United protested the goal, arguing that the deflection had been off Gutiérrez's arm and Razov had been in an offside position while blocking the sight of Presthus, but Terry's decision was unchanged. Chicago entered the second half with momentum from their two goals and dropped to a more defensive position while being outshot 13–4 by D.C., including six shots on target. Zach Thornton ultimately made eight saves to record a shutout, including a pair of headers from Roy Lassiter in the 48th and 76th minutes. Another Lassiter header in the 56th minute struck defender Francis Okaroh's hand, but a penalty was not awarded due to his unintentional positioning. Armas was assigned to tightly mark Marco Etcheverry, preventing him from creating plays for United and limiting the league MVP's involvement in attacks. D.C. pushed further forward as time ran out, but were stifled by the Fire defense as the team lost by a score of 2–0. Manager Bruce Arena congratulated Chicago on their performance but criticized the officiating of the match, including the no-call penalties and the offside positions during the second goal. Nowak was named the MLS Cup's most valuable player for his two assists. Details Statistics Post-match The Fire became the first expansion team to win a U.S. major league championship and were the second to reach a final after the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League in 1968. They were preceded in soccer by the Philadelphia Atoms, an expansion team in the North American Soccer League which won the league championship in 1973. The Fire also became the first Chicago-area sports team besides the Chicago Bulls to win a league championship in over a decade, and the second soccer champions from the area, following the Chicago Sting. The Sting, who won the 1981 and 1984 North American Soccer League championships, included Frank Klopas, a veteran forward who had joined the Fire. The team returned to Chicago and were honored with a small celebration with 1,200 fans at the Daley Center, which included a meeting with Mayor Richard M. Daley. The Alan Rothenberg Trophy was then displayed at Chicago City Hall for a week. Five days after winning the MLS Cup, Chicago completed their double by defeating the Columbus Crew in the 1998 U.S. Open Cup Final. They were the second MLS team to complete a double with the Open Cup, following D.C. United in 1996. A