Wizards face key test at Red Bulls
Win at Giants Stadium would cement playoff spot for K.C.
MLSnet.com Staff
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MLS Career: 31 games; FC/gm: 32.0; Y/gm: 4.1; R: 5; pens: 12
Games involving Red Bulls: P3 W1 L2 T0; FC/gm: 27.0; Y/gm: 4.0; R: 0; pens: 1
Games involving Wizards: P7 W4 L3 T0; FC/gm: 30.7; Y/gm: 4.7; R: 0; pens: 0 INJURY REPORT: NEW YORK RED BULLS - OUT: DF Kevin Goldthwaite (L knee injury); QUESTIONABLE: MF Claudio Reyna (L toe sprain); FW Mike Magee (R knee injury) ... KANSAS CITY WIZARDS - OUT: MF Ryan McMahen (torn ACL); PROBABLE: MF A.J. Godbolt (patellar tendonitis); MF Sasha Victorine (hip flexor strain) SUSPENDED: NY: Joe Vide (through Oct. 15)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: NY: Jozy Altidore, Dema Kovalenko, Joe Vide ... KC: Jimmy Conrad, Jack Jewsbury, Carlos Marinelli, Kerry Zavagnin
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NY: Kevin Goldthwaite, Seth Stammler ... KC: Nick Garcia, Eddie Johnson, Kurt Morsink
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (34 meetings): Red Bulls 13 wins (2 shootout), 45 goals ... Wizards 13 wins (2 shootout), 48 goals ... Draws 8
AT NEW YORK: (15 meetings): Red Bulls 7 wins (1 shootout), 24 goals ... Wizards 2 wins (0 shootout), 17 goals ... Draws 6
• This is the third and final regular season meeting between the teams this season, the second of two at Giants Stadium. The Wizards won the first meeting at home, then the teams played to a draw two weeks later at the Meadowlands.
• A year ago, the Red Bulls won the season series, winning both games at Giants Stadium while playing to draws in both games at Arrowhead Stadium. The teams met on the final day of the season with the winner securing a place in the MLS Cup Playoffs; New York claimed the fourth spot from the Eastern Conference behind an Amado Guevara hat trick.
• The Wizards victory in the first meeting this year was their first in the series in seven matches. Their last previous home win had come on May 25, 2005.
• The Wizards haven't won in East Rutherford since April 19, 2000, a span of 10 matches. Since that 2-1 K.C. win, the New York team has won four matches, with six played to draws.
• Coaches record: Curt Onalfo vs. NY: P2 W1 L0 D1 ... Bruce Arena v KC: P12 W4 L6 D2
2007 (MLS):
6/2: KC 3, NY 2 (Johnson 46, 59, 85 - Angel 8; Kovalenko 88)
6/16: NY 3, KC 3 (Angel 6, 90; Mathis 15 - Zavagnin 43; Movsisyan 70, 79)
• On June 2 at Arrowhead Stadium, Eddie Johnson hit for a record-making hat trick as the Wizards claimed a 3-2 victory.
• The Red Bulls took an early lead, thanks once again to Juan Pablo Angel. Claudio Reyna flighted in a cross from the right side, John Wolyniec flicked it on, and Angel came sliding in from behind and volleyed it home.
• But the game changed in the 35th minute. Hassled in midfield by Kerry Zavagnin, Clint Mathis threw out his elbow trying to hold off the Kansas City defender, and referee Jair Marrufo immediately sent him off.
• With the man advantage, the Wizards leveled the score almost immediately after the break. Michael Harrington dropped a ball in behind the Red Bulls defense and Johnson caught up with it first, looping a shot over New York 'keeper Jon Conway. Johnson then doubled the advantage in the 59th minute, after he calmly side-footed home a low, driven cross by Jose Burciaga Jr. from the left flank.
• The seventh-year striker cemented his place in history in the 85th minute. On the counter, Sasha Victorine came forward before releasing Johnson between defenders with a through ball, and Johnson banged it home.
• The Red Bulls still had some fight left, pulling a goal back just three minutes later. A clearance from a ball lofted into the area came out to Dema Kovalenko, and his long-range effort through the crowded goalmouth found its way into the back of the net, but New York couldn't find their way all the way back.
