Injury Report

Same ol', same ol' as far as the injury report goes. Cristman, Kronberg and Myers are still out. Added to the "out" list this weekend, as you know, are Josh Wolff and Santiago Hirsig for their red cards last weekend. Espinoza will be playing his last match for a couple of weeks, as both he and Landon Donovan report for national team duty after the game is over. Donovan and the U.S. play Costa Rica at Estadio Saprissa June 3 before hosting Espinoza and Honduras June 6 at Soldier Field at Chicago. Want to see the full game guide? Click here.

KCW Juniors Plans Announced

Last year's U-19 team at the Regional Final before winning and advancing to the National Championships.

The details on the KCW Juniors program for the 2009-2010 season are here. We will field three teams, U-18s, U-16s and U-14s. The 18s and 16s will join the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, competing in the Frontier Conference against some of the best clubs from around the midwest. Tryouts for the U-18 and U-16 teams will be held June 11-12 at Swope, with tryouts for the U-14 team June 13-14. Registration for all three teams is available here. If you are a younger player or you know someone who is, please attend the tryouts anyway. If there is a U-11 player skilled enough, we would take them for the U-14 team.

We were one of only five teams out of 250 that applied to join the Development Academy this season that made the cut. Below are some quotes and a paragraph from the release. Read the full release here.

"The U.S. Soccer Development Academy creates an environment that is focused on developing the player while providing competitive games that challenge each individual player and team," Kansas City Wizards Technical Director Peter Vermes said. "We are pleased to enter the Development Academy in 2009 with our KCW Juniors U-16 and U-18 teams. The KCW Juniors philosophy of player development matches the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, and we look forward to competing against some of the top clubs from around the country."

The five new Academy clubs were selected from a pool of 250 applicants. Clubs were selected based on their potential to generate future national team players as determined by geographic location, coaching staff, administrative capabilities and national team coach site visits and evaluations. U.S. Soccer has limited the number of clubs admitted into the Academy each year to maintain the highest quality of competition in the program.

“Being chosen as one of the five clubs to join the Development Academy this year is a real honor,” KCW Juniors DOC Jon Parry said. “U.S. Soccer put forth a rigorous selection process, and we were pleased that our program made grade. The Development Academy provides the resources and competition necessary to develop outstanding young soccer players. We look forward to competing in the Frontier Conference and the spring and fall showcases put together by U.S. Soccer. At the showcase that wrapped up this weekend, over 160 colleges were represented by coaches scouting Development Academy matches.”

CL Final Draws Records US Audience

Barca's #1.

Wednesday's UEFA Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United drew a record U.S. TV audience for a UEFA match after an average of 1.43 million viewers Wednesday afternoon for a 1.1 rating. Read the full story here. Sounds like a lot of people were playing hooky from work Wednesday. Were you among them?

Game Date Changed/SuperLiga

Lance Watson in last year's 2-1 friendly victory over Atlas.

The match originally scheduled for Aug. 8 at D.C. United will now be played Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. CT at RFK Stadium. The game will still be broadcast live on Metro Sports.

For those interested in SuperLiga tickets for either the game June 21 in St. Louis or the game June 28 at CAB, all the information you need to know is in this post. We play FC Atlas of Mexico's first division at 3:30 p.m. at Hermann Stadium on the campus of St. Louis University, the very same field Jack Jewsbury played many, many soccer games on during his stellar collegiate career. For St. Louis-area fans, tickets are available at all MetroTix locations. Charge by phone (314) 534-1111 or online at metrotix.com. Tickets and information also available from the Kansas City Wizards toll free at (877) 828-7222. KC-area fans can also give us a call at (913) 387-3400 to get their tickets, which start at $20. Season ticket holders have the option of using Special Game B for this match if they choose.

The game at CAB June 28 against Santos Laguna at 5:30 p.m. CT will count as Special Game A in season ticket packages. Single-game tickets are available through Ticketmaster. Also, we're putting together a package that will include a ticket to the Santos game, a ticket to the Chicago Fire game in August and a limited-edition T-shirt. The package starts at $30. To order this, give us a call at (913) 387-3400.

Upcoming Internationals

Now that one huge international contest has played out, we're on to the next set. Starting June 3, the next round of FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers will start as the U.S. men travel to face Costa Rica at Estadio Saprissa. The U.S. then hosts Roger Espinoza and Honduras June 6 at Soldier Field in Chicago. Here's the roster for the matches. The Costa Rica game will be shown live on ESPN June 3 at 9 p.m. CT. The Honduras match will be shown live on ESPN Classic, and over 40,000 tickets have already been sold.

Thad over at the Back Post did an interview with Espinoza about playing the U.S. and how Honduras has faired so far in qualifying. Be looking for that soon. Honduras and Espinoza then play El Salvador on June 10.

The U.S. had its first game of the double fixture pushed to June 3 instead of the standard June 10 because we will then be traveling to South Africa for the Confederations Cup and matches against Italy (June 15), Brazil (June 18) and Egypt (June 21).

For a full rundown of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, head to the wiki. As always, check out the excellent Men's National Team blog for the latest from U.S. training camp.

Spoiler Alert: FCB tops MUFC/ Scrimmage Results

Harrington wins a header over Matt Kuhn of the Brass.

Barcelona took it to Manchester United today, defeating the EPL champs 2-0 on goals from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi. The win makes KC forward Claudio Lopez happy. In speaking with him today after the scrimmage with the Brass, Piojo said he was rooting for Barcelona and indicated that Messi is a very quiet, nice person off the field, but (obviously) an animal on the pitch. Claudio was pulling for his countryman and Barca during the match.

In the scrimmage this morning, the Wizards topped the Brass 4-1 on a first-half goal from Davy Arnaud and second-half goals from Graham Zusi and Josh Wolff (2). The Twitter feed got a little messed up this afternoon, with some updates coming out of order and well after the game ended.

1st half lineup: Hartman; Watson, Hohlbein, Conrad, Besler; Harrington, Jewsbury, Arnaud, Souter; Lopez, Gomez

2nd half lineup: Pardo; Kraus, Leathers, McKenzie, Marquess; Hirsig, Morsink, Zusi, Espinoza; Wolff, Thompson

Goals:
10th minute- Arnaud scored off a pretty feed from Claudio Lopez. Aaron Hohlbein played the ball out of the back into Claudio's feet as Arnaud made a verticle run alongside Lopez. Lopez calmly touched the ball past himself and between two defenders as Arnaud broke behind the defense. Arnaud was in free and tucked the ball inside the back post for a 1-0 lead.

61st minute- Marquess overlapped Espinoza on the left, then played toward Josh Wolff in the center of the 18. Wolff dumied the ball, letting it roll through his legs to Zusi running onto the pass for a first-time shot into the lower-left corner from about 15 yards out.

