Wizards Dethroned by Rapids in 3-1 Loss
September 11, 2004 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
KANSAS CITY, MO (Saturday, September 4, 2004) - The Kansas City Wizards were dethroned atop the Western Conference standing Friday night after falling to the Colorado Rapids 3-1 at INVESCO Field at Mile High. Josh Wolff converted a penalty kick to give the Wizards an early lead and, after the Wizards surrendered two goals, had a second PK attempt saved by Joe Cannon that would have tied the game.
The Wizards loss allowed the Rapids, now with 39 points, to overtake them in the standings, but the despite the one point disadvantage, Kansas City still has one game in hand on the Rapids with five games remaining in their regular season.
The game began with a bang as the Rapids thought they had the early lead when Jean Philippe Peguero powerfully headed a cross into the Wizards net in the fourth minute. He was ruled offside, however.
In the beginning of the game both teams' offensive strategies consisted mostly of sending long balls from the back. In the 8th minute the Wizards finally strung a few passes together, which resulted in a hard Josh Wolff shot that Cannon was able to safely parry away.
The Wizard's goal came on their first scoring chance of the game. A long ball from the back fell in no man's land between Wolff and Cannon in the 10th minute. Cannon hesitated on his run for the ball, which allowed Wolff to get to it first. Wolff's first touch went around Cannon, but Wolff himself was bowled over by the Rapids' goalkeeper and referee Michael Kennedy wasted no time in pointing to the penalty spot. Cannon guessed the correct direction on the penalty kick, but Wolff was able to power it past him for his ninth goal of the season and career-high 24th point.
The midfield battle was especially heated, with several hard challenges from Kansas City's Kerry Zavagnin and Colorado's Pablo Mastroeni leading to free kicks awarded by Kennedy. Mastroeni disagreed so vehemently with one such call in the 18th minute that he was issued a yellow card for dissent.
The Rapids earned a chance to tie the game in the 23rd minute when Peguero was hip checked in the box by Shavar Thomas. Mark Chung buried the subsequent penalty kick to knot the match at 1-1. Chung's goal seemed to energize the Rapid's offense. In the twenty-fourth minute a hard Cila header off of a Chris Henderson cross looked headed to goal, but Oshoniyi was able to make the stop.
Peguero had a second goal called back for offside in the 40th minute. His off balance chip came after some excellent dribbling through the middle by Cila. Defender Jimmy Conrad was given a yellow for a hard tackle on John Spencer earlier in the play. Soon after, Cannon made a timely save for the Rapids on a hard Davy Arnaud shot that was set up nicely by forward Matt Taylor.
The Wizards continued to try to create offense in the second half through the quickness of their forwards. One such break led to a yellow card for the Rapid's Antonio de la Torre in the 52nd minute. De la Torre knocked down Arnaud who was beginning to outpace the Rapids defender. Just as in the second half against Dallas a week earlier, the Rapids overloaded the center of midfield and the left flank, and much of the final half was played only along one side of the field.
Only Oshoniyi's heroics saved the Wizards from falling even farther behind in the 67th minute as he blocked a screaming volley from Spencer that looked destined for the left corner of the goal. Like he has all season, Cannon made a game-saving save for the Rapids in the 75th minute. Second-half substitute Igor Simutenkov's cross went straight to Josh Wolff, but his volley was expertly parried by Cannon.
The third penalty kick of the game came right after the substitutions when Wolff was knocked down in the box after another Cannon challenge. This time, however, Cannon was able to make the save on Wolff's kick from the spot, diving right and low to the ground and blocking the kick.
The Rapids' final goal came in stoppage time as Seth Trembly's cross found Kyle Beckerman at the top of the box. Beckerman had time to settle the ball and line up his shot, which unerringly found the upper right corner of the net. The goal was Beckerman's first of the season and first goal in MLS since 2000.
Kansas City will return home on September 18th when they host the San Jose Earthquakes at Arrowhead, with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. CT. The first 5,000 fans will receive a cooler bag, compliments of Radio Shack. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster by calling 816-931-3330 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Major League Soccer Stories from September 11, 2004
- MetroStars Overcome Two-Goal Deficit to Beat Revolution - New York Red Bulls
- Revolution fall 3-2 to MetroStars at Giants Stadium - New England Revolution
- Wizards Dethroned by Rapids in 3-1 Loss - Sporting Kansas City
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