Playoff Time is Here

It's playoff time again, and once again the Wizards are into the playoffs. Tomorrow the Wizards playoffs kick off at Community America Ballpark, as the Wizards host the Supporter Shield winning, Columbus Crew. The Crew won the season series against the Wizards, winning two and drawing 1. While the Crew scored 8 goals against the Wizards this season, the Wizards scored 4. Earlier this year, the Crew thoroughly outplayed the Wizards in KC winning 3-0 at CAB. Since then, the Wizards have gone 10 games at home without a loss. The Wizards have also added two players that have become very important to the Wizards late season resurgence, in the form of Herculez Gomez and Abe Thompson.

Coach Onalfo seems likely to continue using the same lineup that he'd been using the past two games, that have seen the Wizards get two straight wins. And with Josh Wolff unavailable it looks like Claudio Lopez will get the chance to continue his good run of form.

Hartman
Leathers - Conrad - Wahl - Harrington
Jewsbury
Gomez - Arnaud - Souter
Lopez - Thompson

PREDICTION - If the Wizards want to have a chance in this series, they have to win tomorrow, and they likely need to do it by two goals. The Crew are a good team and one of the highest scoring teams in the league. So the Wizards are going to need to rely on the offense that we've seen the past two games to carry them through this series. If the offense can continue it's form and the defense stays strong, the Wizards can take a good lead into the second leg.

KC - 2 (Gomez, Lopez)
CLB - 0

Wizards Up for End of Season Awards

Four Wizards are up for End of the Year awards from MLS.

First, the Wizards have two goals up for the MLS Goal of the Year. The first nominee is Davy Arnaud's long range blast against the LA Galaxy at Arrowhead stadium. The other nominee is Josh Wolff's bicycle kick against Chivas USA a few weeks later. You can vote for either, or both goals here.

Once again, Wizards defender and captain, Jimmy Conrad is up for the Defender of the Year award. Conrad is up against Chad Marshall and Bakary Soumare. Conrad finished the season wtih 6 goals and played every minute of every game this season for the Wizards.

The other Wizard up for a year end award is Claudio Lopez, who is up for Newcomer of the Year. Lopez finished the season with 6 goals and 7 assists this season for the Wizards, and is up against Darren Huckerby and Andre Rocha. Lopez's chances at this award appear to be lower than Conrad winning his. Huckerby was huge for San Jose this year.

Wizards Lowering Ticket Prices

You don't see that headline very often in professional sports, a team dropping their ticket prices for season tickets, but that's just what the Wizards are going to be doing next year. As Wizards president Robb Heineman said in the article, "We understand that these are tough economic times". That's certainly a good reason to drop prices on tickets. The biggest drop in pricing, will be the field side reserve, which drop from $110 to $100 per game, stadium reserve drop .50 cents to $22 per game. Cauldron season tickets will drop $2.60 to $14 per ticket. The berm/section 100-103 season tickets will be $10 per ticket. The Wizards are also adding an all-you-can-eat section in section 106. This should certainly help all season ticket holders next season, good on the Wizards for taking this step.

Former Wizards Update

MLS
Nick Garcia - San Jose - Started and played 90 minutes in San Jose's 2-0 win over Toronto.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Started and played 54 minutes in San Jose's 2-0 win over Toronto.
Jose Burciaga Jr. - Colorado - Dressed but did not play in Colorado's 1-1 draw with RSL.
Chris Klein - LA - Started and played 90 minutes in LA's 2-2 draw with Dallas.
Dave van den Bergh - New York - Played all 90 minutes recording an assist in New York's 5-2 loss to Chicago.
Carey Talley - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 minutes, playing in the ball that ended up leading to Chivas' goal in their 1-1 draw with Houston.
Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA - Started and played 45 minutes in Chivas 1-1 draw with Houston.
Alex Zotinca - Chivas USA - Dressed but did not play in Chivas 1-1 draw with Houston.
Sasha Victorine - Chivas USA - Missed this week's game with an injury.
Diego Gutierrez - Chicago - Started and played all 90 minutes, recording an assist in Chicago's 5-2 win over New York, Diego's final regular season game.
Brandon Prideaux - Chicago - Started and played 90 minutes in Chicago's 5-2 win over New York.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played all 90 minutes getting the shut out in Columbus' 1-0 win over DC United.
Yura Movsisyan - RSL - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the tying goal in Salt Lake's 1-1 draw with Colorado that put them into the playoffs for the first time.

USL
Yomby William - Puerto Rico Islanders - Started and played all 90 minutes last Thursday in the Islanders 1-0 loss to CSD Municipal. Is starting tonight for the Islanders in their last group game against Tauro FC in the CONCACAF Champion's League.

Rest of the World
Khari Stephenson - Aalesunds FK - Norway - Started and played 51 minutes in Aalesunds 3-0 loss to FC Lyn.
Chris Konopka - Bohemian FC - Ireland - On the bench but did not play in Bohs 3-1 win over St. Pat's Athletic in the Ford FAI Cup.
Eddie Johnson - Cardiff City (Fulham) - England - Dressed but did not play last Saturday in Cardiff's 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest. Came off the bench to play 11 minutes in Cardiff's 2-0 win over Blackpool Tuesday.
Ryan Raybould - Gefle IF - Sweden - Did not dress in Gefle's 3-0 win over Hammarby. Did not dress Wednesday in Gefle's 3-1 loss to Kalmar FF.
Matt Taylor - TUS Koblenz - Germany - Started and played 58 minutes in Koblenz's 1-1 draw with Nurnberg over the weekend. Came off the bench today and played 18 minutes in Koblenz's 1-0 loss to 1860 Munich.
Diego Walsh - Adelaide United FC - Australia - Started and played 90 minutes in United's 2-1 win over the Perth Glory.
Will John - FK Čukarički Stankom - Serbia - Did not play in Čukarički's 1-0 win over FC Partizan.

Smith Given Extra Suspension

New England Revolution midfielder, Khano Smith will miss the entire Eastern Conference Semifinals and could miss the Eastern Conference Final or the first game of next season due to his scissor tackle on Herculez Gomez last Saturday in the final regular season game for both teams. The news has come out today that Smith will get two more games added on to his 1 game red card suspension. I think that's a fairly just punishment for his tackle on Gomez. What do you think?

Player Interview

This week's player interview with Herculez Gomez is now posted up on The Back Post. Go check it out. Not surprisingly, Gomez takes the high road when discussing the issue with Khano Smith on Saturday in New England.

Cuban at practice

Thad over at The Back Post has a post about today's practice out at the Swope Park training complex. The good news, Josh Wolff is out practicing after rumors were he could miss the remainder of the season with an injury. The bad news, Roger Espinoza sat out due to the injury he suffered in the reserve game up in New England.

The interesting news, though, is the fact that the Wizards had a Cuban out at practice today. The official line from the team, according to Thad, is that the player was there to fill a spot for practice and stay in shape. The people Thad spoke with, though, did not know what the players name was. Looking at the picture that Thad took, it's hard to tell who he is. From a quick Google images search, though, it looks like it certainly could be either of the recently defected Cubans, who defected in DC before the US-Cuba match. You can compare the two for yourselves here. The first is Pedro Faife, and the second is Reynier Alcantara. It's hard for me to tell if it's one of them or not though, but if it is, then the Wizards better already have a discovery claim in, as it wouldn't surprise me if team's have put in claims already.

Octobert Player of the Month

The regular season is over, the playoffs start on Saturday, and it's time to award the final Down the Byline Player of the Month award for this season. In the month of October, the Wizards went undefeated, going 3-0-1 winning against New England at home and away, and San Jose at home. They also tied the Fire at home 1-1.