• Two weeks later, the back end of a home-and-home for the Wizards, the teams battled to a 3-3 draw at Giants Stadium. After a quarter-hour, the Red Bulls were already two goals to the good. First, a deflected corner kick was pumped back in, and Juan Pablo Angel snapped home a powerful header at the back post (8). Then some neat work on the right between Dane Richards and Seth Stammler saw the rookie send in a rolling pass in front of goal where Clint Mathis came sliding in to prod it home.
• But just before the break, the Wizards pulled a goal back when Carlos Marinelli stepped over the ball on the dribble and Kerry Zavagnin ripped a curling, dipping drive from well outside the area.
• Yura Movsisyan came on for Scott Sealy early in the second half, and scored twice within nine minutes to nose the Wizards in front. First, Ryan Raybould drove in a low cross from the right corner and Movsisyan deflected inside the far side netting from the near post (70). Then the second-year Armenian-born striker ran onto a long ball played by Sasha Victorine from well inside the Wizards half, and sent an audacious chip over New York goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus from outside the box.
• But a minute from time the Red Bulls got the equalizer. On a long cross from the left, Jose Burciaga Jr. and John Wolyniec tangled while chasing the ball, and referee Abbey Okulaja pointed to the spot. Angel converted with ease.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-1-1): Ronald Waterreus - Taylor Graham (John Wolyniec 82), Jeff Parke, Carlos Mendes, Tim Regan - Dane Richards (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 71), Claudio Reyna, Seth Stammler, Dave van den Bergh - Clint Mathis (Jozy Altidore 70) - Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Sal Caccavale, Jon Conway, Markus Schopp, Joe Vide
• Here's Onalfo's team (4-4-1-1): Kevin Hartman - Jack Jewsbury (Ryan Raybould 69), Jimmy Conrad, Nick Garcia, Jose Burciaga Jr. - Davy Arnaud, Sasha Victorine, Kerry Zavagnin, Michael Harrington - Carlos Marinelli (Kurt Morsink 84) - Scott Sealy (Yura Movsisyan 55). Substitutes Not Used: Aaron Hohlbein, Eric Kronberg, Ryan Pore, Tyson Wahl NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls backed into the MLS Cup Playoffs, falling 2-1 to Toronto FC last Saturday at BMO Field, yet still finishing the weekend knowing they will be one the top eight teams in the overall standings. The Red Bulls have 39 points with two matches to play, but the worst they could finish would be in a three-way tie with Chicago and Los Angeles with two places available, and the Red Bulls hold the tiebreaker over Chicago.
LAST MATCH
• Toronto FC's last victory had come on July 4 at Real Salt Lake, having lost eight games and tied four since. But the Red Bulls were enduring their own rocky patch, with just one win in their last seven games, including three consecutive 2-2 draws.
• After their 824-minute MLS-record scoreless streak had come to an end, TFC had made it a habit of scoring early, and it was no different this time. 2006 No. 1 pick Marvell Wynne moved forward from a midfield restart and slipped a through ball into the path of Maurice Edu as he cut into the area, and this year's No. 1 pick rolled an angled shot past goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus inside the far post for the 18th-minute opener.
• Toronto FC doubled the lead in the 66th minute while playing a man up. Joe Vide was sent off for a second bookable offense in the 64th, and then Wynne charged up the right flank before driving a low cross aimed for Jeff Cunningham at the back post. Defender Chris Leitch got there just before Cunningham, but in trying to clear knocked the ball into the back of his own net.
• Andrew Boyens was sent off with a straight red card just a minute later, and the Red Bulls pulled level with a quarter-hour remaining. Dave van den Bergh curled in a corner from the left and Dane Richards escaped notice, cleanly heading home from inside the six for his second goal on the year, but New York could get no closer.
