Kansas City Wizards Fall to Colorado Rapids 2-1 In Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Qualifier
April 13, 2010 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
(April 13, 2010) - The Kansas City Wizards journey in the Open Cup is over before it even began, as the team fell 2-1 to the Colorado Rapids in a qualification match for the tournament at the Stanley H. Durwood Soccer Stadium on the campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC).
Teal Bunbury got the Wizards started early on with a goal that was equal parts skillful and fortunate, while Wells Thompson responded with a goal in each half for Colorado. The match was played with just as much physicality as Saturday's game, with both teams squandering good attacking movements.
The Wizards got off to a dream start with Teal Bunbury's first goal as a professional in the fourth minute. Bunbury started the move with a skillful spin past two defenders at midfield, followed by a strong run down the left in which he fought off two Rapids defenders en route to the endline. Once there, Bunbury launched the ball into the box that gave Rapids goalkeeper Steward Ceus more trouble than he anticipated, as the ball floated over his head and into the side netting.
The Rapids responded well to Bunbury's surprise strike, taking the game to the Wizards with quick passing in midfield, hard tackling and good runs behind the seams of the Wizards defense.
The Rapids' efforts would start to bear fruit 20 minutes in, when Mehdi Ballouchy tested the defense with a low cross across the face of the Wizards goal that no Colorado striker could get on the end of before it was cleared out for a corner kick.
The Rapids would have their way on that restart, as Jamie Smith hit a high floating ball that passed over the heads of Craig Rocastle and Pablo Escobar, falling to the feet of Thompson. The midfielder made no mistake with his finish from a tight angle, evening the score at 1-1 24 minutes in.
The Wizards tried valiantly to get back in the lead, but time and time again their forays forward were interrupted by bad luck or timely blocks by the Colorado defense.
In the 39th minute, Graham Zusi got the Wizards started on a smooth offensive sequence by playing a long ball across the field to Chance Myers on the right wing. Myers took on two defenders at the corner of the box before hitting a low cross to Bunbury. Bunbury got a good foot on the service, but his effort was blocked out just before getting past Ceus.
Bunbury would get stung once again at the end of the first half in a play that summed up the Wizards' night. After doing well to get in a dangerous position behind the Colorado defense and with a smart lofted pass from Wolff on the way, Bunbury turned to meet the pass only to have the ball bounce off his neck and on to the feet of the Colorado midfield.
The second half featured more of the back-and-forth and physical play that marked the first, with both sides creating chances throughout the half.
The Rapids were the first to threaten offensively, as Ballouchy found Ross LaBeaux streaking through the heart of the defense in the 55th minute. Luckily for the Wizards, substitute Michael Harrington was there to bother the shot, and LaBeaux sent his effort wide of the goal.
The Rapids had another chance just a minute after, as Quincy Amarikwa got through the defense and hit a shot that Kronberg palmed past the post with a diving save.
The tide started to turn in the Wizards' favor in the 63rd minute, as Graham Zusi got on the end of a botched Colorado clearance, blasting a rocket shot at Ceus that the Colorado goalkeeper did well to keep out of the goal.
Substitute Stéphane Auvray had a similar chance 10 minutes later, after Kei Kamara's service across the face of the Colorado goal was knocked out to the Guadeloupe international. Auvray hit a powerful shot from the top of the box that looked on target before ricocheting off a crowd of Rapids defenders and flying past the wrong side of the goalpost.
The miss would prove especially costly nine minutes later as Thompson gave Colorado the lead. Former Wizards player Claudio Lopez supplied the killer ball from midfield, putting Thompson through on goal as Kronberg came out to cut down the angle. The Colorado midfielder kept his head, and finished coolly to put the Rapids in the lead.
The Wizards struggled to create scoring chances in the final 10 minutes, as Colorado stayed compact defensively in an effort to kill the game off. Kansas City did come close to tying scores in stoppage time, however. Chance Myers played the initial ball, controlling a throw in and hitting a high floater to substitute midfielder Birahim Diop. The Senegalese hit another looping header back into the mixer, which found Conrad rising above the Colorado defense for a head on goal. Agonizingly for Wizards fans, Ceus came up big to tap Conrad's well-placed header over the crossbar.
After the Wizards 1-0 victory over Colorado on Saturday at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, the Wizards will return to MLS action this Saturday, when they travel west to take on Seattle Sounders F.C. at Qwest Field at 2 p.m. CT.
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