Fire advance in MLS playoffs with 3-1 win over Orlando behind Hugo Cuypers’ two goals

Hugo Cuypers scored twice in the second half and Brian Gutierrez once, and the Fire advanced out of the wild-card round with a 3-1 victory over Orlando City on Wednesday night at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.

The Fire move on to play the Supporters’ Shield-winning Philadelphia Union in a best-of-three first-round playoff series that starts Sunday.

Gutierrez and Cuypers each scored in the opening 12 minutes of the second half for a 2-0 lead. Gutierrez settled a Jonathan Dean cross in front of the goal with his left leg and sent in a shot with his right foot in the 48th minute.

Cuypers scored in the 57th on a hustle play when he got a foot on goalie Pedro Gallese’s clearance attempt and it redirected into the back of the net. Cuypers added another goal in the 68th off a pass from Philip Zinckernagel for a 3-0 advantage.

Tyrese Spicer scored for Orlando in the 89th.

The Fire are in the playoffs for the first time since 2017 under first-year head coach Gregg Berhalter, the former U.S. men’s national team coach. That year, the club finished third in the Eastern Conference but lost to the New York Red Bulls 4-0 at home in the first round.

The Fire’s last playoff victory was a 2-0 decision against the New England Revolution on Nov. 7, 2009. It was the second match of an aggregate-goal series in which the Fire entered trailing 2-1. They advanced to the conference finals, where they lost to Real Salt Lake on penalty kicks.

At the time, there were only 15 teams in MLS, which now has 30. That season marked the Fire’s 11th playoff appearance in its first 12 seasons of existence. Since then, the club has made the playoffs only three times.