Only incentive for the Fire in its finale: Getting to .500

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Updated: November 23, 2011 8:08AM

The Fire will miss postseason play in Major League Soccer for the second consecutive year after qualifying for it in 11 of the club’s first 12 seasons. Still, the club’s future heading into Saturday’s last match against the Columbus Crew at Toyota Park seems brighter than it did when the 2010 campaign ended.

Though the team made ­dramatic improvement in the last two months, all that’s on the line for the Fire (8-9-16) is a .500 season. But even that seemed unrealistic after the club won only twice in its first 24 matches.

The club was 9-12-9 in 2010 — Carlos de los Cobos’ lone full season as coach. Technical director Frank Klopas took over from de los Cobos on May 31, and Fire has gone 7-5-10 across all competitions with Klopas in charge. The last match was the best — a 2-1 overtime victory at D.C. United last Saturday.

For the first time in 529 lifetime matches the Fire scored two goals in second-half stoppage time to claim that dramatic victory. It kept the Fire’s playoff hopes alive until the New York Red Bulls managed a 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia Union on Thursday to claim the last of 10 postseason berths.

“That win — the grit, the fight, the never-say-die attitude. That’s what this club is all about,’’ said Klopas, whose status for 2012 will be decided in postseason meetings with owner Andrew Hauptman. The Fire is 6-2-2 in MLS play since an Aug. 7 drubbing from last-place Vancouver.

Klopas might use the final game to decide which players will be left unprotected for the Nov. 23 expansion draft. It will provide players for the Montreal Impact, a team that will enter the league next season with ex-Fire midfielder Jesse Marsch as its coach.

Saturday’s match has more meaning for the Crew, which is winless (0-2-4) in its last six visits to Toyota Park. Columbus is in the playoffs, but a victory would keep the Crew out of a Wednesday playoff game between wild-card qualifiers.

Columbus was the victim when Klopas notched his first win as the Fire’s interim coach, a 1-0 victory on June 12. Colombian rookie Cristian Nazarit scored in the 91st minute to produce the first of the team’s three road wins.

The Fire won’t have defender Josip Mikulic available. He will serve a one-game suspension for yellow card point accumulations. Midfielder Sebastian Grazzini, whose lingering hamstring injury limited his practice time this week, is a doubtful participant. With five goals and four assists in 11 matches, Grazzini has been a big reason for the team’s improvement.

The Fire will honor its award winners in a pregame ceremony. Striker Dominic Oduro is the most valuable player, Cory Gibbs the top defender and injured defender Steven Kinney was the club’s humanitarian of the year.