winning the U.S. Open Cup -- although their bid for a second MLS Cup in club history was ended by the New England Revolution in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. But given the struggles in the past by the Columbus Crew and Los Angeles Galaxy when they faced lengthy road stretches while waiting for their new homes to be completed, the Fire were pleased to find themselves competing for titles at the end of the campaign after beginning it on a long and winding road.
"We knew going into this season that it was going to be a year of transition and a challenge because Toyota Park wasn't going to be completed until June," said Fire head coach Dave Sarachan. "Through that stretch we really felt we came out of that pretty good from a mentality standpoint and a standings standpoint."
The Fire picked up 10 points during those first nine games with a pair of wins and four ties. They finally stepped onto the freshly-laid turf at their new home in Bridgeview, Ill., on June 11, playing host to the Revolution in what was dubbed a "public safety match" -- something of a warmup before the official home opener two weeks later.
That match against the Revolution should have resulted in three points for Chicago, as a Nate Jaqua double had the hosts on top 2-0 with 11 minutes to play. Taylor Twellman got one back for New England with three minutes of regulation time left. Calen Carr's first professional goal a minute into stoppage time looked sure to secure the victory for the Fire, but Steve Ralston and Andy Dorman scored just seconds apart for New England in stoppage time to leave the sides even at 3-3 at the final whistle.
Looking back, that result seemed to foreshadow the difficulties the Fire would have at home in the early goings at Toyota Park, getting off to a positive start and then struggling to maintain it.
"We got back to Toyota Park in June and everyone felt we were going to win all of our games now that we were at home and obviously you know it's not like that. I think June and July were also a bit of a challenge for us, just getting used to a different kind of rhythm," Sarachan said. "It really wasn't until after the All-Star break when things really began to come into place for us as far as more of a set lineup, a better balance of our schedule and a combination of improved play and better form."
After the New England draw, the Fire won their next three home games, topping the New York Red Bulls in the official home opener and then beating Real Salt Lake and the Kansas City Wizards. That's when the struggles began.
The club went winless in its next five matches, including a friendly again Mexico's Club America, to close out the first half of the season. Toyota Park played host to the 2006 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game on Aug. 5 and after falling to Chivas USA at home in their first game after the break, the Fire found their niche.
"I think a lot of it was everybody was finally getting comfortable. We were home, we were playing in Chicago. That's always an advantage for us, fan-wise," said veteran defender C.J. Brown. "I think we also figured out a system how to play -- we were a possession team, we moved the ball fairly well and guys were running in the box finishing chances that we normally at the beginning of the season weren't finishing. Everybody was playing their part."
It was a 2-0 win against the Kansas City Wizards on Aug. 14 in the U.S. Open Cup that finally turned the tide for Chicago. The Fire went unbeaten in their next nine matches, including Open Cup victories against the New England Revolution and D.C. United to put them into the championship match in that competition.
After finally losing a game on Sept. 13 - a 1-0 loss in Denver to the Rapids - the Fire won twice more at home before playing host to the Los Angeles Galaxy in the Open Cup Final on Sept. 27. Jaqua, Andy Herron and Thiago all scored for Chicago to bring the club its fourth Open Cup title in nine years.
"As we always have said, the ability to win a championship, whether it's the MLS Cup or the Open Cup, is a big goal of ours and we were successful of achieving that in September," Sarachan said. "We were hopeful that that would continue to carry us through the MLS Cup Final and obviously we fell a little short on that end."
Three days after lifting the Dewar Cup the Fire fell to New York 1-0 on the road. They followed that with one of their worst performances of the season, losing 4-1 to the Columbus Crew to close out their home schedule in their penultimate regular-season match.
The result seemed to shake the team, which responded with an impressive win against D.C. United at RFK Stadium to send the Fire into the postseason with some positive momentum.
"Right around towards the end of the season we were playing our best soccer - right around playoff time," Brown said. "That makes the season a little more disappointing because I thought we should have gone further in the playoffs than we did."
In the end, the Fire didn't make it past the first round. The Men in Red claimed a 1-0 victory against the Revolution in the first leg of the conference semifinals at Toyota Park, but went down in penalties a week later after a 2-1 loss left the sides even on aggregate goals.
Despite not accomplishing their ultimate goal of winning the domestic double, the Fire had a positive season highlighted by the opening of their new stadium and capturing a trophy to go in its case. Now that they are comfortable in their new surroundings, the club should be primed for a solid campaign in 2007.
"We feel pretty strong about our roster. There's always going to be some changes in the offseason, but we do feel that even though our last game was a penalty kick loss to New England, we still felt a pretty good sense of accomplishment and (are) feeling good about our future," Sarachan said. "We feel confident that we're going to have the ability to have a strong year in '07."
Jonathan Nierman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
