Carlos Ruiz scored in the dying seconds of stoppage time to cancel out a stunning strike from Chris Rolfe as FC Dallas played the Chicago Fire to a 1-1 draw on Thursday night at Pizza Hut Park.

The Fire looked set to walk out of The Big D with three points for the first time since 2001 after Rolfe's second half goal pushed them in front, but El Pescadito had other ideas, stealing two points from Chicago to keep the MLS playoff race tight.

Eight minutes into the match, Chad Barrett got the offense started when he slipped a pass through the often-porous Dallas backline to Paulo Wanchope, but the Costa Rican international's first touch let him down, allowing FCD keeper Dario Sala to come off his line to grab the ball.

Five minutes later, the Dallas defense tried to step up to catch Wanchope offside, but the flag stayed down, allowing the former Manchester City forward to lead the attack on the right.

Making a run unhindered down the left side, a wide-open Barrett pleaded for the ball, but Hoops defender Clarence Goodson was able to catch Wanchope at the corner of the box before the pass could be made.

Steve Morrow's club would get a chance of their own in the 17th minute when Abe Thompson cut the ball into the box from the left side through traffic. Making a run to the near post, Denílson pulled his defender out of the lane, allowing the ball to make its way to Ruiz in the middle. Never expecting the ball to reach him, though, Ruiz was unprepared to take the shot and fired well over the bar from 12 yards out.

Dallas had another great opportunity two minutes later, set up by some fancy footwork - by Arturo Alvarez, not Denílson. With two Fire players blanketing him deep on the right side, Alvarez used his left foot to cut the ball between his two markers and fired a low shot on goal that was spilled by Matt Pickens, before the Chicago netminder recovered to swat the rebound away from an opportunistic Thompson.

Chicago was inches from taking the lead at the 30-minute mark. Receiving a pass from Bruno Menezes at the top of the box, Rolfe turned and fired a quick shot with his left foot before he could be closed down by a pair of defenders, forcing Sala into action. Fully extending on a dive to his right, the keeper was barely able to get his fingers to the effort, altering the shot's trajectory by just enough to force it squarely off the crossbar, allowing Dallas to clear the danger.

Both sides would exchange lesser chances over the remainder of the first half, going into the locker room knotted in a scoreless tie.

Tempers boiled over as the second half got underway with Wanchope and Goodson getting physical in the 53rd minute. After receiving a shot to the back of the head for the second time in five minutes, Goodson shoved Wanchope to the ground, earning an easy trip into referee Jair Marufo's book.

Seconds later, Chicago would capitalize on a bad Dallas turnover in their own third of the field. Stepping in front of a weak pass, Rolfe dribbled into space and blasted a long range shot that knuckled away from the diving Sala and into the back of the net for his first goal since returning from injury several weeks ago.

In the 68th minute, Rolfe would get another chance to test Sala as a Cuauhtémoc Blanco corner kick fell to him in the corner of the box. His left-footed effort cleared the traffic in front of the net, but Sala was able to get a read on it and parried the shot away with little trouble.

Searching for an equalizer, Dallas pressed forward and nearly got a goal of their own in the 78th minute. Using the outside of his left foot, Alvarez sent a ball in that only Clarence Goodson could get his head to, but Chicago keeper Pickens came up with a stunning save on the shot, keeping his club in the driver's seat.

Sustaining the pressure over the next several minutes, second half substitute Dominic Oduro won the ball away from a trio of Fire players, and pushed it ahead for Alvarez on the left - but instead of hitting the ball first time, Alvarez hesitated, giving a Dallas defender enough time to slide in and block the strike.

Pickens continued to work diligently toward a shutout, turning away a Denílson shot in the 83rd minute and a deflected Ricardinho shot in the 87th minute.

Dallas had a fantastic chance to salvage a tie coming two minutes from full time when Ruiz settled a pass from Denílson in the box and took a shot across his body to the far post. While Pickens made the initial save, the subsequent loose ball in front again created havoc for Fire defenders. With Goodson charging to tap it in, CJ Brown laid out at the very last second to deflect the ball over the end line, just inches from the post.

At the other end, Sala made a big save on substitute Calen Carr in the 89th minute to deny Chicago an insurance goal, giving Dallas one last gasp in stoppage.

In the third minute of added time, FCD would take advantage of the opportunity as the ubiquitous Goodson flicked the ball ahead to a streaking Ruiz with the chance for him to be a hero. Sensing danger, Pickens came off his line immediately, but the Guatemalan international reached out and tapped the ball around the path of the goalkeeper and fired into the empty net to earn Dallas a share of the points.

The lost points for Chicago may be memorable for Juan Carlos Osorio's squad if the Fire can't nail down the final playoff birth, as they are standing just two points ahead of the Colorado Rapids and three in front of the Columbus Crew as the season enters its final stretch. Chicago's schedule won't do them any favors, with upcoming games against Chivas USA, the New England Revolution and a pair against DC United, including this Sunday's upcoming game at home.

For Dallas, the draw keeps the Hoops alone in third place in the West, five points shy of cross-state rivals Houston Dynamo heading into Sunday's road game against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Scoring
CHI - Chris Rolfe 5 56'
FCD - Carlos Ruiz 7 (Clarence Goodson) 90+3'

Line-ups
CHI - Matt Pickens; Gonzalo Segares, Dasan Robinson, CJ Brown, Bruno Marques Menezes, Chris Rolfe (Calen Carr 75'), Chris Armas, Logan Pause, Paulo Wanchope, Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Bakary Soumare 83'), Chad Barrett (Diego Gutierrez 66')

FCD - Dario Sala; Chris Gbandi, Clarence Goodson, Adrian Serioux, Drew Moor (Dominic Oduro 81'), Denílson, Pablo Ricchetti (Aaron Pitchkolan 46'), Juan Carlos Toja, Arturo Alvarez, Carlos Ruiz, Abe Thompson (Ricardinho 64')