72nd minute- Espinoza played Marquess into space up the left, and Marquess hit a first-time ball into the area for Wolff who volleyed home a shot from 8 yards out.

74th minute- Michael Perry pulls one back for the Brass, putting the ball into the open net after Wizards goalkeeper Boris Pardo came out to deflect a loose ball in the area and the rebound fell to Perry.

85th minute- Wolff ends the scoring after Kraus and Thompson worked a 1-2 up the right wing, putting Kraus through into space. Kraus sent a low cross along the ground for Wolff completing a run at the top of the six-yard area for a redirect goal from point-blank range.

KCW Reserves/Champions League

The Reserves take on the Kansas City Brass today at our Swope Park Training Center beginning at 10:30 this morning. It's a little mid-week scrimmage so that we're not training against ourselves all the time, but Hillcrest will provide running commentary via our Twitter. So will Mike of Down the Byline.

Also, the UEFA Champions League Final today between Manchester United and Barcelona in Rome will be shown live on ESPN, not ESPN 2 as formerly mentioned here, at 1:45 p.m. CT. We're hosting watch parties at the 810 Zones on the Plaza and in Leawood. Leawood is offering some sweet specials all day, check out the post below.

Vote for Kevin!

MLSnet is now doing a weekly MLS Save of the Week similar to the Goal of the Week that has been around for some time now. Kevin Hartman is up for the inaugural award for his effort on Sacha Kljestan's nasty dipping long-ranger. See it below then go vote.

Be (at) Champions (League Final Watch Parties)

Our good friends at Budweiser (sorry, no retro Bud ad today) are hosting watch parties for tomorrow's UEFA Champions League final between Manchester United and FC Barcelona at both 810 Zone locations. In honor of the marquee soccer match of the day, 810 Zone Leawood will offer the following specials throughout the day: $1.50 Bud, Bud Light, Bud Select bottles and $8.10 Chicken Ceasar wrap and fries. The game starts at 1:45 p.m. CT tomorrow on ESPN Come on out to watch the game at either 810 Zone courtesy of the fine folks at Budweiser.

Vote for Claudio!

He's already up by quite a bit for the Goal of the Week award, so help keep him up there! Claudio's free kick goal against Chivas USA Saturday was his 4th of the season. He now has 10 goals and 10 assists in MLS regular-season play since joining the Wizards prior to the 2008 season. See the goal below, then vote here.



Also, go vote for Claudio and your other favorite Wizards and MLS players for the All-Star game here.

Wizards Tie Chivas With 9 Men

It's good to get out of the game with a point after falling to nine men, but obviously everyone wanted the full three points. Thanks to everyone that came out tonight, marking our 3rd sellout of the season. As you'll see below, the Wizards have now played in front of six sellout crowds this season, including three on the road. If you're in OP, join us tomorrow for the full-team event at Heritage Park during the Kansas City Invitational Tournament.

How about that goal from Claudio Lopez? See that goal and the rest of the game highlights here.

Notables:

· Kansas City is now 4-4-3, 14 pts in 3rd place in the East behind D.C. United (15 points) and the Chicago Fire (15 points).
· The Wizards are 4-2-3 all-time against Chivas USA, including a 4-0-1 record at home.
· Kansas City is now 4-0-1 this season when scoring the first goal.
· Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman now holds the all-time MLS record for the most consecutive minutes played.
· He has not missed a minute in the last 93 MLS matches, a stretch of 8370 straight minutes.
· Hartman’s 93 straight starts tie him for 2nd place on the League’s consecutive games played and games started lists.
· Hartman was already 2nd on both lists for a streak he set from 2002-2005 while with the Galaxy.
· Hartman made five saves on the night, extending his MLS-record total to 1170.
· Striker Claudio Lopez scored his 4th goal of the season.
· It was his first free-kick goal of the season.
· Lopez has now played a part in seven goals for the Wizards, with four goals and three assists.
· Lopez now has 10 goals and 10 assists in 39 games since joining the Wizards prior to the 2008 season.
· The Wizards had yet to score a set-piece goal in 2009.
· Twelve of Kansas City’s 15 goals on the campaign have come after halftime.
· Josh Wolff received his 1st career red card in the 68th minute.
· Josh Wolff’s red card was the first shown to a Kansas City player this year.
· Santiago Hirsig was later shown a red card for receiving two cautions in the match.
· The Wizards last lost two men to red cards 9-27-07 against the Los Angeles Galaxy.
· That day, Davy Arnaud and Jimmy Conrad were sent off.
· There have now been four red cards in games involving the Wizards this season.
· The Wizards are 2-0-1 in games involving red cards.
· Chivas USA, coached by former Wizards Preki, played three former Wizards Saturday (Carey Talley, Shavar Thomas and Sasha Victorine).
· Victorine has now played part in a goal in both Chivas USA games versus the Wizards since he was traded from KC to CHV midway through the 2008 season.
· Kansas City was without goalkeeper Eric Kronberg, defender Chance Myers and striker Adam Cristman due to injury.
· The Wizards sold out their 3rd match of the season Saturday night.
· Kansas City has played in front of six sellout crowds this season, including road games at Seattle Sounders FC, Toronto FC and Real Salt Lake.

Quotes:

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS HEAD COACH CURT ONALFO
On the game
“We knew coming in that this wasn’t going to be a very high scoring game. We told our guys to be patient, and we felt this would be a game that we could get a goal off of a set piece, and that’s exactly how we scored the first goal. I thought we started off the second half very well. We had a whole bunch of chances, and then obviously the game changed with the two red cards. We played with two less players, and we had to scrap and find a way to get out of here with a point. We’re not happy with it, but we’ll take the point.”

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS FORWARD JOSH WOLFF
On his red card
“The fact that I get a red and he gets a yellow, that’s up to the ref. The referee said that I went and head butted him. That’s what the ref said to me. In my heart of hearts, I know that I didn’t go and head butt him.”

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS GOALKEEPER KEVIN HARTMAN
On the game
“I think we’re a good enough team to have gotten a win here tonight. It’s a little bit disappointing because once we went down to nine men we couldn’t really push the game anymore. We were just trying to escape with a point. I was proud of the guys for being able to do that, to battle and to go ahead and collect a point.”

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS DEFENDER JIMMY CONRAD
On the game
“For the most part, the game’s kind of a wash. I think in the first half Chivas did a good job of breaking our rhythm. In the second half I thought we played much better. We game out of halftime with a bit more spirit, a bit more bite. We got a goal, could have had another one, and then the red cards happened and we just had to try and salvage a result.”

