Wizards Taking on Houston

Tomorrow the Wizards play their second road game, this time down in Houston against the Dynamo. While the Wizards haven't had a lot of luck beating the Dynamo (they've only beaten them once and that was in the team's first meeting), the Wizards have actually only lost once while down in Houston in league play. The team is 1-1-2 down there since they came into the league. This may be the Wizards best chance to get a win since the team actually did win down there in 2006. The Dynamo lost both Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden to Europe this past offseason and are struggling with some injuries to key players this season. They'll be without both Brian Ching and Geoff Cameron as well. Overall Houston is still a good solid squad and in my opinion the best coached team in the league with Dominic Kinnear.

KC probably brings it's best all around team to Houston ever, and that's even with center back Jimmy Conrad still being a big question mark for the game. Last year I wouldn't have thought I could say something like that, but Matt Besler and Pablo Escobar have looked good with Conrad out of the game. While I'd like to have Conrad in there I'm not as worried with him not in the game. Other than Conrad, the lineup is likely to be very similar to the past few games.

Nielsen
Harrington - Escobar - Besler - Espinoza
Arnaud - Auvray - Jewsbury
Kamara - Wolff - Smith

Key Match Up - Stephane Auvray vs Brad Davis - Word out of Houston is that Davis will take over Cameron's role as the attacking midfielder, and with him there, the key for the Wizards will be to have Auvray shut down the MLS veteran. It should be a good match up, but one that Auvray should be able to win.

PREDICTION - This is the Wizards best chance to win in Houston for a long time. the Dynamo are hurting and the Wizards are playing well. The question is can the offense step up and put the ball in the net, which they haven't done in two games. I think Kei Kamara is poised to have a big game tomorrow. He's playing the team that traded him late last year, and he's likely looking to make up for his error last week against LA. I have a feeling he may just do it this weekend. Will it lead to a win? I'm not sure, but I think KC has a very good chance tomorrow, but I'll be cautious with my prediction.

KC - 1 (Kamara)
HOU - 1 (Landin)

Former Wizards Update

A very big week for former Wizards around the world. Not only did Herculez Gomez become the first American born player to lead a foreign first division in goals, the rest of the former Wizards picked up the goal scoring slack with him suspended for the final week of the Mexican season. This week 10 goals were scored by former Wizards, including Adam Cristman, Vicente Arze, Ryan Pore, Eddie Johnson, and Yura Movsisyan. Combine that with 3 more assists (Cristman, Pore, and Doug DeMartin), and 3 shutouts (Will Hesmer, Neal Kitson, and Chris Konopka) and this is probably the best week for former Wizards since I've been tracking them.

MLS
Preston Burpo - New England - Started and played 90 minutes in New England's 2-1 loss to Colorado.
Adam Cristman - DC United - Did not have a league game this week. Started and played 85 minutes, scoring 2 goals and getting 1 assist in DC's 4-2 win over Dallas in a US Open Cup qualifier.
Nick Garcia - Toronto - Dressed but did not play in Toronto's 2-0 win over Seattle. Started tonight for Toronto against Montreal in the Canadian Cup, but was subbed out after being punched in the face.
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Did not dress in Salt Lake's 1-0 loss to Columbus.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 2-2 draw with Dallas. Did not dress in Seattle's 2-0 loss to Toronto.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Dressed but did not play in Dallas' 2-2 draw with Seattle. Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 4-2 loss to DC in a US Open Cup qualifier.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes recording the shutout in Columbus' 1-0 win over Salt Lake.
Chris Klein - LA - Came off the bench and played 15 minutes in LA's 0-0 draw with KC.
Claudio Lopez - Colorado - Dressed but did not play in Colorado's 2-1 win over New England.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in Salt Lake's 1-0 loss to Columbus.
Kurt Morsink - DC United - Did not have a league game this week. Started and played 54 minutes in DC's 4-2 win over Dallas in tonight's US Open Cup qualifier.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Came off the bench and played 7 minutes in San Jose's 3-2 loss to Chivas USA.
Carey Talley - DC United - Did not have a league game this week. Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 4-2 win over Dallas in the US Open Cup qualifier.
Shavar Thomas - Philadelphia - Did not dress in Philadelphia's 2-1 loss to New York.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 2-2 draw with Dallas. Started and played 90 minutes in Seattle's 2-0 loss to Toronto.