• Red Bulls manager Bruce Arena made two changes to the team that played to a 2-2 draw with Real Salt Lake the weekend before. Clint Mathis came back into the team for the injured Claudio Reyna, and Jozy Altidore returned from injury in place of Francis Doe.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-2): Ronald Waterreus - Chris Leitch, Jeff Parke, Seth Stammler, Dave van den Bergh - Dane Richards, Joe Vide, Dema Kovalenko (Francis Doe 60), Clint Mathis - Jozy Altidore, Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Jon Conway, Hunter Freeman, Carlos Mendes, Markus Schopp, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, John Wolyniec
TEAM NEWS
• The Red Bulls outshot Toronto 11-6, but strikers Jozy Altidore and Juan Pablo Angel, who had combined for all five New York goals against TFC this season, were limited to one shot each. "It's a tough atmosphere when you're the home team," Altidore said. "They came out and they fought. They did well tonight."
• The Red Bulls also saw their winless streak extended to five games, especially difficult as they had been unable to secure their playoff spot.
• "We wanted to close it out a couple of weekends ago but it didn't happen," Altidore said. "We wanted to close it out last weekend and it didn't happen. We wanted to close it out tonight and it didn't happen. We're just a bit off. Hopefully over the weekend we can get everything together and end this barrage of [questions], about 'when are we going to qualify, when are we going to qualify.' I think we'll be fine."
• It finally came to fruition with the sequence of events that led only to the possibility of three teams being tied on 37 points in New York, LA and Chicago, and in that case, with two spots then available, the Red Bulls hold the tiebreaker. But with a point from their final two games, they can also avoid any higher mathematically after the final weekend of the season.
• "You're disappointed anytime you lose," Clint Mathis said. "But we picked up enough points early in the season to be able to clinch it. At the end of the day, that's what's most important."
• For the past two seasons, the Red Bulls didn't clinch until the final day of the regular season. Last year, they needed a win against the Kansas City Wizards at home to get in. A hat trick by Amado Guevara is what powered the Red Bulls, while the Wizards left Giants Stadium stunned.
• "We're happy," said Dave van den Bergh, who was on the other side a year ago. "Last year the (Red Bulls) waited until the last minute to make the playoffs so we've made some real progress. What you do in the regular season doesn't carry over. It's a new season."
• As well, a win against Kansas City would clinch the No. 3 seed in the East and likely set up a meeting with the New England Revolution in the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series.
• "It's important to get a win Saturday, especially for the fans who have been there all year long," van den Bergh. "It's important for us to stay in the East because those are the teams we know best. It's important to get the win Saturday to seal the third spot and then we'll go to Los Angeles to work on our shape." KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Kansas City Wizards still have not clinched a place in the MLS Cup Playoffs after concluding the home portion of their 2007 schedule with a 1-1 draw against D.C. United last Saturday night at Arrowhead Stadium. The Wizards are still in the top eight, in seventh place overall with 37 points and two games remaining, now just a point ahead of eighth-place Chicago.
LAST MATCH
• D.C. United were returning to domestic wars riding an 11-game unbeaten league streak after falling at midweek to Chivas of Mexico in the Copa Sudamericana, while the Wizards had won just once in six games as they tried to make a return to the playoffs for the first time in three years.
• Just 36 seconds into the game, Christian Gomez forced a save out of Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman -- the 1,000th of his MLS career. Only two others -- Scott Garlick and Tony Meola -- have had more in their MLS careers.
• The Wizards opened the scoring in the 44th minute with another long-range goal. Eddie Johnson ran down a ball in the right corner, and after holding up, laid it back for Scott Sealy coming on from behind. The Trinidadian stroked a first-time shot low inside the left-hand post for his third goal in as many games.
• But Gomez had the final answer. Receiving a pass from left back Marc Burch with his back to goal in the 56th minute, he was able to turn defender Tyson Wahl and crack a quick blast inside the near post for his eighth goal on the year and keep United on track for the MLS Supporters' Shield.
• Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo made three changes to the team that lost 2-1 to the Los Angeles Galaxy the previous Saturday. Jimmy Conrad and Davy Arnaud were both suspended, so Tyson Wahl came into the back four and Kurt Morsink came into the midfield. Scott Sealy also returned to the team, for Eloy Colombano.