On playing 9-v-11
“It’s tough, but we work on that stuff in practice. We do 7-v-5 and 8-v-6 where you’re just trying to keep your team shape. Obviously you’re going to give up some territory, maybe just start defending 35 yards out and try to be tough to play it through from there.”

On Chivas USA’s goal
“I thought it was a soft goal from our perspective. I think our line was too deep before the free kick was hit. Anytime you watch a free kick from the side you have to make sure you have a high line so that your goalkeeper can make a play on it. I thought we were too deep and that didn’t allow Hartman to have a chance to react and make a save.”

CHIVAS USA HEAD COACH PREKI
On the game
“At least we can get the point. We played a really good first half. We were all over them. We felt like it was just a matter of time before we were going to score a goal. Kevin Hartman made a lot of good saves in some key moments. That's just the way it is. In the second half, we find ourselves down on one play. The referee decided to call some fouls. We were two men up, and we didn't move the ball as well as we could have. We should have done a better job when we were playing ten against eight. Kansas City stayed organized and disciplined and played well tonight, and they made it difficult for us. We might have changed the rhythm. We played a good game, and we'll take the point, regroup and we have a tough game against Chicago coming up.”

CHIVAS USA MIDFIELDER SASHA VICTORINE
On his assist
“Yeah they just put the ball in the box and I was trying to challenge for it, and I ended up getting a touch on the first header and it ends up popping up in the air. It's a scrum in there, and you're just trying to get anything on it and just trying to find the far post. I wouldn't call it one of the best assists I've ever had in my life, but they all count.”

On the first half
“I thought we dominated offensively in the first half. We're a good team when we take possession of the ball and we put in on the ground we can play with anyone anywhere. I think in the first half we played well. For the majority of the first half we played very good and had some good opportunities. Toward the end of the first half, they started to get more rhythm. I thought the first half we did well and in the second half it was just more of a gut-check for everybody.”

On Kansas City’s two second-half ejections
“Obviously it's disappointing we didn't get a victory, coming back and making sure you play well on the road. It's tough to get anything on the road. It showed a lot for us to come back. We thought we could get another goal, but we'll move on and think about our game on Thursday.”

Heritage Event Sunday

After tomorrow night's match, nearly the entire team will appear Sunday at Heritage Soccer Park in Overland Park, Kan. during the Kansas City Invitational Tournament to launch our new relationship with Heartland Soccer Association. The first group will begin things at 12:30 p.m. CT, and the last group will wrap up around 6:30 p.m. CT. Players will be grouped (mostly) by position. There will be a couple of field players in goalkeeper group to aid with the shooting aspect. If you'll be at Heritage for the tournament, make sure to stop by Field 12 where we will be set up.

TIME EVENT
12:30 p.m. Coach Strategy Session with Wizards assistant Kris Kelderman
1:00 p.m. Player Demonstration with Wizards Defenders
1:00 p.m. Coach Strategy Session with Wizards assistant Kris Kelderman
1:30 p.m. Autograph Session with Wizards Defenders
2:00 p.m. Coach Strategy Session with Wizards assistant Kris Kelderman
2:30 p.m. Player Demonstration with Wizards Midfielders
2:30 p.m. Coach Strategy Session with Wizards assistant Kris Kelderman
3:00 p.m. Autograph Session with Wizards Midfielders
3:00 p.m. Coach Strategy Session with Wizards assistant Kris Kelderman
3:30 p.m. Coach Strategy Session with Kerry Zavagnin and John Pascarella
4:00 p.m. Player Demonstration with Wizards Forwards
4:00 p.m. Coach Strategy Session with Kerry Zavagnin and John Pascarella
4:30 p.m. Autograph Session with Wizards Forwards
4:30 p.m. Coach Strategy Session with Kerry Zavagnin and John Pascarella
5:00 p.m. Coach Strategy Session with Kerry Zavagnin and John Pascarella
5:30 p.m. Player Demonstration with Wizards Goalkeepers
5:30 p.m. Coach Strategy Session with Kerry Zavagnin and John Pascarella
6:00 p.m. Autograph Session with Wizards Goalkeepers
6:00 p.m. Coach Strategy Session with Kerry Zavagnin and John Pascarella

Sunny Saturday Coming

Weather.com says we're in for a good one tomorrow. The forecast is calling for temperatures right in the upper 70's at kickoff. The injury report looks familiar, with the same big three still listed as out. Chance Myers was back training today with the team for a portion of the session, but he's still got some time before he's 90-minute match fit. Cristman's boot is off and he's getting closer, but he has yet to rejoin training sessions in the same capacity as Chance. Kronberg is still 4-6 weeks as well. Lance Watson is fully healed from last week's gash suffered on the challenge from Robbie Findley and is available for selection.

If you're a dog-bringer, make sure you've turned in your orders by 5 p.m. (about an hour from now). All dogs will enter through Gate C. If you're not a fan of the four-legged friends, they will be kept in one portion of the stadium (the berm and area behind the Lopez banner). If dogs scare you, you can avoid them for the entire evening.

Chivas USA Arrives Tonight

Talley and Victorine before they joined Chivas USA.

Preki-coached Chivas USA arrives in Kansas City tonight before training tomorrow at our Swope Park Training Center at noon. The session sets up a training double header at Swope tomorrow. Our Wizards take the field at 10 a.m., with Chivas training after. If you happen to have the day off or are otherwise unbusy, head out to Swope to watch the pros train for a couple hours.

As you know, Chivas features four former Wizards players: Head Coach Preki, defenders Carey Talley and Shavar Thomas and midfielder Sasha Victorine. Last year, Sasha scored for Kansas City in a 3-2 win over the Goats and for Chivas in a 2-1 win over KC. Watch out if Victorine scores!

Wizards Team With Heartland Soccer Association

Today we announced a relationship with Heartland Soccer Association that we hope will help both organizations further the growth of the beautiful game in the area. We hope this is not the first agreement of its kind. We have reached out to other leagues and clubs in the metro on similar arrangements and are happy to hear from anyone who is interested in setting up a partnership of this kind. If you'd like to discuss a partnership with your club or league, contact Greg Cotton at gcotton@kcwizards.com.

To read the release, click here. The KC Business Journal has already posted a story focusing on the corporate partnership aspects of the deal.

All in all, we hope that by working closely with an organization that contains this many clubs will expose youth players more directly with professionals. To kick off the partnership, the entire team will be appearing this Sunday from 12:30-6:30 p.m. CT at Heritage Park in Overland Park, Kan. If you're out there that day, make sure to stop by Field 2 to see demonstrations by our players and take them on in a game of soccer-tennis.

