Wizards vs. Revolution Game Notes
Published on September 22, 2006 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
7:30 p.m. EST
Gillette Stadium
Television: MetroSports (Kansas City) - Time Warner Cable Ch. 30 & Selcect
Comcast Cable Providers
FSN-NE (New England)
Satelite Coordinates (FSN): VYVX Conf #2147319
The Final Four Begins
The Kansas City Wizards will be returning to action this weekend after a two week break this Saturday against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium at 7:30 p.m. EST. The Wizards will also be returning to Metro Sports when the Kansas City sports television station airs this weekend's match live and it will be preceded by a half-hour Wizards pre-game show from the Metro Sports studio beginning at 7:00 p.m. EST.
This Saturday's match will have huge playoff implications as both teams currently sit just five points, or less than two wins, apart in the Eastern Conference standings with just four weeks remaining in the regular season. The Revs occupy the third spot while the Wizards sit in fourth, one point ahead of the New York Red Bulls. A win this weekend would move Kansas City within two points of third place and potentially give it a four-point lead over New York for the final playoff spot in the East, should the Red Bulls lose against D.C. United this weekend, heading into the final three games of the season.
Kansas City does have recent history on its side as it is unbeaten this season against the Revs heading into this weekend's regular season series finale in Foxboro. The Wizards have posted a 1-0-2 record this year against the Revs and last year's series was an even 1-1-2.
In their first meeting this year Jimmy Conrad netted the game-winning goal just three minutes into that week three match-up. It also happend to be 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 the far post. The Wizards out shot the Revolution 12-6 in the match and limited them to just two shots on goal.
In game two of the series, 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 Steve Ralston played the spoiler role for New England when he scrapped for an equalizing goal in the fifth minute of extra time.
Although game three ended in a 0-0 tie it did not go without any excitement. Between New England's Matt Reis and KC's Bo Oshoniyi, both goalkeepers combined to make 12 saves on the night in posting a pair of shutouts, but it was what happened early in the second half that game three was most remembered for. Wizards' defender Jimmy Conrad went down for nearly four minutes with what proved to be a broken jaw after he was elbowed by the Revs Clint Dempsey, only to return to the match a few minutes later, playing the full 90 in KC's shutout performance.
Kansas City owns the all-time series record at 14-8-6 overall and 7-4-3 in New England.
Out Of The Shadows
Second year player Scott Sealy retook the Wizards' scoring lead when he tapped in an Alex Zotinca rebound for his seventh goal of the season two weeks ago against Colorado, fairly impressive considering he has appeared in 25 games this season having only started 16 of them. With seven goals, Sealy has moved himself within one of the league's top ten, which of the 11 that currently reside in the top ten, all but three have appeared in more games than Sealy. The Trinidad & Tobago National Team member has scored in three of Kansas City's last four games.
Some First Impression
Playing their first game in front of their new owners, OnGoal, LLC., Davy Arnaud and Jose Luis Burciaga Jr. combined for Kansas City's final two goals in the Wizards' 4-1 win against the Colorado Rapids. The first came on a corner kick from the right hand side where Arnaud made a far post run and hit the cross back across the frame and into the side netting for his third goal of the season. Arnaud and Burciaga Jr.'s second combination came in the 77th minute when from 35-yards out on the left flank Burciaga Jr. lofted a pass towards the near post for Arnaud who redirected it with his shin just inside that near post. The assist was Burciaga Jr.'s team-leading seventh of the season. For his two-goal performance Arnaud became the second Wizard to be named MLS's Player of the Week this season, winning the honor last week. Arnaud joins Scott Sealy on this season's list of honorees after the Trinidadian forward won the award in week 10.
What Drought?
Forward Davy Arnaud has consistently been one of KC's biggest "threats" this season, however the goals just did not seem to come for him in 2006. After scoring Kansas City's first goal of the season on just his second shot of the year against the Columbus Crew on Opening Day, Arnaud's luck that is sometimes involved in the "art" of goal-scoring just flew out the window as he was held scoreless in 20 consecutive matches. Since he broke that 20-game drought with a 25-yard strike early in the first half against the Crew on August 12th he has now scored three goals in Kansas City's last seven games. Here is how the time in between his two goals breaks down (time of first goal - 21st minute of Game 1, time of second goal - 4th minute of Game 22): minutes played by the Wizards (excluding stoppage time) - 1,873; minutes played by Arnaud (excluding stoppage time) - 1,778; total shots taken - 42; total shots on goal - 16. Arnaud is currently tenth in MLS with 53 total shots taken, bumping his career total to 191, the fifth most in Wizards' history. Leading the team with 22 shots on goal this season, he is also sixth all-time in Kansas City history with 80 career shots on goal.
