Wizards vs. Fire Game Notes
July 3, 2006 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Kansas City Wizards at Chicago Fire
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
7:30 p.m. CST
Arrowhead Stadium
Television: CSN-Chicago & MLS Direct Kick Package
Wizards vs. Fire: Round Three
The Kansas City Wizards visit the new Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois for the first time this week when they face the Chicago Fire on the Fourth of July. The Wizards will be looking to snap their current three-game skid against the team that they recorded their last win against on June 17th. Unbeaten against the Fire this season, the two sides tied 1-1 on May 6th before Kansas City's 3-2 win three weeks ago, both games were played in Arrowhead.
Kansas City (6-7-2) slipped to third place in the Eastern Conference for first time this season following this past weekend's loss and New England's win over the New York Red Bulls. The Wizards currently trail the Revolution's 21 points by one and have the potential to move back into the number two spot with a win on Independence Day. The Wizards will also be looking to move back above the .500 mark as they have not been in that position once this season before the loss this past weekend vs. Los Angeles.
Chicago has plenty to shoot for with a win on Tuesday as it sits just three points behind Kansas City in the standings. At 4-5-5 on the year, the Fire's 17 points tie them with Columbus for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
When the Wizards and Fire first met this year in week six it kicked off Kansas City's disappointing month of May, drawing 1-1 after it opened the season at 4-1-0. Chad Barrett put the Fire up early in the 18th minute with a breakaway goal in the 18th minute when he was played over the top on a pass by Chris Rolfe. The Wizards regrouped at halftime and quickly equalized in the second half on a goal by U.S. World Cup Team member Eddie Johnson. That May 6th match in Arrowhead also featured a pair of penalty kicks, one for each team, not necessarily noteworthy except that both goalkeepers successfully stopped both attempts. Chicago's Zach Thornton successfully saved Johnson's attempt in the 27th minute, and Bo Oshoniyi stopped Ivan Guerrero's PK in the 68th minute.
The second time the two met this season, Kansas City picked up its second consecutive win to open the month of June unbeaten in three straight, putting its forgettable month of May behind them and moving within six-points of the top spot in the East. Forward Scott Sealy tallied a pair of come-from-behind goals in the match to earn Major League Soccer Player of the Week honors, and Jose Luis Burciaga Jr. tallied his third consecutive game-deciding goal with a long-range blast in the 89th minute. But following that win the Wizards' current slump began as they dropped a pair of contests against United in less than a week before last weekend's 2-0 decision against L.A.
A Bit Of A Quandry
At this point in the season it is fairly evident that D.C. United is a pretty good side, having lost just once in 16 games. Why does that matter? Put aside the Wizards four losses to United this season and they are 6-3-2 on the year. And it is not as if Kansas City didn't have a chance to pick up some points in its four games against the team from the Nation's Capital, only once did D.C. win by more than one goal. In fact, the Wizards posted advantages in shots on goal in two of those games, and they tied United in another. It so just happens that Kansas City's schedule featured all four games against D.C. over a 45-day span that fell in the window when the Wizards had its three players missing due to U.S. National Team duty.
Finally!
Well his streak is finally over. Entering the season with 168 career matches played in a Wizards uniform, third all-time in Kansas City history, the question as to when defender Nick Garcia would score his first career MLS goal began to move from a when to whether or not he ever would. Garcia answered those questions this past Wednesday against D.C. United. Playing in his 181st career MLS match, he rifled a shot from just inside the top right corner of the penalty box into the backside netting for his first career goal in the 20th minute. With that goal Garcia set a Major League Soccer record for most games played before scoring his first career goal. Only one other player in MLS history has played more games and not scored a goal, former Wizards teammate and current United defender Brandon Prideaux who has also appeared in 181 career matches.
D's Gettin' It Done
The Wizards defense continued its trend as a goal-scoring machine last week with Nick Garcia and Jose Luis Burciaga Jr. providing Kansas City's two tallies against D.C. United Of the 19 goals that the Wizards have scored this season seven have come of the feet, or heads, of defenders. That number gets bumped up to eight if you consider defensive midfielder Alex Zotinca's extra-time strike in Dallas. The 8-of-19 works out to a percentage of 42.1%, close to half. These numbers should not be that shocking as head coach Bob Gansler has instilled the philosophy of both offense and defense being a total team effort, as forwards are expected to defend just as much as defenders are looked upon to shoot. 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 third in the league with three game-winners, and Jimmy Conrad is tied for second on the team with one game-winner. Burciaga Jr. also leads the team in overall goals scored with five after netting his fourth goal in the past five games on Wednesday vs. D.C.
It's No Shooter's Paradise
Last Wednesday's battle with D.C. marked the first time in seven games that the Kansas City defense had allowed more than three shots on goal in a match. Dating back to their May 20th match in Salt Lake City against Real Salt Lake, the Wizards had only allowed a combined 17 shots on goal over the course of a six-game span. Twice Kansas City had held United to three SOG's or less before both sides tied with six shots on goal apiece on Wednesday night. One game off having its seven-game streak snapped by D.C. the Galaxy added their name to the list of teams to register more than three SOG's against Kansas City, posting four on night this past Saturday. The last team to register more than three shots on goal against Kansas City other than D.C., which leads the league with 111, was FC Dallas in week four with five. Total on the season, the Wizards have only give up more than three shots on goal six times this season. D.C.'s eight shots on goal on May 13th were the most allowed in a game this season by Kansas City. The Wizards are currently seventh in the league with a 1.40 team-goals against average, and their 144 overall shots allowed are the third lowest total in the MLS.
Major League Soccer Stories from July 3, 2006
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