Great American Barbecue

This weekend, the Wizards will be at the Great American Barbecue taking part in the festivities. The event takes place Friday-Sunday at Capitol Federal Park and Sandstone (aka Sandstone). Wizards reps will be on hand Friday 4:30 PM- 9:00 PM and Sunday from 3:00 PM- 11 PM. For more information on the event, visit http://www.thinkbbq.com/.

Goal.com Roundup

Goal.com and other media sites often do roundups of other things, so today I'm going to do a roundup of Goal.com. First of all, they have a logo contest going on. Graphics guru Chad has pledged not to enter it, so everyone else out there still stands a chance. Monday, they listed Wolff on their team of the weekend, with Hartman getting an honorable mention nod. Today, Kyle McCarthy talked to Wolff and wrote about the squad rotations from Curt Onalfo so far and Wolff's success. Noah Davis mentions Jack Jewsbury as one with rising stock for the U.S. National Team.

Basically Goal.com loves the Wizards--today.

All-Star Voting

Holy cow...MLSnet came out with a story today that if the All-Star First XI were chosen right now, eight members would be from Seattle Sounders FC. Now their fans have been great so far, but that is a crazy high number! No mention of our friend Josh Wolff who is tied for the League-lead in goals or perrenial All-Star Jimmy Conrad or former Argentina international Claudio Lopez. Come on Wiz fans, help them and the rest of the Wizards climb up the list!

Wizards to Honor Lauren Fowlkes

Fowlkes during the World Cup final.

We first caught up with local product Lauren Fowlkes last June during the U-20 CONCACAF qualifying tournament. Apparently Hillcrest Road is good luck because Lauren and the U.S. went on to win the U-20 World Cup and Lauren's team, Notre Dame made the NCAA Championship game on the same day. Needless to say, Lauren missed the NCAA title game to help our country win a world title.

Now, Lauren will be recognized at our match Saturday and a group of St. Teresa's students past and present will be on hand to watch the Wizards match and the ceremony. St. Teresa's grads can contact Brian Roth for more information at broth@kcwizards.com.

JC Show/Interview Schedule

Tomorrow's Jimmy Conrad Show will run from 7-7:30 p.m. CT due to an air-time conflict with the NBA Playoffs. The show will be broadcast live from Fox and Hound in OP. The Jimmy Conrad Show and our watch parties, both sponsored by Budweiser, will be on a monthly rotation around the city. The entire schedule will be out shortly.

In addition to the Conrad Show tomorrow night, we will be hosting tryouts for the Starting 11 Hospitality Girls from 7-9 p.m. Details are here.

Today--3:30 pm--Herculez Gomez weekly phone interview--La Gran D 1340 AM (Spanish)
Today--3:30 pm--Roger Espinoza phone interview--weekly segment on La Super X 1250 AM (Spanish)
Wednesday--8:15 am--Jack Jewsbury in-studio radio interview--105.1 Jack FM
Wednesday--7:00 pm--The Jimmy Conrad Show--Sports Radio 810 AM
Thursday--7:50 am-- Jimmy Conrad in-studio radio interview--Star 102.1 FM
Thursday--8:00 am--Kevin Hartman in-studio radio interview--106.5 FM The Wolff
Thursday--8:10 am--Jimmy Conrad in-studio radio interview--Mix 93.3 FM
Thursday--8:20 am--Davy Arnaud in-studio radio interview--94.1 KFKF
Thursday--8:30 am--Michael Harrington in-studio radio interview--Q104.3 FM
Thursday--3:00 pm--Weekly Press Conference with Curt Onalfo and Josh Wolff--Metro Sports
Thursday--5:00-6:00 pm--Zona Wizards Weekly Spanish Radio Show--Curt Onalfo & player TBD--Ke Buena 1480 AM
Thursday 9:30 pm, Friday--6:30 pm, Saturday--11:30 am---Wizards Weekly TV Show with Curt Onalfo and Wizards players--Metro Sports
Friday--12:30 pm--Josh Wolff phone interview on the Weekly Wizards segment on The Program with Soren Petro--Sports Radio 810
Friday--4:40 pm--Jimmy Conrad phone interview--Hot Talk 1510 AM

Speaking of RSL

Take a look at this picture run in the Salt Lake Tribune Sunday. Wizards players celebrating, RSL fans booing and Real goalkeeper Chris Seitz laying injured on the ground all in the same picture. Well done Mr./Ms. SLTrib photog.

Wolff Wins MLS Player of the Week

For the second time this season, forward Josh Wolff has been named MLS Player of the Week following an impressive two-goal performance. Wolff is the first player to capture a pair of Player of the Week honors this season and now has seven for his career. That total ties him for 6th all-time in MLS in number of POW awards. With his latest honor, Wolff broke a tie with Preki, former Wizards stud and Head Coach of this weekend's opponent Chivas USA.

1st- Jeff Cunningham, Landon Donovan, Cobi Jones, Ante Razov (9)
5th- Carlos Ruiz (8)
6th- Josh Wolff, Edson Buddle, Jason Kreis, Taylor Twellman, Jaime Moreno (7)
11th- Preki (6)

Wolff's goals:

Reserves Top Brass 7-0

Hillcrest unfortunately didn't make it out for the match, but Mike Kuhn of Down the Byline was there and saw all the action. Our Swope Park Rangers came out on top 7-0, through goals, in this order, from Gomez (2), Kraus, Marquess, Leathers, Thompson and Zusi.

Wolff for Goal of the Week

It's been a weekly occurance lately the Josh Wolff is up for Goal of the Week. He kept up his end of the bargain this weekend, and the Goal of the Week nominators tipped his first tally (and subsequent hang on the RSL net) as one option. See the goal below then go vote.

Rookie Wants Waffles

Rookie defender Matt Besler gets a little picky with his breakfast of choice, so Captain Kansas City fixes the problem:

Very Nice Win

That was a good one folks. Two great goals from Josh Wolff pushes him to the top of the MLS list, tied with Brian McBride with six goals on the year. Wolffie now has six goals in his last six games, including a pair of multi-goal performances. You'll see a ton of other factoids about Wolff's goals below in the notables. RSL Head Coach Jason Kreis said that we are the best team they've played against all year. Hopefully we keep that train rolling! Now for notables and quotes.

