The Chicago Fire have been out of realistic postseason contention for quite some time. Over the weekend they officially were eliminated, so the focus from here on out is to finish strong and build toward next season.
The Fire (8-11-8) host the Kansas City Wizards (9-12-6) on Tuesday at Toyota Park, and a win would boost Chicago over K.C. in points.
The Fire are coming off a 2-0 victory against Eastern Conference rival Columbus Crew on Saturday -- an uplifting moment for a team that has not had too many high points.
"It's come down to the point where we've got nothing to lose," Fire goalkeeperAndrew Dykstra said. "You go out there and you come with the attitude of 'I'm going to get it done today.' That's kind of what we did [on Saturday], and that's how it looked."
Dykstra will be in the net once again for the Fire on Tuesday. Rookie Sean Johnson (hyphema) missed Monday's training and was not available over the past weekend against Columbus. But Dykstra and the defense maintained a clean sheet without Johnson, who had taken over the No. 1 goalkeeper slot from Dykstra ever since SuperLiga.
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