Thursday Night MLS: Not What RBNY Expected

WASHINGTON, DC (Oct 24, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- The playoff race got more complicated on Thursday night, courtesy of the Chicago Fire. With New York in position to take one of the two wildcard slots with a win, Chicago routed them 5-2 in Bridgeview.

The result gives Chicago second place in the East and puts the Kansas City Wizards into the playoffs as a wildcard. New York will need Real Salt Lake to draw or beat Colorado and DC United to draw or lose to Columbus to take the final wildcard slot.

Chris Rolfe put the Fire up in the 11th, with Juan Pablo Angel equalizing in the 32nd. From there, it was all Chicago with Rolfe scoring in the 38th and 44th, while Brian McBride and Daniel Woolard added goals in the 53rd and 75th. New York got their second in the 88th minute.

"It was a good win and great way to finish the regular season and head into the playoffs," Rolfe said. "I think it might have been the first time since high school that I had a hat trick. "

RBNY now wait for the weekend results.

"I think our team made terrible mistakes tonight," New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "Credit to Chicago, I think they are one of the best teams in the league. Today I think we were not disciplined and did not defend on set plays, which is something we worked on all week. I question if we deserve to be in the playoffs. We let a lot of people down, especially ourselves."