Kenny Deuchar entered the game in the 66th minute and RSL continued to search for a breakthrough goal. Deuchar's best moment came in the 83rd minute when he turned Dan Woolard inside out on the edge of the penalty area and won a free kick.

Only in the final 10-15 minutes, with Chicago pouring forward to try to win, did RSL move to a more defensive posture.

"We've had trouble late in games, letting goals in," Rimando said.. "That was one of the points this week, that if we get to the 75th minute, we don't let in any goals after that. They had their chances, but we turned them away."

Chicago has an abundance of scoring threats, and they all had chances in the second half.

"We're always aware of (Cuauhtemoc) Blanco," RSL defender Nat Borchers said. "If he was in any zone, we knew we were responsible for him. We made it a priority to shut him down."

Blanco only had two shots on goal in the match but was dangerous with his passing — and the rest of the Fire attack moved into high gear in the final quarter of the match.

"We know the rest of the guys they have are very good guys, very attack-minded players," Borchers said. "We just made it a priority and dealt with it."