• Here's Onalfo's team (4-3-1-2): Kevin Hartman - Jack Jewsbury, Nick Garcia, Tyson Wahl, Michael Harrington - Kurt Morsink, Kerry Zavagnin, Jose Burciaga Jr. (Eloy Colombano 66) - Carlos Marinelli (Ryan Pore 71) - Eddie Johnson, Scott Sealy. Substitutes Not Used: Aaron Hohlbein, Will John, Eric Kronberg, Ryan Raybould, Lance Watson
• "I don't think we had a great performance the entire game. It really showed that we were missing three key players to our team," said Onalfo. "It took us a while to get a rhythm, [but] we gritted it; we fought hard. I would have liked to have three points, but I'll take a point."
TEAM NEWS
• Hartman was sharp as he kept D.C. midfielders Christian Gomez and Devon McTavish off the board with point-blank saves in the first and fourth minutes. Hartman's first save put him in elite company becoming only the third MLS goalkeeper to accumulate 1,000 saves in his career.
• "Especially in the very beginning of the game, he kept us in there. We don't want to concede a goal early on. He was alert and made some big saves. That goes to shows where his veteran leadership comes in -- making big plays when you need them," said second-year center back Tyson Wahl, who filled in for Conrad.
• The Wizards attack finished with 12 shots on the night, yet only three on goal. "We need to put teams away and stop letting them be in the game so long because all it's going to do [lead to] one mistake, and they're right back in it," said Jose Burciaga Jr.
• The Wizards can secure their place in the MLS Cup Playoffs with a victory against the Red Bulls, or a tie at Giants Stadium as long as both Los Angeles and Colorado fail to win.
• "It seems like we have been playing great all year, and especially in the last three games," said Michael Harrington. "We are due for a win; I think everyone believes we can finish the season out strong by taking the next two games."
• A year ago, the Wizards went to New York for the final game of the season, knowing a positive result would send them into the playoffs. But behind an Amado Guevara hat trick, the Red Bulls won 3-2 and moved into fourth place in the Eastern Conference ahead of the Wizards.
• "It's going to come down to the wire; that's just the way this stuff is. We just played D.C. United, who is arguably the best team in the league. We had a 1-0 lead, and it would have been nice to hang on to it and get the three points, and we didn't," said Onalfo. "We can't worry about that now, we just have to worry about our next two games and find ways to continue to get points and make sure we get into the playoffs."
NEW YORK RED BULLS v KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
GIANTS STADIUM, E. Rutherford, N.J.
7:30 p.m. ET (MSG2; MetroSports)
Oct. 13, 2007 (WEEK 28) / MLS Game #183
MLS Career: 31 games; FC/gm: 32.0; Y/gm: 4.1; R: 5; pens: 12
Games involving Red Bulls: P3 W1 L2 T0; FC/gm: 27.0; Y/gm: 4.0; R: 0; pens: 1
Games involving Wizards: P7 W4 L3 T0; FC/gm: 30.7; Y/gm: 4.7; R: 0; pens: 0 INJURY REPORT: NEW YORK RED BULLS - OUT: DF Kevin Goldthwaite (L knee injury); QUESTIONABLE: MF Claudio Reyna (L toe sprain); FW Mike Magee (R knee injury) ... KANSAS CITY WIZARDS - OUT: MF Ryan McMahen (torn ACL); PROBABLE: MF A.J. Godbolt (patellar tendonitis); MF Sasha Victorine (hip flexor strain) SUSPENDED: NY: Joe Vide (through Oct. 15)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: NY: Jozy Altidore, Dema Kovalenko, Joe Vide ... KC: Jimmy Conrad, Jack Jewsbury, Carlos Marinelli, Kerry Zavagnin
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NY: Kevin Goldthwaite, Seth Stammler ... KC: Nick Garcia, Eddie Johnson, Kurt Morsink
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (34 meetings): Red Bulls 13 wins (2 shootout), 45 goals ... Wizards 13 wins (2 shootout), 48 goals ... Draws 8
AT NEW YORK: (15 meetings): Red Bulls 7 wins (1 shootout), 24 goals ... Wizards 2 wins (0 shootout), 17 goals ... Draws 6
• This is the third and final regular season meeting between the teams this season, the second of two at Giants Stadium. The Wizards won the first meeting at home, then the teams played to a draw two weeks later at the Meadowlands.
• A year ago, the Red Bulls won the season series, winning both games at Giants Stadium while playing to draws in both games at Arrowhead Stadium. The teams met on the final day of the season with the winner securing a place in the MLS Cup Playoffs; New York claimed the fourth spot from the Eastern Conference behind an Amado Guevara hat trick.
