Fire knock United from playoffs, capture total-goals series 3-2

0 Comments | USA TODAY, November, 2007 | by Beau Dure

WASHINGTON -- Nineteen ninety-eight, 2003, 2005. Now 2007.

Four times in the Chicago Fire's 10-year history, the team has eliminated D.C. United from the MLS playoffs. Thursday night's game -- a 2-2 decision that gave the Fire a 3-2 win in the two-game total-goals series -- is the most surprising and devastating since the then-expansion team won the 1998 final.

United, the league's top regular-season team for the second consecutive year, trailed 1-0 in the series on Chris Rolfe's goal in the first leg and fell into a deep 3-0 hole late in the first half Thursday as the Fire jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

Calen Carr threaded a perfect ball into the heart of United's defense for Chad Barrett in the 31st minute. Barrett, who had squandered most of his...