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NEW YORK -- Chicago Fire defender Austin Berry has been voted Major League Soccer's Rookie of the Year.

The 24-year-old, selected from Louisville with the seventh pick of January's draft, made 28 consecutive starts and received 140 percent of weighted ballots added from team, media and player votes, the league said Monday.

D.C. United midfielder Nick DeLeon was second with 74 percent, followed by Vancouver forward Darren Mattocks with 26 percent.

MLS also said New England won the team Fair Play Award and Chicago midfielder Logan Pause won the individual Fair Play Award.

The Chicago Fire announced Wednesday they re-signed German defender Arne Friedrich.

The 33-year-old Friedrich, a German World Cup veteran, was signed as a free agent on March 7 and made 23 appearances, scored one goal and helped hold opponents to 41 goals in 1,832 minutes during the 2012 regular season. He was selected as the team's Defender of the Year.

Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

"Building continuity at the center back positions is a priority in 2013," Fire president of soccer operations Javier Leon said in a statement. "Arne's international experience and leadership are key to our defense. We are happy to have him back next season."

The Fire went 17-11-6 in the MLS regular season and lost to the Houston Dynamo in the opening round of the playoffs.

Adrian Healey and Taylor Twellman discuss the Fire's loss to the Dynamo and look forward to next season.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Postseason experience meant more than home-field advantage in the opening round of the MLS Eastern Conference playoffs Wednesday night.

Will Bruin scored twice and the Houston Dynamo beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Dynamo reached the MLS Cup final last year and won the league championship in 2006 and 2007. The Fire, who hosted the knockout-round match, hadn't been to the playoffs since 2009. The difference showed.

"After the first goal, we kind of had that feeling it was our game," Bruin said. "We were putting them under pressure, and got the goal as a reward for our play."

The Dynamo, who hadn't beaten the Fire since 2010, will host top-seeded Kansas City in Sunday's first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

"We didn't think about getting another home game," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said. "We give ourselves a chance to move on farther, which is nice."

Bruin's first goal, a header off Brad Davis' corner-kick cross from the left side, came in the 12th minute. From that point until the 82nd minute, when Brazilian veteran Alex beat goalkeeper Tally Hall to cut Houston's lead to 2-1, the Dynamo had Chicago off balance.

"We were able to impose our will," forward Calen Carr said. "We pressed them and kept them from getting comfortable. And a lot of our guys have been there (in the playoffs). That helped us today."

Houston took advantage of a Chicago mistake at the start of the second half for its second goal. Fire defender Gonzalo Segares' clearing pass was deflected, and Oscar Boniek Garcia led Bruin. Chicago goalkeeper Sean Johnson got his right hand on Bruin's 10-yard shot, but couldn't stop it 19 seconds into the second half.

The goal stunned the Fire, and squelched coach Frank Klopas' plan to attack relentlessly with Alex, who replaced Logan Pause at halftime. It took another 35 minutes for Chicago to get untracked.

"I thought we had the energy," Klopas said. "We had opportunities and didn't take advantage of them. What are you going to do?"

Houston controlled the ball more effectively for the first 75 minutes, giving Hall an easy night until Alex's goal. He finished with six saves.

Chicago's best chance before Alex's goal, a point-blank drive by forward Sherjill MacDonald, was kicked aside by midfielder Adam Moffat in the 71st minute.

Game notes: The Dynamo put six shots on goal. ... Houston is 1-0-2 against Kansas City this season. ... The second leg of the semifinals is Nov. 7 in Kansas City. ... Houston was undefeated (11-0-6) at home this season and has a 29-game unbeaten streak dating to July 9, 2011, including last year's playoff matches en route to the Eastern Conference title. ... The Dynamo last beat the Fire on Aug. 21, 2010, in a regular-season match.

BRIDGEVILLE, Ill. -- Frank Klopas had two options when the Chicago Fire began the 2011 season with a 1-4-6 record.

One, Klopas could have resigned. The team was coached by Carlos de los Cobos, but a bulk of the roster was assembled by Klopas, who was hired as the team’s technical director in January of 2008. He also bore responsibility for the Fire’s lack of success.

The other option was for him to fire de los Cobos and take over the coaching duties himself. If he truly believed in the players, Klopas would prove the Fire were better than what they had proven under de los Cobos.