One Lead For Another
Defender Jose Luis Burciaga Jr. has consistently been one of the Wizards' biggest offensive threats this season, leading the team's scoring chart for most of it. He scored his first goal of the season in week two, netting the game-winner at Houston to move into a tie as KC's leading scorer, spending a total of four games there before Eddie Johnson became the first player on Kansas City's roster to net a second goal when he found the net against Chicago on May 6th. The lethal lefty moved back into a tie for the team lead four weeks later, against New York on June 3rd, scoring his second goal of the season on a game-tying penalty kick. He didn't waste much time moving out of that tie, scoring a late game-winning goal in the Wizards' next game, a 1-0 win at Columbus June 10th. Since that game at Crew Stadium, Burciaga Jr. went on to maintain the team lead, or at least of share of it for 17 consecutive straight games until forward Scott Sealy surpassed the defender with his now team-high seventh goal of 2006 against the Rapids. So what did Burciaga Jr. do about be passed up, he tallied two assists later in that Rapids match to overtake the team's lead in assists, bumping his total to seven. He has now recorded as assist in three straight games, the longest current active streak in MLS and the second longest recorded in the league this season. Total on the year he has been Kansas City's leading goal-scorer after 21 of its 28 games.
Went To Foxboro Told'm Make Me A Grill
Defender Jimmy Conrad has been upgraded to probable for this weekend's match having missed the last six weeks with a broken jaw that he suffered when Clint Dempsey elbowed him in Kansas City's last match at New England on August 9th. Conrad went up for a head ball early in the second half and had position Dempsey when the Revs midfielder went up with his left elbow, catching the KC defender flush on the right side of his jaw. The Wizards' team captain has started 11 matches for Kansas City this season having missed nine games overall prior to his injury, six while he was with the United States National Team, two while he was recovering from a sports hernia surgery, and one for a red card suspension. Conrad has scored two goals in 2006 for the Wizards, including the game-winner in Kansas City's 1-0 week three victory over New England. Conrad has been training with the team for the past two weeks and if he does indeed return this weekend he will have missed KC's last seven matches, beginning on August 12th vs. Columbus, a 4-0 win, and ending with the Wizards' 4-1 win two weeks ago vs. Colorado on September 9th. While recovery from the injury, Kansas City posted a 3-2-2 record, but with a goals against average of 1.29. In the three games prior to his injury, KC posted a 0.67 GAA.
Arnaud The Ironman
Only a select few have appeared in all 28 matches this season, and Wizards forward Davy Arnaud is one of those few. But it wasn't until week 20 that Arnaud became the only Wizard to appear in each of their matches this season because teammate Kerry Zavagnin was right there by Arnaud's side through the first 20 games before he missed his first game of the year three weeks ago with a groin strain. Zavagnin had appeared in 41 consecutive games after starting the 2006 season with 20 straight showings in the lineup before missing the Wizards' last match at Gillette Stadium, notably he is not expected to play this weekend either after suffering a shin contusion in training. Arnaud, obviously, leads the team with 28 games played and Sasha Victorine is second on the team with 27 games played. Career wise, defender Nick Garcia and Zavagnin are third and fourth all-time in games played in a Wizards uniform with 194 and 190, respectively. Arnaud currently sits just outside the top ten with 110 career matches played at a Wizard. As expected Arnaud leads the team with 2,425 minutes played and Victorine is second with 2,341 minutes logged. With four matches remaining, Garcia is on pace to become Kansas City's all-time minutes leader (17,471), needing just 347 to equal Preki's career total of 17,818 minutes played. Zavagin is third all-time in KC history with 16,827 career minutes played entering this weekend's match.
Looking At The East
D.C. United clinched home field advantage throughout the conference playoffs with a 1-1 tie vs. New England last Wednesday, but the final three spots in the East are still completely up in the air for anyone's taking. Chicago currently holds down the number two spot with 41 points and four games remaining on their regular season schedule, including three against Eastern Conference opponents (DC, NY & CLB). The Revolution, KC's opponent this weekend, are currently in third with 38 points and four games remaining, three against competition from the East (DC, KC & CLB). Kansas City occupies the fourth place position and the final playoff slot with 33 points and four games remaining, including two against its direct competition for the MLS Cup Playoff positions, New England and New York, its other two are against teams from the Western Conference. New York, currently in fifth with 32 points, closes out the season with three of their final four games are against Eastern Conference teams (DC, CHI & KC), with their regular season finale coming against the Wizards' on October 14th in the Meadowlands. Columbus sits in last in the East and would need a lot of help to make the postseason as it is seven points behind KC for the final spot with just four games remaining.
Major League Soccer Stories from September 22, 2006
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- Wizards vs. Revolution Game Notes - Sporting Kansas City
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