Fire Back in Semifinals

Dema Kovalenko and Chris Armas scored and the Chicago Fire defeated the Dallas Burn, 2-0, Saturday night at Chicago in the decisive third game of their MLS quarterfinal series.

Chicago, which advanced to the MLS semifinals for the third time in four seasons, limited the Burn to one goal and won the series, 2-0-1.

The Fire, 9-0 in playoff games at Soldier Field, will face the Galaxy in the best-of-three semifinals, beginning Oct. 10.

Kovalenko opened the scoring in the 17th minute, and Armas, who returned from injuries and a commitment to the U.S. national team, slipped a shot past Burn goalkeeper Matt Jordan in the 55th minute.

Miami 2, Kansas City 1-Chris Henderson scored the tiebreaker in the 71st minute at Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., in the third game of a quarterfinal series.

The victory gave the Fusion, the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, six points in the first-to-five-points series. Miami advanced to the semifinals against the San Jose Earthquakes, beginning Oct. 10.

Former Wizard midfielder Preki pulled Miami even, 1-1, on a direct kick in the 14th minute, less than 30 seconds after the Wizards took a 1-0 lead on Onandi Lowe’s goal.