Toronto FC's Rohan Ricketts (left) peels away after scoring his side's second goal as Chicago Fire's goalkeeper Jon Busch (right) screams helplessly. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)

Toronto FC simply ran out of games.

English midfielder Rohan Ricketts scored twice Saturday afternoon to lift Toronto to a 3-2 win over the Chicago Fire in its final home game of the Major League Soccer campaign.

The Canadian club was officially eliminated from playoff contention Saturday night when both the Kansas City Wizards and the New York Red Bulls won their respective contests. The Wizards defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 3-2 at home, while the Red Bulls earned a 3-1 win over the visiting Columbus Crew.

With just one game left in the regular season, Toronto, with a 9-12-8 record, sits in last place in the MLS Eastern Conference with 35 points. New York (39 points) is holding on to the final wild-card playoff berth headed into the final week of the campaign.

So, for the second straight year, Toronto will not participate in the playoffs.

It all could have been so different.

Unbeaten in its last four games (two wins and two draws), Toronto could have already secured a playoff spot ahead of Saturday's game if not for a dreadful stretch from June to September that saw the team win just two games.

Captain Jim Brennan was at a loss as to why Toronto has only turned it on in the last four weeks.

"I don't know. We had a few new players come in, and it takes a while for people to adjust and get everybody on the same page," Brennan said.

Toronto coach John Carver revealed he considered starting Johann Smith instead of Ricketts and that he left it as late as possible before deciding to go with the Englishman, who he said hasn't played well recently.

Ricketts was happy that he proved Carver right, but he also felt sorry for Smith.

"This is a pressure business and there's always other players waiting behind you. … Johann has played well recently, so maybe it was a bit unfortunate he didn't start, because the last few games I've not been at my best," Ricketts said.

Toronto dominated the early proceedings thanks to some crisp passing and quick ball movement, putting the Fire on the defensive.

The team's persistence paid off in the 12th minute when Amado Guevara took a short pass and bent a gorgeous shot from 22 yards out by diving Chicago goalkeeper Jon Busch and into the upper-right corner of the net.

Things went from bad to worse for Chicago five minutes later when defender Wilman Conde was called for a foul on Toronto's Marvell Wynne inside the penalty area.

Busch stopped Ricketts's penalty attempt with a diving save, but the Englishman banged in the rebound to put Toronto up 2-0.

Chicago stormed back, forcing Greg Sutton to make a pair of sensational stops before Justin Mapp beat the Toronto goalkeeper with a low, driving shot at the near post in the 25th minute.

Ricketts restored Toronto's two-goal advantage just before halftime. The ball landed at the feet of Toronto's Carl Robinson after a botched Chicago clearance, and he played a perfect slide-rule pass into the box to Ricketts who powerfully struck the ball home.

Ricketts dedicated his second goal to Carver because he felt the Toronto coach took a chance on signing him earlier this season after he was released by English club Barnsley.

"He revitalized my career. I owe so much to him and I don't how I can repay him, so that goal was a thank-you for turning my career around," Ricketts said.

Mexican star Cuauhtemoc Blanco, contained by Toronto's defence in the opening 45 minutes, finally broke through early in the second half when he took a short pass from Brian McBride before hammering a shot by Sutton to make it a one-goal game again.

The Fire furiously pressed for the equalizer, especially in the final 10 minutes of regulation time, but Toronto's defence stood firm and the Canadian club held on for the win.

Toronto closes out the regular season on the road against San Jose on Oct. 25 (CBC Bold, CBCSports.ca, 10 p.m. ET).