Staying true to his personality, Klopas chose the latter. He’s never shied away from a soccer challenge.

“Some guys really don’t want to step up and take (penalty kicks,)” Klopas said after practice on Tuesday. “I always wanted to take them. Every situation is an opportunity. You can’t look at the worst-case scenario. You won’t go anywhere like that. I’d rather attempt it and miss than never go out there and never take the chance.”

When it came to coaching, Klopas took the chance and the Fire have been rewarded for it. In 2011, Klopas became the interim head coach, and the Fire just missed the playoffs by three points. In 2012 as the permanent coach, Klopas directed the Fire to the playoffs for the first time since 2009 and they will host the Houston Dynamo at Toyota Park on Wednesday.

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BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Lionard Pajoy scored in the 50th minute, and Bill Hamid made eight saves to help D.C. United rally for a 1-1 tie with the Chicago Fire on Saturday.

The draw gave D.C. second place in the Eastern Conference.

United (17-10-7) went 5-0-2 in its last seven matches to finish with 58 points, one more than New York and Chicago (17-11-6). New York finished third, ahead of fourth-place Chicago, on a tiebreaker.

With New York beating Philadelphia earlier in the day, the Fire needed to beat D.C. to avoid playing in the first-round one-game elimination round.

Instead, Chicago will host fifth-place Houston in that game. It will be played either Wednesday or Thursday. The winner plays Eastern Conference champion Kansas City in the second round.

Pajoy beat Sean Johnson with a diving header in the 50th minute.

Pajoy's eighth goal of the season, and third since joining United from Philadelphia, was one of D.C.'s few good chances. United was held to two shots on goal in the first half and five for the game, including a carom by Pajoy in the 70th minute that Johnson cleared off the line.

Chicago took nine shots on goal, but only forward Patrick Nyarko beat Hamid. He right-footed a 24-yard shot low to Hamid's left side in the 16th minute for his fourth goal of the year.

Every opportunity after that, the Fire either misfired or squandered. In the last 25 minutes, Dominic Oduro, Serjill MacDonald and Jalil Anibama all had close-in opportunities that were either saved by Hamid, hit the post, flew over the crossbar, or, in the case of Oduro's last shot, were blocked by midfielder Nick DeLeon. Hamid's eight saves matched his season high.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Diego Fagundez scored in the 17th minute to lead New England over the Chicago Fire 1-0 Saturday night and end a 196-minute scoreless streak for the Revolution.

Fagundez took a pass from Kelyn Rowe and scored from 30 yards.

Goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth, dressed in pink for breast cancer awareness month, needed to make just one save in his second shutout of the season for New England (8-17-8), which already has been eliminated from playoff contention.

Chicago (17-11-5) already had clinched a playoff berth.

New England, 2-1 against the Fire this season, was without midfielder Benny Feilhaber, serving a one-game suspension for his red card at Philadelphia on Oct. 6.

New England's Jerry Bengtson, coming off a hat trick for Honduras against Canada on Tuesday as Los Catrachos advanced to the final round of World Cup qualifying, received his first yellow card of the MLS season in the 44th minute for a reckless challenge.

Shuttleworth stopped Patrick Nyarko's shot in the 86th off a cross from Alvaro Fernandez.

After a listless 3-1 loss to Philadelphia in midweek, the Fire rebounded nicely with a 2-0 road win at New York behind two Sherjill MacDonald goals. Arne Friedrich also did his best Franz Beckenbauer impression with some effective runs out of the back.

Check out the complete Power Rankings here.

The Chicago Fire earned their first MLS playoff berth since 2009 this weekend.

The 1-1 draw between Sporting Kansas City and the Columbus Crew Sunday, coupled with the Fire’s 2-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls Saturday afternoon, secured the Fire’s spot.

The Fire will host their first MLS Cup Playoff match at Toyota Park on a date that will be determined by the Fire’s place in the final standings.

Head coach Frank Klopas has led the Fire to a 17-10-5 record this season. They are currently in second place in the Eastern Conference with 56 points, just three points behind conference-leading Sporting Kansas City.

The Fire have participated in the playoffs 11 times in their history, reaching the MLS Cup Final in 1998, 2000 and 2003.

HARRISON, N.J. -- Sherjill MacDonald scored two second-half goals, lifting the Chicago Fire to a crucial 2-0 win over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.

