish in the seventh seed, which will pit them against Eastern Conference winner New England. Chicago's win officially eliminates the MetroStars, who would have qualified for the postseason if Columbus had emerged victorious. Columbus (11-12-5, 38 points) will face defending MLS Cup Champions San Jose in the opening round of the playoffs.

September 22, 2002 1 2 F

Columbus

0 1 1

Chicago

0 2 2

Scoring Summary:

CHI--Nowak (Kovalenko, Marsch) 72

CHI--Razov (Stoitchkov, D. Beasley) 81

CLB--Cunningham (Garcia) 93+

COLUMBUS CREW--Jon Busch, Chris Leitch (Dante Washington 80), Brian Dunseth, Mike Clark (Daniel Torres 82), Eric Denton, Duncan Oughton (Kyle Martino 79), Edson Buddle, Freddy Garcia, John Wilmar Perez, Jeff Cunningham, Brian McBride

TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Garcia 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (four players with 1); FOULS: 19 (Garcia 5, Buddle 5); OFFSIDE: 4; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: Busch 5; CAUTIONS: Buddle 13, Garcia 40, Cunningham 40, Dunseth 74; EJECTIONS: none

CHICAGO FIRE--Zach Thornton, David Vaudreuil (Hristo Stoitchkov 57), C.J. Brown, Carlos Bocanegra, Orlando Perez (Jim Curtin 57), Billy Walsh, Jesse Marsch, DaMarcus Beasley, Peter Nowak (Dipsy Selolwane 90), Dema Kovalenko, Ante Razov

TOTAL SHOTS: 15 (Razov 7); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Razov 4); FOULS: 18 (Kovalenko 4); OFFSIDE: 3; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: Thornton 3; CAUTIONS: Kovalenko 79; EJECTIONS: none

Referee: Richard Heron; Assistant Referees: Richard Eddy, Steve Taylor

Attendance: 15,487; Weather: Partly Cloudy, 63, W-13mph,.41%hum, Partly Cloudy

Source: mlsnet.com

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