USSF Division 2
Doug DeMartin - Portland - Did not dress in Portland's 3-0 win over St. Louis. Came off the bench and played 29 minutes, recording an assist in Portland's 1-1 draw with Montreal.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Started and played 61 minutes in Minnesota's 1-0 win over Tampa Bay. Came off the bench and played 1 minute tonight in Minnesota's 3-0 loss to Rochester.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Started and played 90 minutes in Baltimore's 3-1 loss to Puerto Rico.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Dressed but did not play in Rochester's 2-1 win over Austin. Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shut out in Rochester's 3-0 win over Minnesota.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Did not have a game this week.
Ryan Pore - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes getting 2 goals and an assist in Portland's 3-0 win over St. Louis. Started and played 90 minutes scoring a goal in Portland's 1-1 draw with Montreal.
Abe Thompson - Miami - Did not have a game this week.
Lance Watson - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 2-1 loss to Rochester.

USL-2
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Started and played 68 minutes in Charleston's 0-0 draw with Pittsburgh. Started and played 64 minutes in Charleston's 1-0 win over Real Maryland.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 loss to Charlotte.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Started and played 90 minutes in Pittsburgh's 0-0 draw with Charleston.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 loss to Charlotte.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 0-0 draw with Pittsburgh. Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 1-0 win over Maryland.

International
Vicente Arze - Club Aurora - Bolivia - Started and played 77 minutes in Aurora's 2-2 draw with Jorge Wilstermann. Started for Aurora, scoring a goal in their 3-3 draw with Guabirá.
Eloy Colombano - Ferrocarril Sud - Argentina - Started and played 68 in Ferro's 3-2 loss to Independiente Tandil. Started and played 90 in Ferro's 3-0 loss to Def. Belgrano Villa Ramalho.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla FC - Mexico - Did not dress in Puebla's 2-1 loss to Toluca due to red card, did end up winning a share of the Golden Boot.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Started and played 90 in Harbour View's 2-1 win over St. George.
Will John - NK Vinogradar - Croatia - Lost 2-0 to Solin.
Eddie Johnson - Aris FC - Greece - Dressed but did not play in Aris' 1-0 loss to Panathinaikos in the Greek Cup Final. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Aris' 2-0 win over Olympiakos in the Super League playoffs.
Chris Konopka - Waterford United - Ireland - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shut out in Waterford's 2-0 win over Finn Harps.
Carlos Marinelli - CA Aldosivi - Argentina - Did not dress in Aldosivi's 2-0 loss to CAI.
Yura Movsisyan - Randers FC - Denmark - Started and played 71 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Randers' 2-0 win over Midtjylland.
Akeem Priestly - FK Mughan - Azerbaijan - Did not play in Mughan's 3-2 loss to Karvan.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesund - Norway - Did not play in Aalesund's 1-0 win over Sandefjord.
Matt Taylor - FSV Frankfurt - Germany - Did not dress in Frankfurt's 1-1 draw with Augsburg.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Columbia - Came off the bench and played 5 minutes in Quindío's 1-0 win over Cortuluá.

Wizards Beat Baker

Today in a scrimmage out at Swope Park, the Wizards took on Baker University. Like previous midweek friendlies against college teams, it appears the Wizards had the first team play the first half while the Swope Park Rangers played the second half. The Wizards opened the scoring through Kei Kamara who scored the Wizards first two goals, the first on a tap in after Josh Wolff crossed to him. Shortly after Kamara scored a second from the top of the box. Wolff got in on the scoring shortly after when he headed home a rebound to make it 3-0. Davy Arnaud added the fourth as he dribbled in and rounded the keeper before burying it in the net. Before the half ended though, Baker pulled a goal back and went into the half down 4-1.