· Kansas City is now 4-4-2, 14 pts in 3rd place in the East behind D.C. United (15 points) and the Chicago Fire (15 points).
· The Wizards are 5-2-2 all-time against Real Salt Lake, including a 2-2-1 record on the road.
· The Wizards handed RSL their first-ever regular-season loss at Rio Tinto. Kansas City also gave Seattle their first-ever loss at home this season and Toronto their first-ever loss at BMO.
· Kansas City is now 4-0-0 this season when scoring the first goal and 3-0-0 when leading at the half.
· Saturday marked the 1st time in 2009 the Wizards won a match while being outshot.
· The Wizards have 7 points at home and 7 points on the road in 2009.
· Kansas City’s two wins on the road this season matches last year's total.
· Four of the Wizards next five games are at home.
· Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman now holds the all-time MLS record for the most consecutive minutes played.
· He has not missed a minute in the last 92 MLS matches, a stretch of 8280 straight minutes.
· Hartman made a season-high seven saves on the night, extending his MLS-record total to 1165.
· Hartman is tied for 2nd in MLS with four shutouts this season.
· Striker Josh Wolff scored a pair of goals to move into a tie for 1st in MLS with Chicago’s Brian McBride with six.
· Wolff scored in the third-straight game.
· He has six goals in his last six matches.
· Wolff now has 36 career goals in Wizards colors, 3rd most in team history.
· He surpassed teammate Davy Arnaud for 3rd place and trails Chris Klein by three goals for 2nd place.
· Wolff has scored nine goals since returning midway through the 2008 season from 1860 Munich.
· His 68 career strikes put him in a tie for 15th all-time in MLS and 9th among active players with Edson Buddle of Los Angeles.
· It was Wolff's 9th career multi-goal game and his 2nd of the season.
· Midfielder Jack Jewsbury collected his 4th assist of the season on Wolff’s 1st goal.
· Jewsbury has recorded an assist in three straight matches and leads the team with four assists.
· His four assists put him in a tie for 3rd in MLS behind Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Santino Quaranta.
· Jewsbury now has 19 career assists, moving him into a tie with Digital Takawira and Sasha Victorine for 8th place on the club’s leaderboard.
· Defender Michael Harrington recorded his 2nd assist of the season, the 8th of his career.
· Both of Harrington’s assists this season have come after entering as a substitute.
· Eleven of Kansas City’s 14 goals on the campaign have come after halftime.
· The Wizards had not worn their all-white jerseys yet in 2009.
· Kansas City was without goalkeeper Eric Kronberg, defender Chance Myers and striker Adam Cristman due to injury.
· The Wizards next game comes next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT at CommunityAmerica Ballpark against 1st Place Chivas USA.
· Budweiser sponsored an official watch party for Saturday’s match at Fox and Hound off Metcalf in Overland Park, Kan.

Quotes:

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS HEAD COACH CURT ONALFO
On the Wizards play tonight
“I thought it was excellent. It was a beautiful performance. With two goals, I thought it was an excellent performance all the way through, just rock solid. I thought it was a hard fought performance. There was a lot of desire. Our guys played an intelligent game. I give credit to our guys. It’s extremely encouraging.”

On rebounding from a three-game winless streak
“We had a little bit to prove. We haven’t played well over the past couple of games. We’re a team that feels like we can be really good. We felt like we’ve been underperforming, so we challenged our guys and they rose to the challenge.”

On goalkeeper Kevin Hartman’s night
“When he has to make a save, he does. Kevin’s been very good all season long. It was another solid performance from one of the League’s best goalkeepers.”

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS FORWARD JOSH WOLFF
On his first of two goals on the night
“I say every week that it’s about the service. As a forward, it’s your job to get on the end of things. It was a good run, good timing, and a great ball from Jack Jewsbury.”

On getting on the board first
“When you get the first goal it’s different. The last couple of games we’ve been playing from behind, so it was good to get that first goal tonight.”

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS GOALKEEPER KEVIN HARTMAN
On building on tonight’s result
“I think it’s too early for us to be talking about the rest of the season. It certainly feels good going into the next two games. It’s going to hopefully make us feel content about where we are, but at the same time it puts a lot of pressure on us. We know how difficult it was coming in and how much work we had to put in to get the result. We have to make sure we match that ambition and match that passion, week in and week out.”

RSL Pics

As we told you yesterday, Hillcrest made the trip this time around. Check out some pictures from pre-match festivities below. It's a gorgeous night in Sandy/Salt Lake City. Check out the Twitter feed to the right for both team's lineups. If you dont' yet follow us, visit www.Twitter.com/Hillcrest_Road and click the "follow" button in the upper-left corner under our logo.

Below, Wolff is taking part in a pre-game interview with former South Carolina teammate Clint Mathis. The interview was conducted by Brian Dunseth of The Original Winger and Bumpy Pitch.

Salt Lake City Here we Come

Pretty.

Goin' to Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City here we come. Well, I guess we're actually going to Sandy, UT for the match, but it's close enough right? Our first ever appearance at Rio Tinto Stadium comes tomorrow night at 8 p.m. CT. The Wizards appear at RSL's new digs for the first time in team history. We're 4-2-2 all-time against Real, with a 1-2-1 record on the road in MLS play. RSL is 4-0-2 in their brief history at Rio Tinto...hopefully we hand them their first loss.

Our injury report looks similar this week, with just Cristman, Kronberg and Myers out due to their long-term ailments. Everyone else is available for Coach Onalfo's selection. The game tomorrow will be shown live on Metro Sports and TWC 5 (Spanish). Fox and Hound will again host the watch party (and next week's Jimmy Conrad Show, and the next watch party) this weekend courtesy of our friends over at Budweiser.

Podcasts 'R' Us

We've talked about it here at Hillcrest Road before, but I wanted to take some time this morning to remind you all about the Kansas City Wizards podcast page. One of the most active in MLS, our podcast page features The Jimmy Conrad Show, Inside the Wizards Locker Room and other snippets of fun. One recent clip includes goalkeeper Kevin Hartman being pranked by teammate Herculez Gomez while on the air with 106.5 The Wolf. Occasionally we also posted audio interviews for those who want to stay informed. Subscribe to our feed, and your iPod or other MP3-playing device will always be full of the latest and greatest from the Kansas City Wizards.

Forgot Oswaldo Sanchez?

While we don't endorse the name he is called in this video, we just wanted to remind you of this play involving Oswaldo and Eddie Johnson. We now play Sanchez and Santos Laguna June 28 at CAB. See you there.

SuperLiga Field Set

You've likely seen the schedule by now, but if you haven't, here it is. We open the tournament against partner club Atlas Sunday, June 21 at 3:30 p.m. CT in St. Louis. Season ticket holders have the option to use Special Game B from your season ticket holder packages if they want. We then play Wednesday, June 24 in New England against the Revs, before hosting Club Santos Laguna Sunday, June 28 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark at 5:30 p.m. CT. All games in the tournament will be broadcast live in Spanish on TelaFutura. Games will also be broadcast online in English via SuperLiga2009.com. The full tournament schedule is below.

