Back in the Playoff Race

With some help, the Wizards pushed themselves back into the playoff race with a 2-0 win over Toronto FC last night. Their result along with DC United's loss to LA put KC 1 point back of the final playoff spot. As for the Wizards result, we saw the same lineup that the Wizards put out in their 2-0 win over LA last week. The Wizards controled the run of play in both halves, and had the better of chances. Overall, the first half, though, was a very slow half, that had few clear chances for either team to break through. The best chances came from Josh Wolff, who had two good changes beaten away by Toronto keeper, Greg Sutton.

The second half, though, was different. The Wizards were pressuring much more, and around the 50th minute, you realized that the Wizards were going to get a goal. Early in the second half, the Wizards had a goal called back, when Josh Wolff was ruled to have been offside. Still, though, the Wizards continued to bring the game to Toronto, and in the 61st minute, Wolff was brought down by Tyrone Marshall and Sutton, sending the Wizards to the penalty spot. Even though Sutton guessed right on the penalty, Jack Jewsbury had put too much pace on it and it went by Sutton and into the net. Toronto tried to come back, but over the course of the game, they didn't test Kevin Hartman with a single shot on goal. The first time since the first Wizards game ever, in 1996, when the Wizards held Colorado without a shot on goal.

Overall, the Wizards continued to play well and were rewarded with a second goal in the 79th minute, by open tryout participant, Kevin Souter. Roger Espinoza sent the ball wide to Wolff, who crossed the ball into the box. Souter stepped in front of his defender and got his foot on the ball. The ball lofted up towards the corner of the net and fell into the goal right inside the elbow of the post. All news was not good, though, as in second half stoppage time, Jewsbury picked up his 5th yellow of the season and will now miss next week's game at Chivas USA.

Wizards Man of the Match - Josh Wolff - Set up the PK, had a goal called back, and got an assist. A decent night for the Wizards forward. He'll need to put a few more back into the net, though, if the Wizards want to make the playoffs this year.

Honorable Mention - Herculez Gomez, Jimmy Conrad