Full lineups weren't provided, but based off of the goal scorers, the Wizards brought on the Rangers in the second half and they continued to put the ball in the net. The fifth goal will make all our Indian friends happy as Sunil Chhetri found net. Goal number six was apparently a very nice goal from Igor Kostrov who scored directly from a corner kick when the Baker keeper misjudged it with the wind. The scoring was finished up by Santiago Hirsig who found net after chipping the keeper to make it 7-1.

While it's always good to get games in I do have a problem with this game. First is the fact that it's another game against a college team. MLS needs a reserve division really badly, teams get very little out of these games against college kids, most of whom aren't going to be playing soccer anywhere near the Wizards level. My other issue is Coach Peter Vermes playing the first team in these games. With the Wizards out of the US Open Cup, these games are really the only chance for the reserves to get playing time in games outside of practice, let the Rangers get the full 90 minutes and see what you have on your bench.

Kamara World Wide

Most Wizards' players and fans would rather forget the above incident from Saturday's game against LA. Kei Kamara highest among them, but the rest of the world will not let them forget it. Not only has it been dubbed one of the misses of the century by The Sun in the UK, but today it was also covered in the US by both PTI and Around the Horn. It's also been on the front page of Yahoo and covered by Dead Spin.

I certainly think it is one of the worst misses I've ever seen, but I don't know if I'd consider it the worst miss ever. The ball wasn't going into the net unlike some other big misses I've seen. Still all Kamara had to do was run through the ball and it'd go in, but at least it wasn't like either of the one's below. Which of the 3 do you think is the worse? Vote in the poll to the right.

March/April Player of the Month

A little over the first month of the season has taken place at this point, and it's time for the first player of the month award. The Wizards went 2-2-1 in all competitions in March and April, beating DC and Colorado, while drawing with LA, and losing to Colorado and Seattle. Unlike a few months last year, there are plenty of players to choose from this month on both sides of the ball. Here's a look at a few of them.

Stephane Auvray - He has one assist, but he wasn't brought to KC for his offensive capabilities, but for his strength in midfield. He's done a very good job of shutting down the center of the field in every game the Wizards have played so far.

Matt Besler - The second year man has been extremely consistent in helping shut down the primary attackers for the Wizards opponents and is starting to come into his own.
Kei Kamara - Kamara has been a good offensive weapon for KC, scoring 2 goals and coming close to more. His miss against LA aside, he's been a strong presence for the Wizards up top.

Jimmy Nielsen - 1 goal against in 4 games, and that goal shouldn't have counter, Nielsen is second in the league in GAA.

Ryan Smith - A goal and two assists for the former Arsenal youth player, who's been the Wizards primary attacking weapon. He hasn't been able to get as much space the past few games, but he's definitely going to continue to be a threat for KC.

So who gets the award this month?

Photo courtesy of Thad Bell

Jimmy Nielsen. I have to admit that my apprehensions about Nielsen are long gone. One goal in four games is nothing to belittle, especially when it includes shutting out high profile striker teams like Conor Casey and Omar Cummings and Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan. Those two strike teams are going to get a lot of goals this season and they were shutout against KC. He's made big saves and has really endeared himself to the Cauldron and other Wizards fans, making many move on from the disappointment in Kevin Hartman not coming back.

Photo courtesy Matthias Soda Potter

Kempin Called into US Camp

The US U-18 National team started a camp out in Los Angeles and one of the Wizards' Juniors players and a former Wizard were among those invited. Jon Kempin, goalkeeper for the Wizards' Juniors' U-16 team is one of two goalkeepers invited to the camp, along with Keith Cardona of the Red Bulls' academy. Also invited was former Wizard, Luis Gil, who is currently with Salt Lake. The camp started on Sunday and will continue through Sunday May 2nd out at the Home Depot Center. The team will also attend the LA Galaxy vs Philadelphia Union game on Saturday night.

Sunday After Stats

Here's your stat fix from yesterday's game against the LA Galaxy.

Josh Wolff made his 123rd league appearance for KC, tying him with Chris Brown for 11th on that list.