You saw Atlas last year, so you already know a little bit about them. Want to know more? Want to know a little about Santos? Take a look here:

Team name: Club Santos Laguna
Established: 1983
City: Torreón (La Comarca Lagunera)
Stadium: Corona
Ownership: Grupo Modelo – Chairman, Alejandro Irarragorri Gutiérrez
Players: Oswaldo Sánchez (Mexican National Team starting goalkeeper during World Cup 2006 in Germany; He played for the most popular Mexican teams, América & Chivas); Jorge Iván Estrada (Won his first Championship of his career during Clausura 2008); Carlos Darwin Quintero (Incredible striker: He scored 24 goals in 52 games played in Russia; while playing for Deportivo Pereira he carried the team out of relegation)
In 2008, Santos Laguna won the Clausura Championship, which became the third trophy of this value for the Warriors.
The team celebrated its 25th anniversary last year.
Santos made it to the Semifinals of Apertura 2008, where the team fell to Toluca, later to be named Apertura Champion 2008.

Team name: FC Atlas
Established: 1916
City: Guadalajara (Jalisco)
Stadium: Jalisco
Ownership: Fernando Acosta Martínez
Players: Edgar Iván Pacheco (Rookie: great season with 7 goals), Bruno Marioni (Argentine striker who has played for clubs all over Europe and Mexico. He was named InterLiga 2008 top scorer. A year earlier he won Libertadores Cup 2007 with Boca Juniors)
Atlas finished in the third position of Group 3 during the Clausura tournament 2009, tied on points to second place Jaguares.

Saturday, June 20
Chicago Fire vs. San Luis (Toyota Park – Bridgeview, Ill) 7 p.m.
Chivas USA vs. Tigres UANL (The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.) 9 p.m.

Sunday, June 21
Kansas City Wizards vs. Atlas (Robert R. Hermann Stadium – St. Louis, Mo.) 3:30 p.m.
NE Revolution vs. Santos Laguna (Gillette Stadium – Foxborough, Mass.) 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 23
Chicago Fire vs. Chivas USA (Toyota Park – Bridgeview, Ill.) 7 p.m.
San Luis vs. Tigres UANL (Toyota Park – Bridgeview, Ill.) 9 p.m.

Wednesday, June 24
NE Revolution vs. Kansas City Wizards (Gillette Stadium – Foxborough, Mass.) 6 p.m.
Santos Laguna vs. Atlas (Gillette Stadium – Foxborough, Mass.) 8 p.m.

Saturday, June 27
Chicago Fire vs. Tigres UANL (Toyota Park – Bridgeview, Ill.) 7 p.m.
Chivas USA vs. San Luis (The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.) 9 p.m.

Sunday, June 28
NE Revolution vs. Atlas (Gillette Stadium – Foxborough, Mass.) 3:30 p.m.
Kansas City Wizards vs. Santos Laguna (CommunityAmerica Ballpark – Kansas City, Kan.) 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, July 15
Semifinal 1 (TBD)
Semifinal 2 (TBD)

Wednesday, August 5
Final (TBD)

Lance Invites you to Dog's Night

Lance Watson and his dog Duncan would like to see you at Dog's Night.

Speaking of All-Stars

Conrad in last year's All-Star game.

We talked about All-Star voting a little earlier...but just a reminder. You can vote up to ten times per day (and, in theory, ten times per computer per day). We encourage you to let the voting page know just how much you love your Wizards. Help Kevin, Lance, Jimmy, Aaron, Matt, Michael, Herculez, Jack, Santiago, Davy, Josh and Claudio get on the field to take on Everton in July. Go vote (as much as you can!)

Jimmy, member of the last five All-Star teams, took a little time to speak with Pat Walsh recently for Pat's blog. Check out the results. (Props to Kansas City Soccer Review, by the way, for always beating me to posting things!)

Vote for MLS All-Stars!

Online voting for the MLS All-Star First XI for the match July 29 at Rio Tinto Stadium against Everton is now underway. Go vote and help your favorite Wizards and other MLS stars make the All-Star roster. This isn't necessarily the Starting XI, but these players will be the first selected before the head coach (whoever that turns out to be) fills out the roster.

There are plenty of ties between Everton, the Wizards and MLS. Former Wizards Mo Johnston, Richard Gough (after he played in KC) and Paul Rideout all played at Everton. Current USA first-choice goalkeeper Tim Howard is currently the starting backstop for Everton. As you know, Rideout is currently one of our KCW Juniors head coaches and helped Everton win their last major championship, a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the 1995 FA Cup final with Rideout scoring the game's lone goal.

Want tickets? Buy them now.

FootWedge Cup Approaching

The 2009 FootWedge Cup, the second iteration of this tournament, will take place Tuesday, June 9 at Lloch Lloyd Country Club in South Kansas City. This year, 144 golfers will take part in the tournament that includes special twists to tie the event to soccer. For example, on certain holes, players will be able to use a "FootWedge". After hitting their tee shot, a player will punt a mini soccer ball further down the fairway and play their next golf shot from that location. Wizards players and coaches will also play in some groups. For more information on the tournament, visit www.kcwizards.com/footwedgecup. There are a very limited number of foursomes left for sale. Contact tourney director Adam Meloan at ameloan@kcwizards.com to inquire about the remaining places.

Fox and Hound Here we Come

No Fox and Hound pictures this time, just Bud. We're off to see the Fox this week, as tomorrow night's Jimmy Conrad Show (brought to you by Budweiser) and Saturday night's watch party (brought to you by Budweiser) will both take place from the Overland Park Fox and Hound location. The show takes place tomorrow night from 7-8 p.m. CT. Saturday we face Real Salt Lake at 8 p.m. CT at shiny new Rio Tinto Stadium for the first time. We're 4-2-2 all-time against RSL, including a 1-2-1 road record. The match will be broadcast live on Metro Sports.

Speaking of Budweiser, striker Josh Wolff is right in the hunt for the Budweiser Golden Boot. With four goals, Wolffie ranks 4th in the League. I think this is officially the favorite Hillcrest Road post of the corporate partnership department. You're welcome guys.

Sad, Sad Dog's Night Story

An email to Sam Pierron from long-time season ticket holder Stan Johnston:

Sam, I was hoping to one day to bring my dog, a Schnauzer named Preki, to a Wizards game, so you can imagine how upset I was when I learned the game (against Preki coached Chivas no less) is on a day both Preki and I will be in Florida on vacation. Well maybe he can get on the video board at halftime. Attached are some of Preki's pictures wearing his #11 walking harness.

Photographic evidence:

Wolff Nominated for Goal of the Week

Striker Josh Wolff scored in both games last week, pushing his team-leading total to four goals on the year. He is currently tied for 4th in MLS in goals. Look at Wolff's tally below then go to this page at MLSnet.com to vote. Like the highlight you see below? Head to MLS QuicKicks to mash-up your own highlights that can be shared via your blog, MySpace or other web portal.