Here are the stats for the month of October
Claudio Lopez - 2 goals, 3 assists
Davy Arnaud - 2 goal
Herculez Gomez - 1 goal, 1 assist
Jimmy Conrad - 1
Michael Harrington - 1 goal
Jack Jewsbury - 2 assists
Roger Espinoza - 1 assist
Abe Thompson - 1 assist
Josh Wolff - 1 assist

As for who should win the award this month, my choice really came down to three players, Claudio Lopez, Davy Arnaud and Herculez Gomez.

Lopez only played in 2 of the 4 games in October, but made a big impact in the two he did play in, getting 2 goals and 3 assists, helping KC to wins over San Jose and in New England.

Arnaud scored the Wizards second goal against San Jose and the winner against New England, and continues to show the regular drive that we all expect from him.

Gomez got his first goal as a Wizard in the dramatic 3-2 win over San Jose, and also got another assist in the team's 1-1 draw with the Fire.

And the winner this month is.....

Photo courtesy of Thad Bell

Claudio Lopez. Lopez may not have played in every single game this month, but being involved in 5 of the Wizards goals in this stretch run have been big, especially with Wolff being out. Hopefully he continues into the playoffs.

Playoff Series

The Wizards playoff series with the Columbus Crew kicks off Saturday night out at Community America Ballpark. Let's pack CAB and make sure the Wizards have the home field advantage for the game. The Wizards are 7-0-3 in their last 10 home games, so having a packed house for the game will be important. Get your tickets here.

But why just stop at attending just the home game? The Wizards are looking to charter a bus to go to Columbus for the return leg on November 8th. The bus would leave early Saturday morning, arriving in Columbus for the game. You'll stay Saturday night in Columbus and come home Sunday. For more information on the details of the trip, contact Sam Pierron with the Wizards at spierron@kcwizards.com. Seriously, help fill the bus, join me in Columbus and let's have a big crowd cheering on the Wizards on the road as well.

Arnaud up for Goal of the Week

Davy Arnaud's strike from this weekend's 3-1 win over New England is up for Goal of the Week this week. Arnaud's strike is up against some very good competition this week, including nice strikes from both Chris Rolfe and Brad Evans.

Player Interview Poll

Time for another interview by Thad at The Back Post. Who should be interviewed?

Coach Onalfo - Two years in charge, two playoff appearances.
Herculez Gomez - Was head hunted on Saturday night.
Roger Espinoza - Brilliant header into path of Arnaud for second goal.
Davy Arnaud - Scored what proved to be the game winning goal on a nice volley.

Remember, you can vote both here and at The Back Post. Also remember you can post the questions that you want to ask specific people or in general in the comments section.

National Team Call Up for Morsink?

I received this link today about Wizards midfielder, Kurt Morsink. The article is basically talking about an upcoming tournament that the Costa Rican national team will be competing in November 17th through the 19th in Oman. According to the article, the coach of the national team has named Morsink as one of the players that he would like to bring to the tournament with the team. It's the week after the Conference Finals, so should the Wizards allow Morsink to go, he'd likely miss the Eastern Conference Final. The team does not have to let Morsink go, though, if they don't want to. The game is not on a FIFA international window, so the Wizards won't be forced to release Morsink if they don't want to. Will be interesting to see if he is actually called up, and if he's released by the team.

Reserves Win but Lose title

The Swope Park Rangers won their final game of the reserve league season, defeating the New England Revolution 3-0 last night after the first team's game. The reserves got goals from Ivan Trujillo and Lance Watson in the first half, before Michael Kraus finished out the scoring in the second half.

The win put the Rangers in a position to win the reserve league title if the Houston Dynamo reserves failed to win today against Chivas USA. Unfortunately, the Dynamo reserves won today in LA, giving them the reserve league title and forcing the Rangers to settle for second place.

Sunday After Stats

Stats from last night's 3-1 win over the New England Revolution.

Kerry Zavagnin's appearance was his 237th and final regular season appearance for the Wizards, a club record. He finished with 20,516 minutes played in league play, also a club record.

Davy Arnaud's goal was his 32nd goal in MLS play, breaking the tie with Mo Johnston for 3rd on that list.

Arnaud's goal was also his 40th goal in all competitions for the Wizards.

Arnaud's goal was his 7th goal in all competitions, tying him with Claudio Lopez for the lead in that category. It was also his 7th goal in league play, good for the Wizards Golden Boot this year.

In the 64th minute last night, Arnaud went over the 15,000 minute mark in all competitions for the Wizards, he's the 6th Wizards player to hit that mark.

Kevin Hartman's 60th MLS game with the Wizards, all starts.

Michael Harrington went over the 5000 minute mark for his MLS career.

Harrington, Jimmy Conrad, and Hartman started every MLS game this season.

Conrad and Hartman also played all 2700 minutes this season.

Claudio Lopez's assist was his 7th of the season, tying him with Jack Jewsbury for the team high.

Lopez's goal was his 7th in all competitions, ties him with Arnaud for the team lead in that category.

Bring on the Crew

The Wizards will go into the playoffs on a high, after dispatching the New England Revolution last night in New England, 3-1. The game started off a little slow, but it was the Wizards who had the best chance early, as a cross by Claudio Lopez bounced right through the box, unfortunately Abe Thompson was not able to catch up with it. The game changed dramatically in the 26th minute. A kick taken by Kevin Hartman bounced over the New England back line. Lopez ran onto the ball, getting behind his defender, when Gabriel Badilla pulled him back by his collar bone. Referee, Kevin Stott, had no hesitation, reaching for his back pocket and giving Badilla the red card. Lopez stepped up and drove the PK straight up the middle after sending Matt Reis to his left.

Things got worse for New England just before half time, when Herculez Gomez had the ball in the corner, he touched it to go around Revolution midfielder, Khano Smith. Smith, though, had messured Gomez up and made a scissor kick tackle through Gomez. Again Stott and his assistant made no hesitation immediately giving Smith a red card for the blatant attempt to take out Gomez. The tackle was horrible and is definitely deserving of more than the 1 game suspension that you get for red cards. At half time, Coach Onalfo made the right move, getting Gomez off the field before anything else happened.

The Wizards pressured in the second half, against the 9 men Revolution and should have gone up another goal in the 52nd minute, as Lopez was played through alone on goal, but pushed his shot just wide of the post. Less than a minute later, though, the Wizards had their second goal, as Lopez played a long cross to the opposite side of the field, where Roger Espinoza headed it back into the path of Davy Arnaud who took a touch and then touched the ball past Reis for his 7th goal of the season. Ten minutes later, the Wizards again had a golden opportunity, as Lopez played Thompson in on goal alone with Reis, but he too pushed his shot wide.

In the 81st minute, Coach Onalfo inserted midfielder Kerry Zavagnin, giving him a run out in his last regular season game of his career. The Wizards weren't done, though, and in the 88th minute, they went up 3-0, as Ivan Trujillo had his cross poked away by Michael Parkhurst. The problem was that Reis had moved to cover the cross and the ball dribbled into the empty net to give the Wizards another goal. Late in the match, the Wizards lost the shutout, though, as Jeff Larentowicz took a long shot that deflected off Jimmy Conrad and past Kevin Hartman, leaving Hartman tied with John Busch for the league lead in shutouts.

Wizards Man of the Match - Claudio Lopez - Lopez has been reinvigurated the past few weeks, and has 2 goals and 3 assists in that time. Certainly the time to get hot, especially if Josh Wolff can't go in the playoffs. Lopez was all over the field again, and should have had at least 2 goals tonight along with another assist.