Birahim Diop made his first MLS appearance since the 2002 season when he was a member of the Metrostars.

Michael Harrington made his 78th league start for KC, passing Chris Brown for 20th place on that list.

Davy Arnaud picked up his 38th career yellow card with the Wizards in league play, passing Nick Garcia for the second most carded player in team history.

Stalemate

Kansas City continued their home shutout streak last night against LA, but could not find the net themselves as the two teams finished last night 0-0. The big question coming in, was how KC was going to stop the LA attack, specifically Edson Buddle, especially without Jimmy Conrad in the lineup. But Pablo Escobar and Matt Besler did a very good job of shutting the striker down, allowing him only 1 shot the entire game. Stephane Auvray and the two center backs also did a good job of keeping Landon Donovan from stepping up and being the difference maker as well.

KC started the game well enough, and should have taken the lead in the 17th minute when Davy Arnaud was played in on goal, Arnaud's original shot was partially blocked by Donovan Ricketts and was rolling along the goal line just needing a touch to put KC up. Kei Kamara came running in for the final touch, but slipped, missed, and then slide through the ball knocking it in with his hand. A horror miss for Kamara, how can't really explain what exactly happened on the play. The rest of the first half, KC and LA traded chances with Jimmy Nielsen and Ricketts both making saves to keep the game tied. KC tested Ricketts as much as he'd been tested the past 4 games combined annd Ricketts passed the test.

In the second half, KC continued to push for the goal and had plenty of chances to grab a goal, with Kamara, Jack Jewsbury, Davy Arnaud, and Roger Espinoza all have chances saved by Ricketts. Jewsbury had the best of those chances with Ricketts making a diving save and another that went into the hands of Ricketts. LA's best chance of the second half came from one of KC's chances as LA did a quick counter that Donovan got to, but Nielsen basically sat on the ball as Donovan tried to 5 hole him. KC continued to push, but their attack didn't seem the same the last few minutes after Kamara was subbed out for Birahim Diop. Diop just didn't seem into the game and struggled to provide the same knock down service that Kamara had been providing as a center forward. A nice statement game for the Wizards defense, a defense that has allowed a total of 1 goal in 4 league games this season, and last night it was done without the team's leader on the back line, Jimmy Conrad. The offense though needs to pick it up a little bit though, as the team has scored only 1 goal in the previous 3 league games. Smith hasn't been as involved the past few games, I'd like to see him go at more defenders during the game, I think that was an area he could have exploited last night but he didn't go at defenders enough I thought.

Wizards Man of the Match - Matt Besler - Was an anchor in the back for the Wizards defense last night, together with Pablo Escobar and Stephane Auvray, and later Aaron Hohlbein, Besler shut down the LA front line of Buddle and Donovan.

Honorable Mention - Auvray, Nielsen

Player Ratings - Nielsen 7, Harrington 6, Escobar 6, Besler 7, Espinoza 6, Arnaud 5, Auvray 7, Jewsbury 6, Smith 5, Kamara 5, Wolff 5. Subs Hohlbein 6, Myers 5, Diop 4.

Back Home Against the Unbeaten

The Wizards return home after the disappointing result in Seattle last week that saw the Wizards drop a point late on the road. The "road", as it is, doesn't get easier for KC this weekend, as coming to town this weekend is probably the hottest team in MLS, the LA Galaxy. And on the Galaxy is the hottest player in MLS, Edson Buddle who has scored all 7 of LA's goals this season. Buddle isn't the only weapon though, as Landon Donovan is also on the Galaxy and can't be overlooked by the Wizards defense. Not only do they have a good attack, they have a strong defense anchored by second year defender Omar Gonzalez, who looks set to become a national team defender. Still, I think this weekend will be the biggest test for the Galaxy back line.

