It was a big week for the Chicago Fire as they clinched a playoff berth on Sept. 30 and four nights later saw winger Philip Zinckernagel set a team record for assist and goal contributions.
They opened the week with a 5-3 MLS road win over Inter Miami and star player Lionel Messi to lock in their first postseason appearance since 2017. Five different players scored.
“I’m so proud, so proud of this group,” Fire coach Gregg Berhalter said. “The beauty of the MLS playoffs is that once you get in, anything can happen. And you know, I’m not going to sit here and tell you our objective is to win it all. But our objective is to compete every series we’re in.”
The Fire played their regular-season Soldier Field finale on Oct. 4 and while the 2-2 draw against Toronto wasn’t spectacular, it was a night to celebrate Zinckernagel, who assisted Jack Elliott’s two goals.
Zinckernagel has 14 goals and 15 assists for the Fire (15-11-7) for 29 total contributions. That beat Nemanja Nikolic’s mark of 28 — 24 goals and four assists. The Danish star also beat the team record for assists in a season.
“Obviously before the game I knew I was close,” Zinckernagel said after the game. “Right now, it doesn’t feel satisfying because we didn’t win and we didn’t take the three points. Maybe … when I’ve calmed down I can be a little bit proud of it.”
The Fire wasted a 2-0 lead and gave up the tying goal in the 10th minute of stoppage.
The Fire closes out the regular season Oct. 18 at New England.
Stars tie Utah
In a battle between the two teams in the bottom of the NWSL standings, the Chicago Stars tied Utah 2-2 in front of an announced crowd of 3,710 in the Stars’ second-to-last game at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. The team will play in Evanston next season.
The final game in Bridgeview is scheduled for Nov. 2 and a time has not been announced.
Down 2-0, Chicago’s Ivonne Chacon scored in the 83rd minute and Micayla Johnson scored three minutes later. The Stars (2-11-10) remain in 14th place in the 14-team league but lead the league in ties.
The Stars visit Racing Louisville (9-9-5) at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10.
Louisville has former Sandburg standout Ella Hase on its roster. The defender has played in 20 games and 1,278 minutes and recorded an assist. After Sandburg, she played four seasons at Northwestern and one at Duke.
Shokalook keeps scoring
Jason Shokalook scored his 19th and 20th goals in the Chicago Fire II’s 3-3 tie against host Columbus in an MLS Next Pro game on Oct. 5. They earned an extra point in a shootout.
The Fire II finished the regular season with a 12-9-7 and Shokalook won the league’s Golden Boot with his 20 goals.
The team qualified for the playoffs and will play a road game on the weekend of Oct. 17. Its opponent was not expected to be announced until late this week as the league has a Pick Your Opponent selection process.