Honorable Mention - Davy Arnaud

Expansion Draft is Coming

Another season is getting closer to an end, and that means another team is looking towards coming into the league next year. Seattle Sounders FC will be entering MLS next year, which means we'll be having another expansion draft to give Seattle a few players currently in MLS. Yesterday, MLS came out with the rules for this year's expansion draft, and they are not much different than previous years. The list of protected players is due in November 24th, and the draft will be the 26th. So with those rules set, who is it that the Wizards protect this year?

Well, first off, both Roger Espinoza and Chance Myers seem unlikely to graduate from the Generation ADIDAS program this year, so both will be protected automatically. The other important rule to look at for protection, is the international rule. Teams must make avaiable a number of their internationals minus 3. The Wizards have 4 internationals on their roster; Claudio Lopez, Kevin Souter, Ivan Trujillo, and Carlos Marinelli. Basically the Wizards may make 1 international player available for selection.

So with those rules, who do the Wizards protect?

Here's my pick/guess as to who we'll protect: Claudio Lopez (international), Kevin Souter (international), Ivan Trujillo (international), Davy Arnaud, Jimmy Conrad, Herculez Gomez, Michael Harrington, Jack Jewsbury, Jonathan Leathers, Tyson Wahl, Josh Wolff.

Now, let me break down why I think certain players will be left exposed.
Kevin Hartman - Seattle currently has Kasey Keller on their roster and seem unlikely to go for another keeper especially one of Hartman's salary.
Aaron Hohlbein - Wahl seems to be the center back pairing of choice with Conrad right now. If anyone is taken for KC, he's at the top of the list I think. Would have looked to protect over Trujillo if I could.
Eric Kronberg - Seattle has their starter, and has eyes on the USL Sounders keeper as Keller's back up, no reason to take another goalie.
Carlos Marinelli - The odd international out, but are you really going to be surprised when he's left exposed?
Matt Marquess, Rauwshan McKenzie, Nelson Pizarro, Lance Watson, Michael Kraus, Nelson Pardo - All are developmental players, and as the rules state, if they're taken, they have to be given senior roster contracts, which seems unlikely that Seattle will do that for any of these guys.
Kurt Morsink - Seems to have fallen a bit out of favor, him along with Hohlbein could be favorites to be taken.
Ryan Pore - Pore hasn't produced enough to justify protection.
Abe Thompson - Another guy I would have looked at protecting, had I not had to protect Trujillo, but it was a numbers game that leads to Thompson being exposed.
Kerry Zavagnin - Has stated his intentions to retire, no reason to protect him.

In the end, I think of the exposed players on my list, Aaron Hohlbein has to be the favorite to be taken, along with Kurt Morsink. We'll see how close my list is to the real list in November.

Player interview poll.

Thad has posted this week's player interview with Herculez Gomez up on his blog. Gomez talks about the game winning goal against San Jose as well as how well he's fitting into the team. He's certainly fit in very well on the right wing, giving Davy Arnaud the chance to move into the center of midfield. Gomez also talks about the upcoming game against New England, and how fans can expect more blue collared, hard nosed play.

He also has a great interview with Kerry Zavagnin about his final regular season home game. Kerry talks about the banner that the Cauldron made, along with the fact that the team flew in his family for his final home game, which is an amazing gesture from the team for Zavagnin. His genuine appreciation for the work done by the Cauldron (both in the interview, and in this article) is amazing, he's certainly one of the Wizards greats.

Wizards Closing Out Season

The Wizards will end the regular season tomorrow night in New England, as they take on the Revolution. After last night's loss by New York, this game means a lot less than it did at one time. Instead of this being a battle for a playoff spot vs home field advantage, this game has become much less. The only thing still to play for, is whether the Wizards will take on Columbus or Houston in the first round. With a win, the Wizards will guarantee themselves a match up with the Crew. A loss or a draw, and the Wizards have to wait and see if DC United can pull out a win over the Crew.

The lineup is likely to be very similar to that which we saw last week against San Jose, especially with Josh Wolff out. It seems unlikely that Coach Onalfo will make any changes to that lineup, even though the Wizards have clinched.

Hartman
Leathers - Conrad - Wahl - Harrington
Jewsbury
Gomez - Arnaud - Souter
Lopez - Thompson

PREDICTION - Even though there is little to play for tomorrow, the Wizards do have more to play for than the Revolution. The Wizards also have momentum on their side, as of the two sides, it's the Revolution who appear to be in free fall right now heading into the playoffs. The thing working against the Wizards is their extremely poor road play this season, with only 1 win, that coming in their first road game of the season. But here's to ending the season on a high note.

KC - 2 (Lopez, Arnaud)
NE - 1 (Twellman)

Who Would You Rather Play?

The Wizards are now in the playoffs, for the second straight year. This year the Wizards will either play Columbus or Houston. So who would you rather see the Wizards play? Would you rather seem them play this year's Supporter's Shield winners, the Columbus Crew, or the two time defending MLS Cup Champion, Houston Dynamo? Vote in the poll on this blog as to who you'd rather face. Go ahead and give your reasons in the comments section of this post.

As for me, I'd rather play Columbus. Of the two, Houston puts more fear in me. I feel like we can beat either team at home at Community America, especially with the fine home form we've been in lately, 7-0-3 in our last 10 games. The question is who do I feel we can do better against on the road, and that's the Crew. With their lack of playoff experience, and the fact that I think Robertson in the playoffs is an extremely tough place to play (see last year's Western Conference Final), tips the scales towards wanting to take on the Crew. Let me know what you think.

Reserves Looking to Win Title

The Wizards reserves, aka Swope Park Rangers, close out their season this weekend in New England. The question about their canceled match against DC United has finally been answered. The game will not be made up, and the rumors of there being a forfeit will not be fulfilled. Instead, the reserve league title will be decided by points-per-game. Basically, that means the Wizards are dependent on the result of the Houston-Chivas reserve game to decide their fate. The Wizards game, though, will be played first. Should the Wizards win, they'll need Houston to draw or lose for them to win the title. If the Wizards draw, they need Houston to lose the game. If the Wizards lose, then Houston wins the title before they even play. Go Swope Park Rangers.

Wolff Could Miss Playoff Run

Wizards forward, Josh Wolff missed last week's win over San Jose, because of a fibular stress reaction, which is apparently a little like a stress fracture. That injury could now force the Wizards to play the rest of the season and the playoffs without the striker. The injury, which he picked up a few weeks ago is just getting worse, and he's in a lot of pain. This will likely mean more playing time for Claudio Lopez up top with Abe Thompson as the Wizards go into the playoffs. Hopefully Lopez is past the fitness wall that held him back earlier this season. He's going to be very important to the Wizards playoff chances if Wolff is out.

Wizards Into the Playoffs

The Wizards game on Saturday means a lot less now. The Wizards are into the playoffs thanks to an outstanding performance by Chris Rolfe. Rolfe went off for Chicago getting 3 goals and 2 assists, and the Fire down New York 5-2 to put the Wizards into the postseason. Chicago opened the scoring early on a clinical counter attacking goal that was finished by Rolfe. Juan Pablo Angel equalized for New York off a cross by Dave van den Bergh. Rolfe struck again after a corner was poorly cleared, Rolfe, took it off his chest and volleyed it into the net. Before the half was even over, Rolfe finished his hattrick as he beat the offside trap and scored near post. Brian McBride got the fourth off of a Diego Gutierrez cross that was played in from Rolfe. Daniel Woolard finished the scoring for Chicago off a cross from Rolfe. A late consolation for New York from Macoumba Kandji was not enough, as it was Chicago, not New York that looked like the team that needed a win tonight. In the end it was just a poor game by New York.

Still to be decided, though, is the Wizards' opponent, which will depend on the Wizards result this weekend, along with DC's result should KC lose.