KC is back home in their friendly confines where they've yet to allow a goal this season. And while that's a nice stat looking, it'll be interesting to see how it stands up against a stronger offense like LA. Especially with defender Jimmy Conrad set to have to pass a fitness test on Saturday to be available to play. If Conrad can't go, we can expect to see Matt Besler and Pablo Escobar man the two central defensive positions. Besler and Escobar, though, filled in well against Seattle last week, so if they have to go, they'll hopefully be able to hold the center of defense down. Other than Conrad, I'd expect basically the same lineup we've seen the first few games of this season. If Conrad can go, then I think we could see Escobar move back to the bench. Right now I'm going to treat it like Conrad won't be able to go tomorrow.

Nielsen
Harrington - Escobar - Besler - Espinoza
Arnaud - Auvray - Jewsbury
Kamara - Wolff - Smith

Key Match Up - Besler and Escobar vs Buddle - The man has scored 7 goals in the first 4 games of the season for LA, and while Donovan is the more talented player, you have to shut down the hot hand first and foremost, and they don't get much hotter than Buddle is right now.

PREDICTION - This is the biggest and toughest game of the season so far, even more so than the Seattle game I think. LA is playing some good soccer right now, they're scoring a goal and then shutting teams down. They've already defeated Houston on the road and took down defending champion Real Salt Lake at home last week. I really think KC can take this one, but they'll have to make sure they shut down both Buddle and Donovan, and the scoring touch is going to have to come back as well. I want a win and certainly think it's possible.

KC - 2 (Smith, Arnaud)
LA - 1 (Donovan)

New From the Byline to the Back Post

Last night Thad and I recorded this week's From the Byline to the Back Post. We talk about some minor league and team news before moving into more discussion on the Seattle game and the LA game. Enjoy.

Former Wizards Update

Another week for your former Wizards update. More players return to the list as the USL second division kicked off this past weekend as well, seeing 4 more former Wizards return to the field. One former Wizards' season ended a little early as Herculez Gomez was red carded over the weekend against Club America, ending his season as there is only one game left. Gomez is currently tied for the league lead with 10 goals, a nice stat that should help him get a nice payday down in Mexico with his next contract. Here's the rest of your former Wizards update.

MLS
Preston Burpo - New England - Started and played 90 minutes in New England's 2-0 loss to San Jose.
Adam Cristman - DC United - Came off the bench and played 22 minutes in DC's 2-0 loss to Chicago.
Nick Garcia - Toronto - Did not play in Toronto's 2-1 win over Philadelphia. Dressed but did not play in Toronto's 3-1 loss to Colorado.
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in Salt Lake's 2-1 loss to LA.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 1-0 win over KC.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Dressed but did not play in Dallas' 2-1 loss to New York.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Did not have a game this week.
Chris Klein - LA - Dressed but did not play in LA's 2-1 win over RSL.
Claudio Lopez - Colorado - Did not dress in Colorado's 3-1 win over Toronto.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in Salt Lake's 2-1 loss to LA.
Kurt Morsink - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-0 loss to Chicago.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Did not dress in San Jose's 2-0 win over New England.
Carey Talley - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-0 loss to Chicago.
Shavar Thomas - Philadelphia - Came off the bench and played 35 minutes in Philadelphia's 2-1 loss to Toronto.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 1-0 win over KC.

USSF Division 2
Doug DeMartin - Portland - Started and played 86 minutes in Portland's 1-0 win over Rochester.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Started and played 90 minutes in Minnesota's 1-0 win over Carolina. Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Minnesota's 3-1 loss to Puerto Rico.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Did not play in Baltimore's 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Dressed but did not play in Rochester's 1-0 loss to Portland.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started andn played 90 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 loss to Minnesota.
Ryan Pore - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Portland's 1-0 win over Rochester.
Abe Thompson - Miami - Started and played 90 minutes in Miami's 0-0 draw with Vancouver.
Lance Watson - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 2-1 win over St. Louis.

USL-2
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Started and played 45 minutes in Charleston's 3-2 win over Charlotte.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-2 draw with Harrisburg.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Started and played 90 minutes in Pittsburgh's 0-0 draw with Real Maryland.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-2 draw with Harrisburg.

Indoor
Sean Bowers - San Diego - Season ended last week.
Paul Wright - San Diego - Season ended last week.