• The Wizards victory in the first meeting this year was their first in the series in seven matches. Their last previous home win had come on May 25, 2005.
• The Wizards haven't won in East Rutherford since April 19, 2000, a span of 10 matches. Since that 2-1 K.C. win, the New York team has won four matches, with six played to draws.
• Coaches record: Curt Onalfo vs. NY: P2 W1 L0 D1 ... Bruce Arena v KC: P12 W4 L6 D2
2007 (MLS):
6/2: KC 3, NY 2 (Johnson 46, 59, 85 - Angel 8; Kovalenko 88)
6/16: NY 3, KC 3 (Angel 6, 90; Mathis 15 - Zavagnin 43; Movsisyan 70, 79)
• On June 2 at Arrowhead Stadium, Eddie Johnson hit for a record-making hat trick as the Wizards claimed a 3-2 victory.
• The Red Bulls took an early lead, thanks once again to Juan Pablo Angel. Claudio Reyna flighted in a cross from the right side, John Wolyniec flicked it on, and Angel came sliding in from behind and volleyed it home.
• But the game changed in the 35th minute. Hassled in midfield by Kerry Zavagnin, Clint Mathis threw out his elbow trying to hold off the Kansas City defender, and referee Jair Marrufo immediately sent him off.
• With the man advantage, the Wizards leveled the score almost immediately after the break. Michael Harrington dropped a ball in behind the Red Bulls defense and Johnson caught up with it first, looping a shot over New York 'keeper Jon Conway. Johnson then doubled the advantage in the 59th minute, after he calmly side-footed home a low, driven cross by Jose Burciaga Jr. from the left flank.
• The seventh-year striker cemented his place in history in the 85th minute. On the counter, Sasha Victorine came forward before releasing Johnson between defenders with a through ball, and Johnson banged it home.
• The Red Bulls still had some fight left, pulling a goal back just three minutes later. A clearance from a ball lofted into the area came out to Dema Kovalenko, and his long-range effort through the crowded goalmouth found its way into the back of the net, but New York couldn't find their way all the way back.
• Two weeks later, the back end of a home-and-home for the Wizards, the teams battled to a 3-3 draw at Giants Stadium. After a quarter-hour, the Red Bulls were already two goals to the good. First, a deflected corner kick was pumped back in, and Juan Pablo Angel snapped home a powerful header at the back post (8). Then some neat work on the right between Dane Richards and Seth Stammler saw the rookie send in a rolling pass in front of goal where Clint Mathis came sliding in to prod it home.
• But just before the break, the Wizards pulled a goal back when Carlos Marinelli stepped over the ball on the dribble and Kerry Zavagnin ripped a curling, dipping drive from well outside the area.
• Yura Movsisyan came on for Scott Sealy early in the second half, and scored twice within nine minutes to nose the Wizards in front. First, Ryan Raybould drove in a low cross from the right corner and Movsisyan deflected inside the far side netting from the near post (70). Then the second-year Armenian-born striker ran onto a long ball played by Sasha Victorine from well inside the Wizards half, and sent an audacious chip over New York goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus from outside the box.
• But a minute from time the Red Bulls got the equalizer. On a long cross from the left, Jose Burciaga Jr. and John Wolyniec tangled while chasing the ball, and referee Abbey Okulaja pointed to the spot. Angel converted with ease.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-1-1): Ronald Waterreus - Taylor Graham (John Wolyniec 82), Jeff Parke, Carlos Mendes, Tim Regan - Dane Richards (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 71), Claudio Reyna, Seth Stammler, Dave van den Bergh - Clint Mathis (Jozy Altidore 70) - Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Sal Caccavale, Jon Conway, Markus Schopp, Joe Vide
• Here's Onalfo's team (4-4-1-1): Kevin Hartman - Jack Jewsbury (Ryan Raybould 69), Jimmy Conrad, Nick Garcia, Jose Burciaga Jr. - Davy Arnaud, Sasha Victorine, Kerry Zavagnin, Michael Harrington - Carlos Marinelli (Kurt Morsink 84) - Scott Sealy (Yura Movsisyan 55). Substitutes Not Used: Aaron Hohlbein, Eric Kronberg, Ryan Pore, Tyson Wahl NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls backed into the MLS Cup Playoffs, falling 2-1 to Toronto FC last Saturday at BMO Field, yet still finishing the weekend knowing they will be one the top eight teams in the overall standings. The Red Bulls have 39 points with two matches to play, but the worst they could finish would be in a three-way tie with Chicago and Los Angeles with two places available, and the Red Bulls hold the tiebreaker over Chicago.