Big Match for KC Tonight

The Wizards are not playing tonight, but there is a big game for the Wizards and their playoff chances tonight on ESPN2. Tonight, Chicago hosts the New York Red Bulls. New York is tied with the Wizards on points, but the Wizards hold the tie breaker. Chicago is currently in second place and can wrap up home field for the first round of the playoffs tonight. A win by New York would clinch a playoff spot for them. Should Chicago get the win tonight, the Wizards would clinch a playoff spot by virtue of their holding the tie breaker on the Red Bulls.

So basically, for tonight all Wizards fans are also Fire fans. Go Fire...

Now excuse me while I go shower, I feel dirty for saying that.

Former Wizards Breakdown

Another week of former Wizards updating. The USL season is over, and the summer leagues like Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Ireland are starting to wind down. I will say that we have a new addition to the list, as former Wizard, Will John is no longer with Randers FC, instead he's in Serbia at FK Čukarički Stankom.

MLS
Nick Garcia - San Jose - Started and played 90 minutes in San Jose's 3-2 loss to KC.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Started and played 86 minutes scoring San Jose's first goal in their 3-2 loss to KC.
Jose Burciaga Jr. - Colorado - Did not dress in Colorado's 2-1 win over Chivas USA.
Chris Klein - LA - Started and played 90 minutes in LA's 3-0 loss to Houston.
Dave van den Bergh - New York - Played all 90 minutes recording an assist in New York's 3-1 win over Columbus.
Carey Talley - Chivas USA - Came on in the 65th minute of Chivas USA's 2-1 loss to Colorado.
Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA - Started and played all 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 loss to Colorado.
Alex Zotinca - Chivas USA - Started and played all 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 loss to Colorado.
Sasha Victorine - Chivas USA - Started but only played 25 minutes before being subbed out with an injury. He'll now miss the next 2-4 weeks with that injury.
Diego Gutierrez - Chicago - Did not dress in Chicago's 3-2 loss to Toronto.
Brandon Prideaux - Chicago - Started and played 85 minutes in Chicago's 3-2 loss to Toronto.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Dressed but did not play in Columbus'3-1 loss to New York.
Yura Movsisyan - RSL - Started and played 73 minutes, scoring RSL's first goal in their 3-1 win over Dallas.

Rest of the World
Antti Sumiala - Porin Palloilijat - Finland - Season ended last week.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesunds FK - Norway - Came off the bench in the 81st minute of Aalesunds, 1-0 win over Bodø/Glimt, which pulled them off the foot of the table.
Chris Konopka - Bohemian FC - Ireland - Did not play in Bohemians 1-0 loss to Derry City.
Eddie Johnson - Cardiff City (Fulham) - England - Came on in the 90th minute of Cardiff's 2-0 win over Charlton on Saturday. Came on in the 65th minute of Cardiff's 2-2 draw against Watford.
Ryan Raybould - Gefle IF - Sweden - Did not dress in Gefle's 3-2 win over GIF Sundsvall.
Matt Taylor - TUS Koblenz - Germany - Started and played 62 minutes in TUS Koblenz's 9-0 loss to Hansa Rostock.
Diego Walsh - Adelaide United FC - Australia - Did not play in Adelaide's 1-0 win over Queensland Roar. Started and played all 90 minutes today in Adelaide's 1-0 loss to Bunyodkor/Kuruvchi in the Asian Champion's League (United still went through to the finals 3-1 on aggregate).
Will John - FK Čukarički Stankom - Serbia - Found out that John transfered to Stankom in Serbia in August. He did not play in their last game, a 1-0 loss to FK Hajduk.

Playoff Chances

With only one week left, the Wizards are in a very good position to make the playoffs for the second season in a row. In fact, they could be in the playoffs before they even take the field on Saturday against the Revolution. A loss by New York on Thursday in Chicago puts KC into the playoffs. Hillcrest Road has a break down of every possible scenario for the team. Most of them see the Wizards making it into the playoffs, the big thing is that the Wizards have to match the New York result to make the playoffs. If the Wizards match New York's result, they'll be in the playoffs.

A win and they'll be 4th in the East and take on Columbus. A loss or a draw and the Wizards have to wait and see until Sunday to see whether they'll play Columbus or Houston, if anyone at all, depending on the New York and DC results.

Lopez Player of the Week

Wizards forward, Claudio Lopez was named MLS player of the week today for his performance against San Jose on the weekend. Lopez, in his first start since early September, had a hand in all 3 of the Wizards goals, scoring the first and assisting on the other 2. He looked like the player many Wizards fans expected from their DP when he signed before the season. He's the first Wizard to earn the award this season.

Weekly Player Interview

It's time again for another player interview done in collaboration between myself and Thad over at The Back Post as we try to bring you some information on the players. Here are your options this week.

Herculez Gomez - Scores the dramatic winner, a goal that most Wizards fans would say was due for him.
Abe Thompson - Picks up his first point as a Wizard assisting on Claudio Lopez's first goal.
Coach Curt Onalfo - The Wizards' coach's exuberant reaction to the winning goal typified the feelings of all fans in the stadium at the moment the ball went in the net.

Remember to post your questions in the comments section, but remember to be respectful. Vote both here and at The Back Post.

Sunday After Stats

Stats from this week's 3-2 win over San Jose.

Davy Arnaud's goal was his 6th of the year tying him with Jimmy Conrad for team high.

Arnaud's 31st league goal which ties him with Mo Johnston for 3rd on that list.

Arnaud's 160th start in all competitions, breaking tie with Matt McKeon for 6th on that list.

Claudio Lopez's 6th goal in all competitions, ties him with Conrad and Arnaud for team lead.

Jack Jewsbury's 7th assist on Arnaud's goal, continues his setting of new team and career highs.

Jewsbury's assist was his 15th career assist tying him with Chris Henderson for 12th on the Wizards list.

Wizards Leave it Late

A fantastic ending to a back and forth game out at Community America Ballpark last night, as the Wizards got a goal late in stoppage time from Herculez Gomez to put the Wizards back into 7th place in the playoff race. KC now has to match New York's result next week, or hope that DC United does not get a win on Sunday next week.

Before the game, the Wizards and the Cauldron honored Kerry Zavagnin, who was playing his last home regular season game, as he retires at the end of the season. To see what the team and the Cauldron did, see this post from Hillcrest Road for pictures. The Wizards came out hard and attacked from the get go, and were rewarded with an early goal from Claudio Lopez, who made his return to the starting lineup. Lopez got his toe on a cross by Abe Thompson and directed it past Joe Cannon into the Earthquakes net. Only two minutes after the opener, though, San Jose was level, as former Wizard, Scott Sealy knocked the ball home after a poorly cleared corner. KC continued to pressure, though, and before the game was even a half hour old, Davy Arnaud had restored the lead after receiving a cutting ball from Jack Jewsbury.

The Wizards continued to pressure, but took the 2-1 lead into the half time break. Over the course of the second half, Kansas City continued to pressure, but San Jose was able to build up the pressure as well. In the 71st minute, San Jose was back level after a mad scramble in front of goal that eventually saw Shea Salinas score his first professional goal to level the game. After that point, KC continued to pressure but were denied either by San Jose's defense, or Joe Cannon in net.

Into stoppage time it went, and after hearing that New York had beaten Columbus, I was dreading the final whistle, but in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, a Claudio Lopez corner bounced into the box, where it was met by Herculez Gomez, who was able to get a foot on the ball and direct it into the net to give the Wizards the winner. Not a bad way to get your first goal in a Wizards uniform. Watch the goal and see the joy on everyone affliated with KC on that goal, from the players, to the fans, to even the excitement shown by Coach Onalfo when that ball went into the net. An absolute fantastic ending to the game.