Philadelphia Union/Future of News

First of all, MLS Philly 2010 became Philadelphia Union today. I like the name and the logo. Check out their brand sheet:

This isn't necessarily Wizards or soccer-related news, but it is certainly information and blog-related news. Washington Post columnist Howard Kurtz today offered up a thoughtful piece on the future of newspapers and the news industry in times that see newspapers laying off employees and threatening to suspend operations on a regular basis. He contends that newspapers are likely in trouble, but that the service that they have provided over the last couple centuries will not be replaced with blogs. What do you think? Is he right? Can blogs handle the load, or will something else emerge as the mainstream medium of choice?

Better Late Than Never

Here are the notables and quotes from Saturday's match in Columbus. Of note, Kevin Hartman is now the all-time record holder for the most consecutive minutes played. Kevin hasn't missed a second of action in the last 91 contests, a streak of 8190 minutes.

· Kansas City is now 3-4-2, 11 pts.
· The Wizards are 16-17-5 all-time against Columbus, including a 7-11-3 record on the road.
· Kansas City is now 0-4-2 this season when allowing the first goal.
· Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman now holds the all-time MLS record for the most consecutive minutes played.
· He has not missed a minute in the last 91 MLS matches, a stretch of 8190 straight minutes.
· Hartman made four saves on the night, extending his MLS-record total to 1158.
· After two second-half tallies Saturday, 10 of Kansas City’s 12 goals on the campaign have come after halftime.
· Argentine striker Claudio Lopez scored his 3rd goal of the season.
· He now has nine goals and 10 assists in a Wizards uniform since joining the club last season.
· Lopez was one of four Argentines to play in Saturday’s match. He was joined by teammate Santiago Hirsig and Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Gino Padula of Columbus.
· Striker Josh Wolff scored in the second-straight game for his 4th goal of the season, breaking a tie for the team lead with Davy Arnaud.
· Wolff now has 34 career goals in Wizards colors, 4th most in team history.
· He trails Arnaud by just one for 3rd place and Chris Klein by five for 2nd place.
· Wolff has scored seven goals since returning midway through the 2008 season from 1860 Munich.
· His 66 career strikes rank 16th all-time in MLS and 9th among active players.
· Wolff trails Edson Buddle of Los Angeles by two goals for 15th all-time and 8th among active players.
· Midfielder Jack Jewsbury collected his 3rd assist of the season on the play.
· Jewsbury now has 18 career assists and broke a tie to move alone into 10th place on Kansas City’s all-time helpers list.
· Jewsbury trails Digital Takawira and Sasha Victorine by one assist for 8th place on the club’s leaderboard.
· Herculez Gomez also recorded his 2nd assist of the season on Wolff’s strike.
· Kansas City was without goalkeeper Eric Kronberg, defender Chance Myers and striker Adam Cristman due to injury.
· The Wizards next game comes next Saturday at 8 p.m. CT in the first-ever trip to Real Salt Lake’s new home field, Rio Tinto Stadium.
· Budweiser sponsored an official watch party for Saturday’s match at Fox and Hound off Metcalf in Overland Park, Kan.

KANSAS CITY HEAD COACH CURT ONALFO
Overall thoughts on the game
“We are on the road, scored two goals; you have got to get yourself a result. We did a poor job of clearing the balls out of the box and, in the end, we were not good enough defensively. Give Columbus credit, they finished their chances.”

On why Kansas City couldn’t find a way to get a positive result
“I thought every change we made had an impact. The problem is every time we made strides, it was one step forward and two steps back. I thought all the moves were the right ones. We made mistakes and allowed them to score; it’s very, very frustrating.”

On the play of Josh Wolff
“He is scoring some good goals. He always gets better as the game moves on because he is able to sort things out. He is playing well.”

KANSAS CITY FORWARD JOSH WOLFF
On coming back to equalize the match early in the second half
“We got into the half down one-zero, and came out in the second half again and responded well to get it to one-one. At that point, we gave up two goals that were disappointing and we weren’t able to get back into it.”

Overall thoughts on the game
“Give them credit, they held on this time and we’ve just got to do better in the game and not put ourselves down by so much.”

KANSAS CITY MIDFIELDER DAVY ARNAUD
Overall thoughts on the game
“We kind of dug ourselves a little hole and in the end it was just too much to come back from; but we still fought hard, we found a way to get a couple goals on the road. It’s disappointing we didn’t walk away with at least a point.”

On trying to get a positive result on the road
“You can’t go on the road and give up three goals and realistically expect to get points every time out. We just need to be a little better and not dig ourselves as big a hole.”

Watch Party Tomorrow

As most of you have seen by now, tomorrow night's official watch party will take place at Fox and Hound off of 103rd street and Metcalf in Overland Park. For a map/directions and a sweet picture of The Fox and The Hound (the sweet Disney movie), head to this post. Next week's Jimmy Conrad Show will also take place at this location.

Tomorrow's match will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel at 6 p.m. and features a showdown against the Columbus Crew. It promises to be an up-and-down game, as the five meetings last year yielded an average of 3 goals per match. HeyDude is scheduled to be back for Columbus, and BVN grad Andy Gruenebaum will likely be in goal as the injury report from earlier in the week showed William Hesmer as an "out". Our big three (Cristman, Kronberg, Myers) are still out, though they're all getting closer to a return. Kronberg can now catch a ball and the other two are out of their walking boots.

Dog's Night at the Wizards

We have the second-ever Dog's Night at the Wizards coming up on May** 23 as Chivas USA comes to town. In order to purchase tickets for a dog, you must fill out an order form and fax/mail or hand deliver to our office along with the dog's latest vaccination information. For more information on the event and to obtain the order form, visit www.kcwizards.com/dogsnight.

Now for cute doggie pictures:

Join Souter's Circle

Midfielder Kevin Souter is in, are you? When Souter came to the U.S., he started off at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. Graceland is an NAIA school, and the NAIA national headquarters are here in KC. Needless to say, when Souter joined the Wizards last year, NAIA was pleased to have one of its own products playing professionally here in town.

Now, Mr. Souter is helping NAIA promote the Are You In? campaign to support character-driven athletics here in KC. Head to AREYOUINKC.org and sign up for Souter's Circle. Once there, watch Souter's character tips, take a survey and pledge to promote healthy competition. Prizes include a pair of 2010 season tickets courtesy of the NAIA.

Tip 1:

Watch Party Sat./JC Show Wed.

No not this Fox and Hound, sillies.

Both this Saturday's watch party and next Wednesday's Jimmy Conrad Show are presented by Budweiser, and both events will take place at Fox and Hound in Overland Park, Kan. The watch party Saturday will begin in time for a 6 p.m. kickoff of our match in Columbus on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Espanol. Fox and Hound will offer specials on Budweiser and Landshark and a couple of food specials as well. Hopefully we'll see a lot of you out there!