LAST MATCH
• Toronto FC's last victory had come on July 4 at Real Salt Lake, having lost eight games and tied four since. But the Red Bulls were enduring their own rocky patch, with just one win in their last seven games, including three consecutive 2-2 draws.
• After their 824-minute MLS-record scoreless streak had come to an end, TFC had made it a habit of scoring early, and it was no different this time. 2006 No. 1 pick Marvell Wynne moved forward from a midfield restart and slipped a through ball into the path of Maurice Edu as he cut into the area, and this year's No. 1 pick rolled an angled shot past goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus inside the far post for the 18th-minute opener.
• Toronto FC doubled the lead in the 66th minute while playing a man up. Joe Vide was sent off for a second bookable offense in the 64th, and then Wynne charged up the right flank before driving a low cross aimed for Jeff Cunningham at the back post. Defender Chris Leitch got there just before Cunningham, but in trying to clear knocked the ball into the back of his own net.
• Andrew Boyens was sent off with a straight red card just a minute later, and the Red Bulls pulled level with a quarter-hour remaining. Dave van den Bergh curled in a corner from the left and Dane Richards escaped notice, cleanly heading home from inside the six for his second goal on the year, but New York could get no closer.
• Red Bulls manager Bruce Arena made two changes to the team that played to a 2-2 draw with Real Salt Lake the weekend before. Clint Mathis came back into the team for the injured Claudio Reyna, and Jozy Altidore returned from injury in place of Francis Doe.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-2): Ronald Waterreus - Chris Leitch, Jeff Parke, Seth Stammler, Dave van den Bergh - Dane Richards, Joe Vide, Dema Kovalenko (Francis Doe 60), Clint Mathis - Jozy Altidore, Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Jon Conway, Hunter Freeman, Carlos Mendes, Markus Schopp, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, John Wolyniec
TEAM NEWS
• The Red Bulls outshot Toronto 11-6, but strikers Jozy Altidore and Juan Pablo Angel, who had combined for all five New York goals against TFC this season, were limited to one shot each. "It's a tough atmosphere when you're the home team," Altidore said. "They came out and they fought. They did well tonight."
• The Red Bulls also saw their winless streak extended to five games, especially difficult as they had been unable to secure their playoff spot.
• "We wanted to close it out a couple of weekends ago but it didn't happen," Altidore said. "We wanted to close it out last weekend and it didn't happen. We wanted to close it out tonight and it didn't happen. We're just a bit off. Hopefully over the weekend we can get everything together and end this barrage of [questions], about 'when are we going to qualify, when are we going to qualify.' I think we'll be fine."
• It finally came to fruition with the sequence of events that led only to the possibility of three teams being tied on 37 points in New York, LA and Chicago, and in that case, with two spots then available, the Red Bulls hold the tiebreaker. But with a point from their final two games, they can also avoid any higher mathematically after the final weekend of the season.
• "You're disappointed anytime you lose," Clint Mathis said. "But we picked up enough points early in the season to be able to clinch it. At the end of the day, that's what's most important."
• For the past two seasons, the Red Bulls didn't clinch until the final day of the regular season. Last year, they needed a win against the Kansas City Wizards at home to get in. A hat trick by Amado Guevara is what powered the Red Bulls, while the Wizards left Giants Stadium stunned.
• "We're happy," said Dave van den Bergh, who was on the other side a year ago. "Last year the (Red Bulls) waited until the last minute to make the playoffs so we've made some real progress. What you do in the regular season doesn't carry over. It's a new season."
• As well, a win against Kansas City would clinch the No. 3 seed in the East and likely set up a meeting with the New England Revolution in the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series.