The Fire (17-10-5) jumped three points ahead of the Red Bulls (15-9-8) in the Eastern Conference, with two games remaining, and moved closer to earning a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs. Chicago can get in if Columbus loses to Sporting Kansas City on Sunday.

New York dropped to 11-2-3 at home.

MacDonald broke a scoreless tie in the 65th minute by getting past two Red Bulls defenders off a fine lead pass from Chris Rolfe, then hitting a shot past goalkeeper Luis Robles.

MacDonald, who had only two goals this season before Saturday, made it 2-0 in the 79th minute, taking a pass from Daniel Paladini and sprinting past two defenders to touch it gently past Robles.

The Red Bulls had controlled much of the action in the first half, but had nothing to show for it. Sean Johnson made only one save to secure his fifth shutout of the season.

In the 27th minute, Red Bulls captain Thierry Henry had a wide open shot, but it was knocked aside by a sliding stop with the left leg by Arne Friedrich. Six minutes later, Dax McCarty's left-footed drive from 25 yards sailed wide right.

The Fire responded late in the first half, when Alvaro Fernandez rose high above the Red Bulls defense to get his head on a cross from Jalil Anibaba, but Fernandez' attempt sailed over the crossbar.

The Red Bulls had two excellent chances in the 57th minute. Thierry Henry fired a shot from point blank range that sailed wide left, and then he sent a corner kick to the box that went directly to Tim Cahill. But the Aussie, who has had trouble scoring since joining the MLS two months ago, put a header that Johnson caught.

Cahill was visibly upset, standing with his hands over his face after the save.

NEW YORK -- Major League Soccer's disciplinary committee has suspended Chicago Fire forward Guillermo Franco for an additional game and fined him an undisclosed amount for endangering the safety of an opponent.

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BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Jack McInerney had a goal and an assist to lead the Philadelphia Union to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Wednesday night.

Gabriel Gomez and Antoine Hoppenot also scored to help Philadelphia (9-15-6) win for the second time in three games after an eight-game winless streak. With head coach Frank Klopas serving a one-game suspension, the Fire were coached by assistants Mike Matkovich and Leo Percovich.

Dominic Oduro scored for Chicago (16-10-5), which lost its second straight and remained tied with New York for second place in the Eastern Conference, five points behind Kansas City with three matches remaining.

Philadelphia opened the scoring in the 7th minute as McInerney took a pass from Danny Cruz, split defenders Jalil Anibaba and Arne Friedrich, and hammered the ball behind goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

McInerney set up Gomez for the second goal in the 67th minute as Gomez's kick flew into the upper far corner of the net as Chicago defender Austin Berry partially screened Johnson.

Chicago pulled to 2-1 two minutes later when Dominic Oduro's slow shot caught Philadelphia goalkeeper Zac MacMath away from the right post, and rolled into the net.

Hoppenot beat Johnson with a deflection at the 87-minute mark.

The Fire's recent surge had hidden an ugly stat: Five times in the past eight games they had given up the first goal, and after continuing that trend on Friday, there was no way back against SKC.

Check out the complete Power Rankings here.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Graham Zusi scored two goals, and Sporting Kansas City clinched a playoff spot with a 2-0 win over the Chicago Fire on Friday night.

Jimmy Nielsen had to make one save to record his league-leading 14th shutout for Sporting (17-7-7), which extended its unbeaten streak to nine matches and widened its Eastern Conference lead to five points over the Fire. Sporting had not won against Chicago at home since a 3-2 victory on Aug. 22, 2007.

Chicago (16-8-7) had a four-match winning streak snapped and lost for just the second time in nine games.

Zusi put Sporting up 1-0 in the 11th minute, running onto Kei Kamara's cross and one-timing the ball past Sean Johnson. He scored unassisted in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, working his way free and slotting the ball home just seconds from the final whistle.

Chicago manager Frank Klopas and Fire defender Gonzalo Segares were both ejected in second-half stoppage time, Klopas drawing a straight red card from referee Chris Penso and Segares picking up his second caution. Both will be suspended for Chicago's next match, on Wednesday at home against Philadelphia.

An early gaffe from goalkeeper Sean Johnson put Chicago in a hole against Columbus, but two brilliantly taken goals from Chris Rolfe enabled the Fire to claim a 2-1 victory, its seventh in eight games.

Check out the complete Power Rankings here.