The Jimmy Conrad Show will also take place at the OP Fox and Hound next Wednesday from 7-8 p.m. We'll get you more details on that early next week. For directions from wherever you are, click the "Get Directions: to here" link below and enter your own address:


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The Miguel Jimenez Story

The above pretty much tells the story; we just wanted to pass it along. We were extremely honored to have Miguel out to the game last night. Hopefully he enjoyed the experience!

Coach Onalfo presented Miguel with some gear last night before the match.

Wizards Tie United 1-1

After falling behind a goal in the 1st half, the Wizards fought back to earn a 1-1 tie Wednesday night. Striker Josh Wolff converted his 3rd goal of the season, 33rd in a Wizards uniform and 65th of his MLS career in the 52nd minute. That puts Wolff into a tie for the team lead this year, into 4th place on Kansas City's all-time goals list and 16th place on the MLS all-time goals list. Not a bad career for el Lobo. The Wizards return to action Saturday with a 6 p.m. match-up at the Columbus Crew. The match will be shown live on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Espanol.

· Kansas City is now 3-3-2, 11 pts in a tie for 3rd place in the Eastern Conference.
· The Wizards are now 13-16-8 all-time against D.C. United, including a 9-6-4 record at home.
· Wednesday’s match was the first of three between Kansas City and D.C. this season, including two at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
· The Wizards are now 0-3-2 when allowing the first goal.
· Eight of Kansas City’s 10 goals have come after halftime this season.
· The Wizards have allowed the fewest goals in the Eastern Conference thus far (9).
· Kansas City also has the best goals against average in the East (1.13).
· Striker Josh Wolff scored his 3rd goal of the season, moving into a tie for the team lead with Davy Arnaud.
· Wolff now has 33 career goals in Wizards colors, 4th most in team history.
· He trails Arnaud by just two for 3rd place and Chris Klein by six for 2nd place.
· Wolff has scored six goals since returning midway through the 2008 season from 1860 Munich.
· His 65 career strikes rank 16th all-time in MLS and 9th among active players.
· Wolff trails Edson Buddle of Los Angeles by three goals for 15th all-time and 8th among active players.
· Midfielder Jack Jewsbury collected his 2nd assist of the season on the play.
· Jewsbury now has 17 career assists and moved into a tie for 10th on Kansas City’s all-time helpers list.
· The night was extra special for Jewsbury, as he and wife Brittany had their first child Tuesday.
· Aubrey Lynn Jewsbury was born Tuesday at 11:45 a.m.
· Right back Lance Watson also recorded an assist on the goal, his first career assist.
· Four rookies were on the field to start the match. Matt Besler of the Wizards was joined by Rodney Wallace, Chris Pontius and Brandon Barklage of D.C. United in the starting lineups.
· Wallace scored his 2nd career goal.
· Kansas City was without goalkeeper Eric Kronberg, defender Chance Myers and striker Adam Cristman due to injury.
· The Wizards next game comes this Saturday at 6 p.m. CT at the Columbus Crew on Fox Soccer Channel.
· Budweiser is sponsoring an official watch party for the match at Fox and Hound off Metcalf in Overland Park, Kan.

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS HEAD COACH CURT ONALFO
On the game
“Unfortunately they had two good chances in the first half and they capitalized on one of those. I thought our response was very good to start the second half. Having said that, I still would have liked to have created some more opportunities and got that second goal. Give credit to D.C. United. They’re a good team and they made it difficult on us tonight.”

On the Wizards goal
“It was excellent service into the box and Josh did a good job of getting on the end of it. It really lifted our team, and I thought it was going to lead us to get another goal and win the game. It was a very good goal.”

On missed opportunities
“You need to have that precision in the final third. Our passing in the final third has not been good enough, and we need to address that and make sure it gets better. There are going to be times where you put away all your chances and times when you don’t.

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS STRIKER JOSH WOLFF
On his goal
“We got the ball out wide, and when you get wide it’s the job of the guys in front of the goal to make good runs and put the backs under pressure. Jack had a good ball in, I just slammed the front post and got a piece and hit it with pretty good pace. I was glad to see it go in, but we needed a few more of those plays tonight.”

On his opportunity for a second goal
“It was a good ball from Claudio Lopez. The whole time I was trying to get inside my guy. I was fighting with him at the back post. I was able to get a lot of it, so I was disappointed to see it go wide. It was one of those where we were jostling for position and I just didn’t get it back down on frame. It just missed.”

D.C. UNITED HEAD COACH TOM SOEHN
On the game
“Both teams had their stretches where they had the better of play. Kansas City pushed really hard at the end and made it really difficult for us. They were lofting a lot of balls in, and then it got a little hairy.”

On getting a fair result
“Yeah we had our chance the post that we hit. There were not a ton of opportunities, but it was enough to win a game. To their credit, they never quit, and they created a lot of dangerous situations by lofting balls into the box.”

D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER RODNEY WALLACE
On his goal
“It was just a great team builder knocking balls back and forth. I think it was Jaime Moreno who played the ball through, and I just found the back of the net.“

On head coach Tom Soehn commending him on his hard work
“I think it is important to always work hard. I think that it gives a lot of energy out there, it gives your teammates more energy and they keep going too. Especially being on the road, I think it is important to come in with a lot of energy, to throw their plan off balance a little bit because everyone thinks you are going to hold back. It’s always good to have a little extra in your tank.”

30 Minutes to Kickoff

It is an absolutely gorgeous night out at the ballpark. The teams are out for pre-game warm-ups, and the fans are starting to file in for tonight's battle for 1st place. D.C. enters tied with Toronto FC atop the Eastern Conference standings. The Wizards will assume the top spot with a victory tonight.

Lineups:

KC- Hartman; Watson, Conrad, Hohlbein, Besler; Wolff, Hirsig, Jewsbury, Arnaud; Gomez, Lopez
subs- Pardo, Kraus, Thompson, McKenzie, Morsink, Espinoza, Harrington

DC- Crayton; Namoff, Janicki, John; Pontius, Simms, Jacobson, Barklage, Wallace; Moreno, Quaranta
subs- Kocic, Jakovic, N'Silu, Gomez, Emilio, Khumalo, McTavish

Onalfo's Near Miss

Onalfo after last year's late-season win over New England.

Some of you noticed in the notables from the April 23 match that Coach Onalfo was nearly in a very serious car accident on his way to the stadium that night. For full details, check out this story from Cole Young of the KC Star and this story from Curtis Kitchen of kcwizards.com. It's pretty intense stuff. We're all very thankful that Coach, his wife and two children made it to that match and are all safe and sound.