• "It's important to get a win Saturday, especially for the fans who have been there all year long," van den Bergh. "It's important for us to stay in the East because those are the teams we know best. It's important to get the win Saturday to seal the third spot and then we'll go to Los Angeles to work on our shape." KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Kansas City Wizards still have not clinched a place in the MLS Cup Playoffs after concluding the home portion of their 2007 schedule with a 1-1 draw against D.C. United last Saturday night at Arrowhead Stadium. The Wizards are still in the top eight, in seventh place overall with 37 points and two games remaining, now just a point ahead of eighth-place Chicago.
LAST MATCH
• D.C. United were returning to domestic wars riding an 11-game unbeaten league streak after falling at midweek to Chivas of Mexico in the Copa Sudamericana, while the Wizards had won just once in six games as they tried to make a return to the playoffs for the first time in three years.
• Just 36 seconds into the game, Christian Gomez forced a save out of Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman -- the 1,000th of his MLS career. Only two others -- Scott Garlick and Tony Meola -- have had more in their MLS careers.
• The Wizards opened the scoring in the 44th minute with another long-range goal. Eddie Johnson ran down a ball in the right corner, and after holding up, laid it back for Scott Sealy coming on from behind. The Trinidadian stroked a first-time shot low inside the left-hand post for his third goal in as many games.
• But Gomez had the final answer. Receiving a pass from left back Marc Burch with his back to goal in the 56th minute, he was able to turn defender Tyson Wahl and crack a quick blast inside the near post for his eighth goal on the year and keep United on track for the MLS Supporters' Shield.
• Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo made three changes to the team that lost 2-1 to the Los Angeles Galaxy the previous Saturday. Jimmy Conrad and Davy Arnaud were both suspended, so Tyson Wahl came into the back four and Kurt Morsink came into the midfield. Scott Sealy also returned to the team, for Eloy Colombano.
• Here's Onalfo's team (4-3-1-2): Kevin Hartman - Jack Jewsbury, Nick Garcia, Tyson Wahl, Michael Harrington - Kurt Morsink, Kerry Zavagnin, Jose Burciaga Jr. (Eloy Colombano 66) - Carlos Marinelli (Ryan Pore 71) - Eddie Johnson, Scott Sealy. Substitutes Not Used: Aaron Hohlbein, Will John, Eric Kronberg, Ryan Raybould, Lance Watson
• "I don't think we had a great performance the entire game. It really showed that we were missing three key players to our team," said Onalfo. "It took us a while to get a rhythm, [but] we gritted it; we fought hard. I would have liked to have three points, but I'll take a point."
TEAM NEWS
• Hartman was sharp as he kept D.C. midfielders Christian Gomez and Devon McTavish off the board with point-blank saves in the first and fourth minutes. Hartman's first save put him in elite company becoming only the third MLS goalkeeper to accumulate 1,000 saves in his career.
• "Especially in the very beginning of the game, he kept us in there. We don't want to concede a goal early on. He was alert and made some big saves. That goes to shows where his veteran leadership comes in -- making big plays when you need them," said second-year center back Tyson Wahl, who filled in for Conrad.
• The Wizards attack finished with 12 shots on the night, yet only three on goal. "We need to put teams away and stop letting them be in the game so long because all it's going to do [lead to] one mistake, and they're right back in it," said Jose Burciaga Jr.
• The Wizards can secure their place in the MLS Cup Playoffs with a victory against the Red Bulls, or a tie at Giants Stadium as long as both Los Angeles and Colorado fail to win.
• "It seems like we have been playing great all year, and especially in the last three games," said Michael Harrington. "We are due for a win; I think everyone believes we can finish the season out strong by taking the next two games."
• A year ago, the Wizards went to New York for the final game of the season, knowing a positive result would send them into the playoffs. But behind an Amado Guevara hat trick, the Red Bulls won 3-2 and moved into fourth place in the Eastern Conference ahead of the Wizards.
• "It's going to come down to the wire; that's just the way this stuff is. We just played D.C. United, who is arguably the best team in the league. We had a 1-0 lead, and it would have been nice to hang on to it and get the three points, and we didn't," said Onalfo. "We can't worry about that now, we just have to worry about our next two games and find ways to continue to get points and make sure we get into the playoffs."