The end of the game was followed by fireworks, and afterwards a presentation by the Cauldron to former Wizard Nick Garcia for his years of service to the club.

Wizards Man of the Match - Claudio Lopez - Had a hand in all 3 of the Wizards goals last night with a goal and 2 assists. He came on ready to play tonight and showed glimpses of the Lopez all Wizards' fans were hoping to see all season from him.

Honorable Mention - Herculez Gomez, Davy Arnaud

Wizards Close Out Home Season

The Wizards close out the home portion of their regular season tomorrow night at Community America Ballpark against the San Jose Earthquakes. And it'll have big implications for the Wizards and their playoff chances. After last night's win by DC United, the Wizards are now holding onto the 8th and final playoff spot. San Jose lost on Wednesday to Houston and is all but eliminated from the playoff race, so the Quakes have the chance to play spoilers tomorrow night. A win by KC will give them a much better shot at the playoffs.

We'll be seeing a few former Wizards tomorrow night, as Scott Sealy and Nick Garcia return to KC for the first time. The Cauldron has plans to honor Garcia for his time in KC much like what was done for Diego Gutierrez and Chris Klein. The Wizards are going to likely go with the same exact lineup they went with on Saturday against New England. The only times this lineup has changed in the last 6 games was due to Jack Jewsbury's suspension, and inserting Kevin Souter for Roger Espinoza. The one worry is Josh Wolff who is on the injury report, and was sitting out practice.
Hartman
Leathers - Conrad - Wahl - Harrington
Jewsbury
Gomez - Arnaud - Souter
Wolff - Thompson

PREDICTION - The Wizards need to get this result. A win here is needed to keep the pace the team has been on and to get those extra 3 points that will keep the Wizards ahead of teams like Colorado and Dallas that are currently outside the playoffs.

KC - 2 (Wolff, Conrad)
SJ - 0

Weekly Player Interview

Thad has this week's player interview with Kerry Zavagnin up on his website. He also has an interview up with last week's winner of the player interview poll, Tyson Wahl.

With Zavagnin, Thad talks with him about the playoff chances for the Wizards, talking about the recent recovery of the team to get back into the playoff chase. In regards to his last home regular season game, he talks about his chances of playing and his recovery from an injury that's been nagging him. Zavagnin also touches on the fact again that he wants to coach, although he hasn't had any conversations on becoming a coach anywhere specific yet. He also takes time to thank the fans for their support of him the past 9 years in KC.

With Wahl, Thad talks with Wahl about having to mark up on Blanco a fw weeks ago and then having to mark Taylor Twellman this past week. Along with a look into marking up Scott Sealy on Saturday. He also talks about the competition between him and Aaron Hohlbein. As always it's good stuff from Thad in his interviews with the players.

Former Wizards International Break Edition

Lots of the Wizards abroad didn't play this week due to the international break, but some did play. Shavar Thomas was the only former Wizard to get called up to his national team and he didn't play in either of Jamaica's games. The other notable pieces of information from this week's update is that Chris Konopka's Bohemian FC won the Irish Premier League this past weekend. The other, Vicente Arze, playing for Vancouver was on the bench for their USL-1 title win against Puerto Rico. Two goal scorers in this update, Scott Sealy tonight for San Jose against Houston, and Dave van den Bergh last Thursday against Salt Lake.

MLS
Nick Garcia - San Jose - Started and played 90 minutes in San Jose's 1-0 loss to Chivas. Started and played all 90 minutes in San Jose's 2-1 loss to Houston.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Started and played 69 minutes in San Jose's 1-0 loss to Chivas. Started and played all 90 minutes, scoring San Jose's lone goal in their 2-1 loss to Houston.
Jose Burciaga Jr. - Colorado - Came off the bench and played 12 minutes for CO in their 3-2 loss to LA.
Chris Klein - LA - Started and played 90 minutes in LA's 3-2 win over Colorado
Dave van den Bergh - New York - Played all 90 minutes, being subbed out in second half stoppage time, and scored New York's goal in their 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake.
Carey Talley - Chivas USA - Dressed but did not play in Chivas 1-0 win over San Jose.
Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA - Was away with Jamaica for World Cup Qualifying this week, was on the bench but did not play in their 1-0 win over Mexico. Dressed but did not play in Jamaica's 1-0 win over Honduras.
Alex Zotinca - Chivas USA - Started and played all 90 minutes in Chivas 1-0 win over San Jose.
Sasha Victorine - Chivas USA - Started and played all 90 minutes in Chivas 1-0 win over San Jose.
Diego Gutierrez - Chicago - Did not dress in Chicago's 2-2 draw with Columbus.
Brandon Prideaux - Chicago - Started and played 78 minutes in Chicago's 2-2 draw with Columbus
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in goal for Columbus in their 2-2 draw with Chicago.
Yura Movsisyan - RSL - Started and played all 90 minutes in RSL's 1-1 draw with New York.

Other US leagues (USL-1 unless noted)

Vicente Arze - Vancouver - Dressed but did not play in the USL final against Puerto Rico.
Yomby William - Puerto Rico - Started and played all 90 minutes of the USL final against Vancouver that the Islanders lost 2-1.

Rest of the World
Antti Sumiala - Porin Palloilijat - Finland - Played in Popa's 4-4 draw on the 11th with Lopes.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesunds FK - Norway - Did not play this week, international break.
Chris Konopka - Bohemian FC - Ireland - Did not play in Bohemians 2-1 win over Drogheda United that clinched the Irish League title for Bohs.
Eddie Johnson - Cardiff City (Fulham) - England - Did not play this week, international break.
Ryan Raybould - Gefle IF - Sweden - Did not play, international break.
Matt Taylor - TUS Koblenz - Germany - Did not play international break.
Diego Walsh - Adelaide United FC - Australia - Did not play, international break.

Wizards Can Clinch Playoff Spot this Week

With some help this week, the Wizards can clinch a playoff spot for the second straight year. To get into the playoffs, the most important thing for the Wizards is to win Saturday against San Jose. That's not all that has to happen, though, as the Wizards will need some help from other results to get into the playoffs.

A win against San Jose, would give the Wizards 39 points, which would keep the Quakes, LA, and Toronto FC from catching the Wizards. That would leave Real Salt Lake, New York, Colorado, DC, and Dallas. Salt Lake and Dallas play this weekend, a win by RSL would give them 39 points. Should Colorado fail to get all 3 points against Chivas, that would give RSL the 3rd position in the West, eliminating them from the wild card race. Those results would also keep Dallas and Colorado from catching the Wizards on 39 points. That would leave New York and DC left to challenge the Wizards for a playoff spot. Should DC fail to win on Thursday night against New England, while the Wizards win on Saturday, DC can not catch the Wizards and they'd be in the playoffs.

Here's a break down of a "worst case scenario" for the Wizards to get into the playoffs this week, courtesy of bigsoccer.

We beat San Jose, putting us at 39 points.
Chivas ties Colorado, putting them at 35 points.
RSL beats Dallas, putting them at 39 points, and with the prior result, secures a playoff spot, taking the 3rd guaranteed West slot.
DC United ties Columbus, putting them at 35 points.
NY wins, putting them at 39.

That would make the standings for the final two playoff spots looking like this:
KC - 39
NY - 39
DC - 35
DAL - 35
COL - 35

With only 1 game left, and 4 points separating DC, Dallas, and Colorado from KC, they playoffs would await. Let's hope the results continue to go our way this week, and for once, the Wizards can have the last game of the season not be do or die.

This Week's Player Interview

The Wizards get the 1-0 win over the Revolution and give their playoff hopes a big boost. Time to decide who should be interviewed by Thad at The Back Post this week. Here are this week's nominees.

