Wizards' Lopez scores world-class goal
Argentinean forward believes strike from midfield is best of career
The ball flew past Ricketts and, six feet off the ground, not only into the net, but also into serious discussion for Major League Soccer's goal of the year.
It was that good. At least, that's what Lopez thought afterward.
"This," Lopez said with a charismatic smirk, "is the best goal of my career."
Lopez is one of only two Wizards ever to have scored in World Cup competition. The Argentinean forward has scored elsewhere countless times and in countless ways. But, the way the ball floated forever and with purpose, the way the play started and was over almost as fast; it was with the flair, grace and creativity that seemingly only South American players can provide.
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It was something special in that jaw-dropping, "Did you just see that?" sort of way.
"I saw that he took a quick look," Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo said. "And all of the sudden, you could see he was going to do it, and I'm saying to myself 'what is he doing?' And, boom! He hit it perfectly in absolutely the only spot he could hit it.
"It was a world-class goal."
The goal was the fifth of the season for Lopez, and a welcome one for the Wizards -- a team that recently had found the offensive going extremely tough, having been shutout in three consecutive games.
It provided the Wizards with a lead, albeit a short one as the Galaxy answered with the game-tying score eight minutes later. Regardless, it didn't diminish the effort Kansas City put forth to earn a 1-1 draw with arguably the hottest team in MLS in front of an energized sellout crowd and national television audience.
Kansas City's young defense, playing without Jimmy Conrad and Lance Watson, again rose to the challenge of stopping an extremely potent Galaxy attack.
Led in the back by Kevin Hartman's superb four-save effort in goal, Matt Besler, Rauwshan McKenzie, Aaron Hohlbein and Jonathan Leathers (substituting in for a suspended Watson) allowed just one shot on goal in the second half.
"[Hartman] was outstanding," Onalfo said. "He did what he's done most of the year, and that's make saves when he's called upon. We had some missed clearances in the first half that led to chances for them, and he made some darn good saves."
Hartman thought group came together as the game played out.
"Sometimes when you're young, you don't start out the way you want to defensively," Hartman said. "And, I kind of felt like that was the case tonight. I was happy to come up with a couple of saves and give us a little bit of confidence. From there, we got better and better."
After three saves in the first half, Hartman collected just one in the final 45 minutes as Los Angeles managed just two shots (one on goal) in the half.
Hohlbein said the backline's effort, save for the goal scored from a combination between Landon Donovan and David Beckham, was a worthy one.
"They are a very good attacking team, and we knew we were going to have to have a solid performance," Hohlbein said. "I think, collectively, from our forwards all the way through the backline, we were pretty solid overall."
The Galaxy's lone goal from Donovan, a 20-yard strike set up by a quality pass from Beckham, came because of a defensive breakdown according to Hohlbein.
"There was a little bit of a breakdown where we lost [the ball] in the middle," Hohlbein said. "A good team will capitalize on that. Those two guys linked up, and Donovan is a world-class player. He hit a good ball and finished it."
But, he didn't finish like Lopez did. This year, in MLS, nobody has.
Curtis Kitchen is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
