Historical Moments:
1998: The Fire opened their inaugural season with a 2-0 win at Lockhart Stadium against
Miami on March 21. 15 days later, the Fire would win their home opener against
Tampa Bay, 2-0 in front of 36,444 vociferous fans at Soldier Field. Among the
stars was Polish star, Peter Nowak. Spurred by a midseason 11-game winning streak,
the Fire would go on to finish second in the Western Conference with a solid
20-12 record. In the playoffs, the Fire would continue their winning ways, narrowly
edging the defending Western Conference champions Colorado Rapids. In the
next round, the Fire went up against the best team in the League, the LA Galaxy.
In the first game at the Rose Bowl, the Fire would squeak out a 1-0 win by
a Jesse Marsch goal in the 87th minute. Then back home one week later, the Fire
would send the Galaxy packing by beating them in a shootout and advance to MLS
Cup '98.
1998 MLS Cup: The Fire would travel back to the Rose Bowl, but this time, not to face the Galaxy.
They were to face the only champion MLS had ever known in its two year existence:
DC United. Two goals in the first half by Jerzy Podbrozny and Henry Guttierez
were all the Fire needed as their steady goalkeeper, Zach Thornton kept United
at bay to preserve a 2-0 victory and give MLS a new champion. For assisting
on the two goals, Peter Nowak received MVP honors. Later on, they would complete
the "double" by winning the US Open Cup. They became only the second team in
MLS to manage that.
1999: Coming off a surprise champiuonship in their first year in existence, the Fire were
looking to build on it. At the end of April, they were on top of the Western
Conference, but slowly slid into the middle of the pack. At the end of the season,
the Fire would clinch third place in the West for their second straight playoff
berth with a mediocre 18-14 record. In the playoffs, though, they would lose
their best-of-three series to the Dallas Burn, 2-1.
2000: With the acquisition of the "Mad Bulgarian," Hristo Stoicthkov, the Fire were looking
for a return to MLS Cup. Now in the Central Division, courtesy of realignment,
there was no stopping them as they charged their way to the division championship
with a solid 17-9-6 record and a No. 2 seed. In the playoffs, which had
became a first-to-five point system, meaning three for a win and one for a tie,
the Fire defeated the New England Revolution 6 points to 3. They would go on
to take care of the upstart MetroStars 6 points to 3 as Ante Razov scored a goal
in the 88th minute to break a tie and return his team to MLS Cup.
2000 MLS Cup: In an MLS Cup First, the league's best offensive team, the Fire met the league's
best defensive team, the Kansas City Wizards at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC.
The Wizards' Miklos Molnar would score in the 11th minute Molnar would score in
the 11th minute. From that point on, the Fire did everything in their power to
pull even, but despite outshooting the Wizards, 22-6, they could not beat steaming
goalkeeper Tony Meola as the Wizards walked away with the championship, 1-0.
2001: Once again, the Fire would be strong all year, finishing with a record of 16-6-5
in a season that was left without the final weekend due to the September 11 attacks
on America. In the playoffs, the 2nd seeded Fire would eliminate the Dallas
Burn in three games, 7 points to 1. In the next round, the Fire would take on
the LA Galaxy and the series started out with a tie in LA. In Chicago, the Galaxy
won in overtime and then finished off the Fire in OT again in game 3.
2002: As a result of contraction, the Fire would shift over to the Eastern Conference.
But that wasn't the big move. With Soldier Field going through a facelift, the
Fire would move to Cardinal Stadium in Naperville, Illinois where they would play
for two seasons. Despite the temporary move, the Fire maintained their consistency,
finishing with a record of 11-13-4 to clinch a playoff berth as the 7th
seed. In the playoffs, they would go up against the resurgent New England Revolution.
The Fire would fall in the first game, but would rebound to win the second
game. In the end, the Revs were too hot to handle, knocking the Fire out of
the playoffs with a 2-0 result in game 3. After the season, head coach Bob Bradley,
who had been with the team since its inception, resigned to take the coaching
position with the MetroStars.
2003: In a season that would see a return to the brand new Soldier Field near the end of
the regular season, the Fire again dominate the Eastern Conference, winning the
conference title and the Best team in MLS with a solid record of 15-7-8. In
the playoffs, which were now a home-and-home aggregate goal series, they would
beat out DC United by not allowing them to score a single goal. In the semifinal,
the Fire would get revenge on the New England Revolution, the team that beat
them in the playoffs the previous year, in overtime on a goal by Chris Armas to
advance to their third MLS Cup final.
2003 MLS Cup: The Fire would go up against the San Jose Earthquakes in Carson, California. The
Fire would quickly fall behind on a 5th minute goal by Ronnie Ekelund and a 38th
minute goal by Landon Donovan. The Fire kept in interesting with a goal in the
second half by DaMarcus Beasley, but the Earthquakes eventually would come out
on top, winning 4-2 in the highest scoring MLS Cup game ever.
2004: In their first full season back at Soldier Field, the Fire would struggle out of
the gate, winning only two games going into June. To add insult to injury, the
Fire's young star, DaMarcus Beasley, was transferred PSV Eindhoven in Holland in
July. Despite that, the Fire would stay in playoff contention until the final
weekend. But even when controlling their own destiny, the Fire were unable to
take advantage of it as they lost 2-1 to the New England Revolution in their final
game to miss the playoffs for the first time with a horrible 8-13-9 record.
2005: In their final season at Soldier Field before moving into their own soccer-specific
stadium, the Fire would get off to a solid start, winning 7 of their first 13
games before making a run for first place with a five game winning streak. The
Fire continued their winning ways through the rest of the season, finishing in
third place with a record of 15-13-4. In the playoffs, the Fire would go up against
defending champions DC United and would make quick work of them, shutting
them out 4-0 in the series. At Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, the Fire fell behind
to the New England Revolution in the Conference Final, 1-0. Near the very end
of the match, the Fire thought they had tied the score when Gonzalo Segares
slotted the ball past Matt Reis, but the goal was not allowed as he was offside
during the play. So there would be no saving the Fire as the 1-0 score held up.
2006: Following a mediocre start to the season in which they played every game on the road,
the Fire finally christened their new stadium, Toyota Park, in Bridgeview
on June 11. The Fire held a 3-1 lead against the New England Revolution going into
the final minute, but the Revs would score two quick goals in stoppage time
to spoil the party. The new home would provide a struggle for the team as they
had a mediocre record there in the first year. The Fire would use a 6-2 September
to return to the playoffs with a third place record of 13-11-8. In the playoffs,
the Fire would meet up again with the Revolution, looking for revenge for
the playoff debacle the year before. Justin Mapp would score the first goal to
give Chicago a 1-0 lead going to the second game. There, Nate Jaqua scored to
make a 2 goal cushion for the team. But Taylor Twellman and Pat Noonan would bring
the Revs back. In the subsequent penalty shootout, the Revolution would outscore
the Fire, 4-2.
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