International
Vicente Arze - Club Aurora - Bolivia - Beat Universitario 2-1.
Eloy Colombano - Ferrocarril Sud - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes in Ferro's 1-0 win over Racing Olavarría.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla FC - Mexico - Started and played 66 minutes, scoring 2 goals before getting a red card.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Did not have a game this week.
Will John - NK Vinogradar - Croatia - Drew with Vukovar 3-3.
Eddie Johnson - Aris FC - Greece - Started and played 60 minutes in Aris' 2-1 loss to Olympiakos.
Chris Konopka - Waterford United - Ireland - Started and played 90 minutes in Waterford's 1-0 loss ot Monaghan United.
Carlos Marinelli - CA Aldosivi - Argentina - Came off the bench in the 57th minute, played 23 minutes before being subbed back out in the 80th in Aldosivi's 2-0 loss to Independiente Rivadavia.
Yura Movsisyan - Randers FC - Denmark - Started and played 90 minutes in Randers' 1-0 win over SønderjyskE.
Akeem Priestly - FK Mughan - Azerbaijan - Did not play in Mughan's 0-0 draw with Turan Tovuz.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesund - Norway - Did not play in Aalesund's 1-1 draw with Rosenborg.
Matt Taylor - FSV Frankfurt - Germany - Did not dress in Frankfurt's 2-1 win over Hansa Rostock.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Columbia - Did not play in Quindío's 2-0 win over América de Cali.

Nielsen Up for Save of the Week

MLS is slowly making their website better, they've moved the Save of the Week award over to the MLS Insider blog. This week, Wizards goalkeeper, Jimmy Nielsen is up for the award for his one handed save on Fredy Montero. The interesting thing that I'm surprised that MLS has added is that you can now see the number of votes each one has, an interesting addition that certainly helps the ballot stuffers. See all the saves below.

Some Random Wizards News

Some real quick house cleaning news about the Wizards today that's kind of interesting. First, I want to real quick touch again on the goal that Seattle scored against the Wizards on Saturday. Seattle coach, Sigi Schmid has responded to the news earlier today that the goal shouldn't have stood. He says that basically while Brad Evans did take the throw in up field, that happens all the time in soccer and you can't be "nitpicky" about when you call it. I think that's BS, you see it all the time in soccer, fouls are called earlier in the game that aren't normally called later, or things around midfield that aren't called around the defensive third of the field. That's how soccer goes, everything that's going on in the game influences the referee and his decision.

Speaking of that incident, I've seen quite a few people make the comment that Michael Fucito was offside on the play. Let me say what I said on Twitter earlier today again. You can NOT be offside on a throw in. It's in the Laws of the Game, Rule 11. Again, you can not be offside on a throw in so let's drop that argument please.

Onto other news, Steven Goff with the Washington Post wrote today that Jamar Beasley, the brother of DaMarcus, is looking to get back into MLS, and apparently the Wizards have spoke with him, but currently he's not been brought in for a trial. Beasley played under assistant coach, Zoran Savic when Savic was the coach of the KC Comets back before the team went under. Beasley has been playing basically indoor soccer since 2003 with a few trips to minor league outdoor teams. Something to follow along with for the immediate future.

Seattle Goal Shouldn't Have Been Allowed

That's the word from US Soccer Director of Referee Development, Paul Tamberino in an article on MLS' website. Tamberino is the same guy that speaks on US Soccer's Referee Week in Review as well. He says that Brad Evans did not intentionally deceive referee Jair Marrufo, as the play only took seconds to actually play out on the field. Still, Tamberino says that referees need to be aware of where the ball went out, especially in the attacking third and so late in the game. And while the linesman was closer to where Evans was, Tamberino says that the responsibility in this situation goes on the center referee Marrufo.

This isn't a surprising report, as I think anyone with eyes to see saw that Evans added at least 10 yards onto where the ball went out. I also think most people expected this incident to be in this week's report due to the outcome of the play and the result as a whole. While it's nice to see them make an example of it, it doesn't take the bitterness out of the goal or the loss.

