MLS Sporting Kansas City

Kansas City Wizards game notes

Published on August 8, 2006 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Key Eastern Conference Showdown On Tap The Kansas City Wizards travel to New England for a mid-week contest against the Revolution, Wednesday, August 9th, at Gillette Stadium in a key Eastern Conference showdown. Kansas City topped New England 1-0 in week three in their first meeting of the year, and nearly picked up a second 1-0 victory just before the All-Star break had Steve Ralston not tied up the game in stoppage time for the Revs. This Wednesday's match will be the Wizards' first after an unscheduled week-and-a-half off. Since its fourth round U.S. Open Cup match against Chicago last week was postponed due to weather, Kansas City's last competitive match was on July 29th against this same New England team.

The Revolution lead the pack in the race for second place in the Eastern Conference with 27 points. D.C. United paces the East with an arguably untouchable 45 points after just 21 matches played. The Wizards sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, however that fifth place spot is just six points shy of the second place Revs. The New York Red Bulls occupy the third place spot with 24 points, and Chicago holds down the fourth position with 22 points. Kansas City currently holds one game in hand on New York.

In the two sides most recent meeting Kansas City picked up its first point for interim head coach Brian Bliss, battling to a 1-1 tie. The Wizards took and early lead on Josh Wolff's second goal in the past three games and ultimately posted a 7-to-5 advantage in shots on goal in snapping its seven-game losing streak. But Ralston played the spoiler role for New England when he scrapped for an equalizing goal in the fifth extra minute.

In their first meeting this season Jimmy Conrad netted the game-winning goal just three minutes into that week three match-up which was just three minutes into his 2006 season. He missed the first two games of the year recovering from surgery to repair a sports hernia. Conrad lofted a ball from the right side to the back post that was out of the reach of goalkeeper Matt Reis and over the head of the defender protecting that far post. The Wizards out shot the Revolution 12-6 in the match and limited them to just two shots on goal.

Last year's series was an even 1-1-2 between the two sides, but oddly enough neither team won in their own stadium. The Revs topped Kansas City 2-0 in Arrowhead on June 11th and the Wizards flipped the table on August 6th, winning 2-1 in New England. They tied 1-1 in their first meeting of 2005 on June 4th in Gillette Stadium and then tied 2-2 in their final meeting on October 8th in Arrowhead. Dating back to 2004, Kansas City has only lost once to New England in the last seven meetings, holding a 4-1-2 record.

The Revs have lost just twice over the course of their last 13 games, however, they have only posted wins in three, battling their opponents to ties in eight of those 13, including their 1-1 stalemate in Arrowhead a week-and-a-half ago.

Riding The Rollercoaster There are ups and downs to every season, and Kansas City's current offensive drought could be viewed as the down-slope of its season-opening streak. Heading into week 13 against D.C. United the Wizards were just one of three teams in the league to have scored in every game. Kansas City's 12-game streak of consecutive games scoring a goal opened with five goals in its first two contests and culminated with three goals against the Chicago Fire in its twelfth for a total of 17. The 12 consecutive games to start the year without being shutout tied the Wizards' all-time record that was first set by the squad from 2003. The '03 team totaled 19 goals during its season-opening span.

Manning The Helm Since making his Major League Soccer head coaching-debut on July 22nd at the Meadowlands against the New York Red Bulls, Brian Bliss has pointed the Wizards' ship in the right direction. Although Kansas City fell 1-0 at New York, it did outshoot the Red Bulls 18-15 in the match and posted a 13-3 advantage in corner kicks, dominating a majority of the possession. One week later, he guided the Wizards to a near victory over this weekend's opponent, the New England Revolution, tying them 1-1 at Arrowhead just before the All-Star break. Prior to his appointment as interim head coach, Kansas City had struggled amidst a six-game losing streak, a string that reached seven before all was said and done, the longest by a team in MLS this season, tying the mark first set by the Galaxy in May and June. It is not as though the Wizards haven't competed during its seven-game spell; in fact, six of those seven losses have only been by one goal. Also, their opponents have only posted an advantage in shots on goal in four of the losses that have come during Kansas City's recent streak of misfortune.

Backline Bombers The Wizards defense continued its trend as a goal-scoring threat in Kansas City's 3-2 loss vs. Houston last month. 2005 MLS Defender of the Year Jimmy Conrad netted his second goal of the year on a diving header to bring the Wizards within one in the final ten minutes of the match. In fact, three of Kansas City's last five goals have been scored by its defenders; Nick Garcia and Jose Luis Burciaga Jr. provided the Wizards' two tallies against D.C. United on June 28th. Overall, of the 21 goals that the Wizards have scored this season eight have come of the feet, or heads, of defenders. That number gets bumped up to nine if you consider defensive midfielder Alex Zotinca's extra-time strike in Dallas. The 9-of-21 works out to a percentage of 42.9%, nearly half. The defense has also accounted for four of the Wizards' six game-winning goals, Jose Luis Burciaga Jr. leads the team and is tied for fifth in the league with three game-winners, and Jimmy Conrad is tied for second on the team with one game-winner. Burciaga Jr., the reigning MLS Player of the Month, also leads the team in overall goals scored with five.

Man Of The Month Defender Jose Luis Burciaga Jr. was named Major League Soccer's June Player of the Month for the first time in his career this month, running the Wizards' streak to four consecutive seasons in which they have had a player recognized as the league's player of the month. Burciaga Jr. currently leads the team with five goals on the season, scoring four of those in the month of June. Burciaga Jr. provided the deciding goal in each of Kansas City's games during its three-game undefeated streak to start the month of June. Forward Scott Sealy was named player of the month for August last season. Former Wizard and current Real Salt Lake midfielder Chris Klein received the honor for June in 2004, and Kansas City's all-time leading goal-scorer Preki was named player of the month for May in 2003 to begin the streak of four straight years. Former Wizards Miklos Molnar and Tony Meola were each recognized as one of MLS's players of the month in 2000, making Burciaga Jr. the sixth overall Wizard to receive the honor.

Set Pieces Aside Of the 28 goals scored against the Wizards this season, ten of them are the direct result of a set piece. The interesting thing is that all ten of those set piece goals have been scored by just three teams. D.C. United leads the way with six of its nine goals scored against KC this season coming off of set pieces: one was an own goal, two were penalty kicks by Jamie Moreno, and the remaining three were off free kicks. With their two two weeks ago, the Houston Dynamo ran their total to three set piece goals, of their four total, against the Wizards. Dynamo's came from a corner kick and two free kicks. The final set piece goal scored against Kansas City this season was netted by the New York Red Bulls, when Chris Henderson eventually finished off Mark Lisi's free kick in week ten. Minus those ten goals, the Wizards have only given up 18 goals in the run of play through 20 games, an average of 0.90.

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Major League Soccer Stories from August 8, 2006


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