Jimmy Conrad - Captain Kansas City has been a rock for the Wizards this year, playing every minute, the Wizards leading scorer, and anchoring a young back line that is tied for the league lead in shutouts with 10. Scores the winner on the weekend.
Kevin Hartman - Behind Conrad, has had a very good season in net for the Wizards, adding to his MLS record shutouts this season with another strong performance against the Revolution.
Kerry Zavagnin - Zavagnin is getting ready to play his last regular season home game as a player for the Wizards.

Remember to post your questions in the comments section either here or over on The Back Post. Please keep them considerate.

Sunday After Stats

Jimmy Conrad's goal was his 15th goal in MLS play, good for 10th on that list, tied with Chris Brown.

It was also the 15th Goal in all competitions for Conrad, good for 15th on that list, tied with Jose Burciaga Jr. and Sasha Victorine.

Jack Jewsbury's assist extended his team high and career high on assists with 6.

It's his 14th career assist, good for 13th on the Wizards list, tied with Francisco Gomez.

Last night was Davy Arnaud's 143rd MLS start for the Wizards, breaking his tie with Mo Johnston for 6th on that list

Arnaud's start was also his 159th in all competitions for the Wizards, tying him with Matt McKeon for 6th on the all time starts list.

Some interesting stats per Hillcrest Road
Conrad currently registers 2nd on the all-time MLS list for goals by a central defender in a single season.

Conrad now has 17 career goals and is now 7th all-time in goals by a defender.

Wizards Very Much in Playoff Race

As the standings are right now, the Wizards would be in the playoffs for the second straight year. With the way other results have gone, and the Wizards win last night 1-0 over the Revolution, the Wizards are currently in the 4th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Needing all 3 points last night at home against the Revolution, the Wizards got a goal from Captain Kansas City, Jimmy Conrad and held on for the 1-0 win. The Wizards came out hard, and were pressuring the Revolution from the start, with Herculez Gomez leading the way for the Wizards. Gomez was involved in the first big play of the half, when he clumsily tackled Steve Ralston around midfield. Ralston had to receive treatment on the field, and was eventually substituted with what turned out to be a broken leg. Throughout the first half, the Wizards created few chances, the best was probably Kevin Souter going just over the bar.

In the second half, the Wizards continued to pressure, and should have taken the lead in the 59th minute through Abe Thompson. Davy Arnaud worked down the right wing and sent in a low cross across the box, where Thompson was on the back post. Only 3-4 yards from goal, though, Thompson put the ball over the open net. Two minutes later, though, it was Conrad who finished his chance. Off a corner from Jack Jewsbury, Conrad beat Shalrie Joseph to the ball after a pick by Tyson Wahl. The Wizards held on after that goal, keeping the Revolution at bay, and earning the win. The troubling thing was late in the second half when Jewsbury went down with an injury and had trouble putting weight on his leg as he walked off the field.

Wizards Man of the Match - Jimmy Conrad - Shut down Taylor Twellman on one end of the field, gets the game winning goal (his sixth goal of the season). Not much else you need to do if you're Conrad as he helped the Wizards to their 10th shutout of the season.

Honorable Mention - Kevin Hartman, Herculez Gomez

Wizards Facing Must Win

The Wizards head into the final 3 games in the thick of the playoff chase. With 2 home games left, these two become critical if the Wizards want to make the playoffs, especially with the team's poor road form. They welcome New England tomorrow out at Community America Ballpark. This is the second time the team's meet this year, the first, New England took 3-1 back in April. New England has clinched a playoff birth already, but is still fighting to get the second seed.

New England will be missing two players due to World Cup Qualifiers, Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi will be with Gambia. The Wizards on the other hand, have basically their full team to choose from. Claudio Lopez miss his second game in a row with an ankle injury, other than that, the Wizards should be healthy. As for the lineup, Thad's interview with Coach Onalfo that he posted today looks like we'll have a similar lineup to the past few weeks.

Hartman
Leathers - Conrad - Wahl - Harrington
Jewbury
Gomez - Arnaud - Souter
Thompson - Wolff

PREDICTION - As I said earlier, the Wizards need to win this game. If they want to make the playoffs, the Wizards need the win. Their road record is not something they are going to want to have to rely on, on the last day of the eason up in New England. So getting a win here is important. New England hasn't played great lately, but they're not going to be a push over.

KC - 2 (Wolff, Gomez)
NE - 1 (Twellman)

NOTE: GATE A CLOSED: GATE A IN THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE STADIUM WILL BE CLOSED TOMORROW. THOSE OF YOU IN THE SEASON TICKET LOT, USE GATE B.

Double Header Next Week

For those of you that want to get more soccer out at Community America Ballpark before the end of the season, show up early next Saturday, the 18th, as Graceland University will host Missouri Valley College at 3:30, before the Wizards take on San Jose at 7 pm that night. Graceland is the school that current Wizard Kevin Souter played at before signing with the Wizards. So get out early and enjoy an entire day of soccer in the middle of October.

And if you're into this sort of thing, enjoy an entire day out at Community America and The Legends, as the 18th is also the second day of the KC Beer Fest from 1 to 5 out at The Legends.

Player Interviews from the Past Two Weeks

Thad at The Back Post has the past two weeks of player interviews up. Last week's interview with Eric Kronberg was delayed because the interview last week had bad sound quality. As you'd expect, Kronberg wants to be the starter, and from seeing his performance this year in a few of the US Open Cup games, I certainly think he's a guy that can start for us. He's also definitely learning from having Kevin Hartman in front of him.

This week's interview was supposed to be with Tyson Wahl, but Thad missed him this week. He did get an interview with this week's runner up, Michael Harrington. Harrington talks about the handball that led to the PK being called last week. He also talks about the job of marking Blanco this past weekend against the Fire. Thad brings up the Setanta article that had Harrington as one of the MLS players that could make the jump to Europe. Currently, though, Harrington's content to play in MLS.

Check them both out.

Onalfo Interview

Thad from The Back Post has put up an interview that he got yesterday with Wizards head coach, Curt Onalfo. Overall, it's a good interview, with some insight into the team for this weekend's game, along with an update on the situation with Carlos Marinelli. With regards to the lineup, Onalfo says that he's going to go with something very similar to the lineup the team put out last week against Chicago, and similar to the last 4 games. I don't expect any changes from the starting lineup against Chicago, so we'll see if we see the same starting 11 tomorrow.

As for the Marinelli situation, as Thad mentions in the interview, Marinelli has not been back out at practice since the situation took place. Coach plays it off as two passionate people getting into it with each other. He mentions that Marinelli has some personal issues that he has to work through though. In the end, no big revelation, but that wasn't to be expected. The fact that Thad even got an answer at all to the question is kind of amazing, considering what it was. Still, I don't know many people that expect Marinelli back next year, especially after the situation last week.

Weekly Update of Former Wizards

MLS
Nick Garcia - San Jose - Started and played 90 minutes in San Jose's 1-1 draw with Dallas.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Started and played 89 minutes in San Jose's 1-1 draw with Dallas.
Jose Burciaga Jr. - Colorado - Dressed but did not play against Houston.
Chris Klein - LA - Started and played 90 minutes in LA's 1-0 loss to Columbus
Dave van den Bergh - New York - Returned from injury to play 45 minutes in New York's 3-1 loss to Toronto.
Carey Talley - Chivas USA - Missed this week's game against DC due to injury.
Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA - Started and played all 90 minutes in Chivas' 3-0 win over DC.
Alex Zotinca - Chivas USA - Started and played all 90 minutes in Chivas 3-0 win over DC.
Sasha Victorine - Chivas USA - Started and played all 90 minutes getting his second goal in as many games in Chivas 3-0 win over DC.
Diego Gutierrez - Chicago - Started and played all 90 minutes in what is likely his final appearance in KC in Chicago's 1-1 draw on Sunday.
Brandon Prideaux - Chicago - Started and played 87 minutes for Chicago in their 1-1 draw with KC.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in goal getting the shut out in Columbus' 1-0 win over LA.
Yura Movsisyan - RSL - Started and played 83 minutes, in Salt Lake's 2-2 draw with New England.

