With the Chicago Fire winning all three of their MLS games played at SeatGeek Stadium this season, it just might provide the boost they need to make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
The Fire topped New England 3-2 in Bridgeview on Sept. 6 to complete a trio of games played there because of conflicts at their regular home, Soldier Field.
Those nine points they accumulated at SeatGeek were valuable.
With the win, the Fire (12-10-6, 42 points) passed up the New York Red Bulls (11-11-7, 40 points) for ninth place in the Eastern Conference.
The top seven teams make it to playoffs while the eighth- and ninth-place teams face off in a wild-card game to get in.
With six games to go, eighth-place New York City (44 points) is within striking distance. Fifth-place Orlando City (47), sixth-place Inter Miami and seventh-place Columbus (46) are in the neighborhood.
The Fire can help themselves climb the ladder. They host New York City at 7:30 p.m. at Soldier Field on Sept.13. They also host Columbus Sept. 27 and visit Inter Miami Sept. 30 in a two-game swing with little rest.
They also have games with Minnesota, New England and Toronto. Minnesota is the only team in that group with a winning record.
Jonathan Bamba, Philip Zinckernagel and Hugo Cuypers scored for the Fire in front of an announced crowd of 16,947 against New England.
Fire coach Gregg Barhalter was glad his team could leave Bridgeview with three points.
“We talked about it being a must-win game for us, (but it was) not exactly must must-win,” he said. “But (it was) an important game for us to leapfrog the Red Bulls and keep moving up in the standings. And we did that, and that’s the most important thing.”
With crunch time and a playoff appearance on the line, Barhalter is trying to concoct a good combination of young and veteran players to use in the final six games.
“We’ve been playing young players all year, that’s our M.O.” he said. “So, that’s who we are. We are a younger team. It doesn’t necessarily mean that there is no competition for spots and we’re not going to play who we’re most comfortable winning just to go young.
“But we have a young group. That’s part of the makeup of this group, and we’re going to put guys on the field that we think can help us win the game.”
Stars digging new digs
The Chicago Stars, who are leaving SeatGeek Stadium in 2026 to play at Northwestern’s Martin Stadium in Evanston, had a one-off game there Sept. 7 and stunned defending NWSL champion Orlando 5-2 in front of an announced crowd of 10,127.
All seven goals were scored in the second half. Sam Staab, Jameese Joseph, Bea Franklin, Julia Grosso, and Ludmila scored in a 39-minute span for the Stars (2-9-8).
This avenged a 6-0 loss to the Pride March 14 to open the season.
The Stars return to SeatGeek Stadium at 2 p.m. Sept. 14 to host Portland. The Stars will have just two more games in Bridgeview: Oct. 5 against Utah and Nov. 2 against Angel City.
This article provides great insight into the Chicago Fires potential playoff push. The emphasis on their strong performance at SeatGeek Stadium and the coachs tactical approach to balancing young and veteran players is particularly interesting. Its exciting to see them making moves to secure a spot in the playoffs!