The playoffs are out of reach, but the Fire still can cause some mischief when they visit Sporting Kansas City on Friday night.
Beating third-place Sporting (13-11-7, 46 points) could put the hosts in peril of losing a secure playoff berth and dropping them into fourth place for an MLS play-in game instead.
The Fire (5-8-18, 33 points) also could boost rookie forward/midfielder Harry Shipp’s MLS rookie of the year bid.
Shipp has the credentials. He has made 23 starts and 30 appearances, playing 2,083 minutes with six goals and six assists. He had a hat trick in May against the Red Bulls.
He hit a wall around midseason and hasn’t scored a goal since July 2, but a strong finish in the final three games could vault him back into top consideration.
Shipp, a Fire home-grown player who starred at Notre Dame, brushes off any awards talk.
“I’m more concerned with how the team’s doing,” he said after last Sunday’s 0-0 tie with Montreal. “In college, I wasn’t concerned with individual accolades.”
FC Dallas forward Tesho Akindele (seven goals, three assists in 23 games) was ranked as top rookie last month by MLSsoccer.com while Shipp slipped to second.
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Fire defender Austin Berry was rookie of the year in 2012. Other Fire winners include forward Damani Ralph (2003) and defender Carlos Bocanegra (2000).