Other US leagues (USL-1 unless noted)
Andrew Gregor - Rochester - Started and played 77 minutes in Rochester's 2-0 first leg win over Puerto Rico, scoring a goal. Started and played 69 minutes in Rochester's 3-0 loss in the second leg.
Vicente Arze - Vancouver - Dressed but did not play in either of Vancouver's playoff games against Montreal.
Yomby William - Puerto Rico - Came off the bench to play 1 minute in the Islanders 2-0 loss in the first leg to Rochester. Started and played all 120 minutes in the Islanders 3-0 win in the second leg. Started and played all 90 minutes for the Islanders against Santos Laguna in the CCL tonight.

Rest of the World
Antti Sumiala - Porin Palloilijat - Finland - Did not play in Porin's 3-0 loss to PP-70.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesunds FK - Norway - Started and played all 90 minutes in Aalesund's 1-0 win over Strømsgodset.
Chris Konopka - Bohemian FC - Ireland - Dressed but did not play in Bohs 2-1 win over Bray Wanderers.
Eddie Johnson - Cardiff City (Fulham) - England - Came off the bench and played 5 minutes in Cardiff's 1-1 draw with Blackpool.
Ryan Raybould - Gefle IF - Sweden - Dressed but did not play in Gefle's 1-1 draw with Ljungskile SK.
Matt Taylor - TUS Koblenz - Germany - Started and played all 90 minutes, scoring 3 goals, and drawing a PK in TUS Koblenz's 5-0 win over Kaiserslautern.
Gary Glasgow - Joe Public FC - Trinidad - Still unable to find information.
Diego Walsh - Adelaide United FC - Australia - Started and played 69 minutes in United's 3-3 draw with Central Coast. Started and played 83 minutes, scoring the first goal in United's 3-0 AFC Champion's League win over FC Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan.

Reason for Development Delay

The KC Business Journal has an article for paid subscribers up on their website about the reason for the delays in the 3 Trails Project, including the Wizards soccer specific stadium. You can at least read a portion of the article and get an idea as to why. It would appear that the main reason for the delay is the fact that there is a disagreement between the developer and the state on the amount of square footage that would need to be developed to avoid a "clawback" provision.

The developer dropped the square footage they were willing to commit to when the "clawback" provision was brought up. This has caused the main delay in the $30 million in funds being released. Which has led to the construction delay at the site. For this to get approved, the developers and the state are going to have to reach an agreement. The way the economy is right now, though, it's going to be hard for the developers to get this going, especially with the problems with municipal bonds right now.

Weekly Player Interview

It's that time of the week again, time to get decide who should be interviewed for this week's player interview. As always, I'm working with Thad over at The Back Post on this. Here are your choices for this week:

Michael Harrington - Scorer of the Wizards lone goal on Sunday.
Roger Espinoza - Wizards rookie who's played the most of all the Wizards draft picks this year.
Kevin Hartman - Wizards goalie is closing in on saves record as well as having a good game helping the Wizards keep the draw.
Tyson Wahl - Wizards central defender with Jimmy Conrad, did a good job of shutting down both Blanco and McBride on Sunday.

Remember to post your questions in the comments section, but remember to be considerate with the questions.

Harrington Up for Goal of the Week

For the fourth week in a row, the Wizards have a goal up for goal of the week. This week, Michael Harrington's equalizer that he curved around the keeper is up for goal of the week. Go here to vote.

Monday After Stats

Yesterday, Jimmy Conrad started his 150th MLS game with Kansas City.

Kevin Hartman, made his 300th appearance in an MLS game.

Davy Arnaud started his 142nd game for the Wizards, tying him with Mo Johnston for 6th on the all time MLS starts list.

In the 55th minute last night, Jack Jewsbury hit the 10,000 minute mark in all competitions. He's the 14th player to play for the Wizards to hit that mark.

Reserves Top the Fire

Two first half goals by Ryan Pore were enough to lead the KC Wizards reserves to a victory over the Chicago Fire this evening at Community America Ballpark, after the first team game against the Fire. Thanks to a season ticket holder perk, I was able to watch the game from the "expensive" seats field side, and sample the Wizards' Drop Kick Ale that they have. All of which combined for an enjoyable time. The beginning of the game was back and forth with neither side getting very many chances. The Wizards broke through late in the first half. After Pore had had a free kick tipped over the bar for a corner, the Wizards got the lead on the ensuing corner. After Roger Espinoza's corner came in, Michael Kraus headed the ball across, Ivan Trujillo got the ball and Pore finished the goal. The Wizards doubled the lead soon afterwards. Kraus sent a cross into the box, where Pore met it with a diving header, putting it past the Chicago keeper and doubling the lead.

The game at times was chippy, as Kraus got into a shoving match with a Chicago defender before a free kick, and Pore and Kurt Morsink were going at it with another Chicago player. In the second half, Kansas City continued to pressure, but couldn't find a third goal. Instead, it was Chicago that got the goal to cut the lead in half. In the end, though, the reserves were able to hold off the Fire and keep their hopes of winning the reserve league title alive.

Wizards Miss Chance

The Wizards missed a chance to take advantage of the results on Saturday, only able to get a 1-1 draw with Chicago today out at Community America Ballpark. After last night's results had gone the Wizards way, the Wizards had a chance to push themselves into 4th place in the East. Unfortunately, a penalty kick in first half stoppage time put away by Cuauhtemoc Blanco put the Wizards in a hole they had trouble pulling out of.

The first half as a whole was back and forth with each team missing chances, the Wizards came closest, when Herculez Gomez hit the cross bar with a free kick. Late in the first half, though, a cross to the back post, where Brian McBride was waiting. Michael Harrington, was marking McBride, and as the cross came in, Harrington rose for the ball, which struck his hand. Leaving the referee with no choice but to call the penalty. Unlike last year, when Kevin Hartman saved Blanco's PK, this one was placed just out of the reach of Hartman, giving Chicago the 1-0 halftime lead.

The Wizards wasted no time in the second half getting back into the game, though, with Harrington helping to redeem himself for the PK call. A ball across the box from Gomez found Harrington, who cut inside his man and curled a shot just out of reach of Jon Busch. The Wizards continued to press the game for the rest of the second half, but didn't create many great chances and in the end had to settle for the draw. Unfortunately, with the draw, the Wizards basically put themselves in a tough spot. They now likely need to win all 3 of their remaining games, to make it into the playoffs, any more dropped points and the Wizards can likely look towards next year.

Wizards Man of the Match - Jonathan Leathers - Leathers did well today marking up on Blanco for most of the game. Harrington would have been man of the match had he not caused the penalty in the first half, so Leahters, who's been more than serviceable on the back line for the Wizards this year.

Home Stretch

The Wizards enter the home stretch of the season, and face what basically amounts to 3 must win games at home to make the playoffs. The race for the 7th and 8th playoff spots is on, and it's not going to be easy for the Wizards to get either of those spots. The good news for the Wizards, though, is the fact that the Wizards have 3 of the last 4 games at home, and are unbeaten in their last 7 home games, dating back to late June. Chicago, though, is actually a decent road side, unlike the Wizards, and are 6-4-3 on the road this season. In Wizards currently lead the season series, 1-0-1 after winning in Chicago, for their only road win of the season, and tying 0-0 in KC in late July.

Jack Jewsbury will be back into the lineup for the game this weekend after serving his suspension. The only big issue for the Wizards, is that Davy Arnaud is carrying an injury, but should be ready to go tomorrow. Claudio Lopez is not going to be playing tomorrow it looks like, so he won't be on the bench. Talk from Thad in his post yesterday was that Kevin Souter had been practicing with the first team, could we see him earn his first start this weekend? If so, who would he replace? My guess would be Abe Thompson, who has looked ok, but not great for the Wizards since he was traded here. So I think there's a chance we'll see a lineup like this tomorrow.

Hartman
Leathers - Conrad - Wahl - Harrington
Jewsbury
Souter - Arnaud - Espinoza
Gomez - Wolff

PREDICTION - As I said, the Wizards need to win this game or the playoffs become extremely unlikely. With Chicago being a good road team, the Wizards are going to have to be strong up the middle, taking care of Blanco, and Jimmy Conrad marking up Brian McBride. Hopefully Jewsbury has a game like he did last time these two teams played, and he shuts down Blanco.

KC - 2 (Wolff, Gomez)
Chi - 1 (Blanco)

Practice Confrontation

Thad checks in with his write up from the press conference yesterday, as well as a report from practice today. As Thad says in his write up, the big news is the fact that today out at practice there was a disagreement between Coach Onalfo and midfielder, Carlos Marinelli. The disagreement got the attention of the staff and people watching practice. Other players tried to hold Marinelli back and move him away from the situation. Whatever was the cause of the confrontation was big enough that Marinelli left practice early.

This is definitely some interesting news, and definitely makes you wonder what the disagreement was over. Either way, it doesn't help the case for Marinelli to stay in KC next year. He was already on my list of players that wouldn't be back next year due to the fact that he just can't remaining healthy, but this disagreement basically clinches that fact for me. The question now will be how serious it really was, and if it was really serious, will we see Marinelli ever again?

The other news was from yesterdays press conference, where Onalfo said that the Wizards designated player, who has come off the bench the last 3 games, is out for this Sunday's game against Chicago due to a hurt ankle.

Award

Today while on bigsoccer, I came across the fact that this blog has been given an award. The Pitch today came out with their "Best of KC" awards. And this blog won the award as the "Best Sports Blog" in KC. I'm a little surprised (actually shock is probably more appropriate) that the award not only went to me, but to a Wizards blog, but hey, it's great to be acknowledged for the work that you do, and to get some more press for the Wizards.

Former Wizards Weekly Update

MLS
Nick Garcia - San Jose - Started and played 90 minutes in San Jose's 3-2 loss to Salt Lake.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Started and played 78 minutes in San Jose's 3-2 loss to Salt Lake.
Jose Burciaga Jr. - Colorado - Dressed but did not play against New York.
Chris Klein - LA - Started and played 90 minutes recording an assist on LA's lone goal in their 3-1 loss to Chicago.
Dave van den Bergh - New York - Out for a few weeks after having groin surgery.
Carey Talley - Chivas USA - Missed this week's game against Kansas city due to injury.
Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA - Started and played all 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 win over KC.
Alex Zotinca - Chivas USA - Played in his first game of the season, going 67 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 win over KC.
Sasha Victorine - Chivas USA - Started and played all 90 minutes, recording a goal and assist in Chivas' 2-1 win over KC.
Diego Gutierrez - Chicago - Came on as an 89th minutes sub in Chicago's 3-1 win over La.
Brandon Prideaux - Chicago - Started and played 90 minutes in Chicago's win.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in goal getting the shut out in Columbus' 1-0 win over New England.
Yura Movsisyan - RSL - Started and played 82 minutes, scoring two goals in Salt Lake's 3-2 win over San Jose.

Other US leagues (USL-1 unless noted)
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Started and played the full 90 mintues Friday against Rochester in the first leg of the playoffs. Also played the full 90 in the return leg on Sunday.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played all 90 minutes in both of Charleston's playoff games against Rochcester, recording an assist on the Battery's only goal.
Andrew Gregor - Rochester - Was on the bench to start both games against the Battery, came off the bench in the secocnd leg to play 40 minutes.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Started and played all 90 minutes in both of Seattle's games agaisnt Montreal.
Vicente Arze - Vancouver - Was on the bench for both of Vancouver's games against Minnesota, coming off the bench in the second leg, playing 10 minutes.
Edson Elcock - Puerto Rico - Is not playing against CSD Municipal tonight.
Yomby William - Puerto Rico - Is not playing against CSD Municipal tonight.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Dressed but did not play in either of the games against Vancouver.

Rest of the World
Antti Sumiala - Porin Palloilijat - Finland - Started and played 90 minutes in 5-1 over P-Real Salt, scoring a hattrick.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesunds FK - Norway - Started and played 82 minutes for Aalesunds FK in their 2-1 loss to Rosenborg
Chris Konopka - Bohemian FC - Ireland - Dressed but did not play in Bohs 2-1 win over Shamrock Rovers.
Eddie Johnson - Cardiff City (Fulham) - England - Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Cardiff's 2-1 loss to Birmingham. Dressed but did not play Tuesday against Coventry City.
Ryan Raybould - Gefle IF - Sweden - Dressed but did not play in Gefle's 1-1 draw with AIK..
Matt Taylor - TUS Koblenz - Germany - Dressed but did not play in 1-0 loss to VFL Osnabruck.
Gary Glasgow - Joe Public FC - Trinidad - Still unable to find information.
Diego Walsh - Adelaide United FC - Australia - Started and played 62 minutes in 2-0 win the Newcastle Jets.

Interviews with the Wizards

Thad over at The Back Post has two interviews posted the last two days. The first interview that he got posted yesterday was an interview with Wizards open tryout participant, Kevin Souter, including a nickname, "Soapy" from a Scottish cartoon called Oor Wullie. It's a really good interview including some good information on Souter's home town as well.

The second interview that Thad did was an interview with Wizards technical director, Peter Vermes. This was Thad's second interview with Vermes, and includes information on the two jobs that Vermes turned down, including the fact that turning down the job with the Galaxy, he also turned down the chance to be director of soccer operations for all of AEG. It's a fairly candid interview with Vermes giving some good information about the team and the job offerings.

Enjoy both interviews.

September Player of the Month

September is over, and it's time to announce the September Player of the Month. In the month of September, the Wizards went 2-2, winning their two home games by the score of 2-0 over LA and Toronto. On the road the Wizards lost both their games, 3-1 against Houston and 2-1 at Chivas USA. Here are the Wizards stats for the month of September.

Davy Arnaud - 2 goal, 1 assist
Josh Wolff - 2 goal, 1 assist
Roger Espinoza - 2 assist
Herculez Gomez - 1 assist
Jack Jewsbury - 1 goal
Kevin Souter - 1 goal

For me, the vote came down to 3 players, Arnaud, Wolff, and Gomez.

Arnaud finished September with 2 goals and an assist. He scored the absolute Golazo against LA, and against Houston the hustle we all know and love from him led to the Wizards lone goal.

Wolff scored the winner against LA with a cheeky back heal, played a good cross in to Souter for his first career goal. Finally against Chivas he had this week's goal of the week, scoring off a bicycle kick.

Gomez, while he didn't have that big of a month stat wise, he had the intangibles in the month of September to step into the starting lineup and become a consistent threat for the Wizards. Goals from Gomez are certain to come.

And this month the player is...

Josh WolffPhoto courtesy of Thad Bell.

While Arnaud was close, I have to give it to Wolff, he had a good month and looks like he's rounding into form late in the season.