Steel Going In

A quick stadium update for you today. For those of you that haven't been watching the webcam, you are really missing out. Last week, a big crane showed up on site and today there are a couple pieces of steel that are in place at the site. It's just the start of the structure going into place. Lots more is going to go in place over the next days, weeks, and months. It's exciting to see this process continue, and even though I'm not making it out every single week for pictures, the webcam is the nenxt best thing.

Saturday of Stats

With the earlier game today, I was able to find time to get the stats for today's game done, so here are today's Saturday of Stats.

Jimmy Conrad made his 250th start of his MLS career.

Josh Wolff made his 201st start in all competitions for his MLS career (I missed his 200th on Tuesday).

It was Michael Harrington's 97th start in all competitions for KC, breaking his tie with Chris Brown for 20th place on that list.

It was also Harrington's 77th league start for the Wizard,s tying him with Chris Brown for 20th.

Pablo Escobar made his first league appearance.

Dropped Point

Did the Wizards do enough to win the game today? Probably not, but the way the team played, they didn't deserve to lose today in Seattle. KC was only a few minutes away from getting out of Seattle with a 0-0 draw when Pablo Escobar and Matt Besler fell asleep on a throw in while Brad Evans moved about 10 yards down the line to throw the ball in and Michael Fucito finished the chance.

Overall it wasn't the pretty attacking game many people thought we'd see, although it started pretty well for Seattle as Pat Noonan went just wide, and Fredy Montero had a shot well saved by Jimmy Nielsen. From there KC started to get more of the possession, but with much of that possession they didn't get very many good scoring opportunities, the best came when Davy Arnaud picked off a hospital ball from Peter Vagenas, Arnaud fed Ryan Smith who broke in behind the Seattle defense, but Jhon Kennedy Hurtado made a very nice challenge late that knocked the ball out for a corner. Also in the first half, KC lost defender Jimmy Conrad to an injury, as he was replaced by Matt Besler.

KC continued to hold the possession in the second half as well and had another great chance to take the lead through Davy Arnaud who was played in on a nice through ball by Josh Wolff after a 1-2 with Jack Jewsbury. Kasey Keller was quick off his line, cut down Arnaud's angle, and knocked the ball out for a corner. As the game wore on, it looked less and less likely that a team would pick up a goal for the win, but then came the late goal by Fucito. After the goal, KC almost responded right back as Chance Myers got played in behind the Sounders defense, but his shot was well saved by Keller to preserve the win for Seattle.

Wizards Man of the Match - Jack Jewsbury - Did well in the midfield, holding the ball and playing simple balls for players, some good passing by Jewsbury set up a few of the chances that the Wizards did had. Until the goal was scored I was thinking Pablo Escobar on his debut or Michael Harrington were man of match, but their lack of communication on the goal lost them both a little bit.

Player Stats - Nielsen 6, Harrington 5, Escobar 5, Conrad 5, Espinoza 5, Jewsbury 7, Auvray 5, Arnaud 6, Smith 6, Wolff 5, Kamara 5. Subs Besler 5, Bunbury 5, Myers NR

From the Byline to the Back Post

Here's this week's edition of From the Byline to the Back Post. Thad and I discussed news involving the stadium and players, along with discussions of the past two Colorado games and this weekend's Seattle game. Enjoy.

First Road Trip

Match Day Quick Reference Guide provided by Sounder At Heart

The Wizards head out on the road for the first time this year in the MLS season when they take on the Seattle Sounders out in Seattle tomorrow at 2pm. Seattle comes into the game 1-1-1 after drawing 2-2 last week with Real Salt Lake. That'd be seen as a decent result from the outside, as RSL is a good team at home. But Seattle surrendered a late equalizer to lose 2 points from that game. That late equalizer aside, Seattle is a very good side, and one of the early season favorites to make MLS Cup. Their led by Freddie Ljungberg and Kasey Keller, along with Fredy Montero.

KC has to overcome their first let down of the season from their 2-1 loss to Colorado in the US Open Cup on Tuesday night. Even though it wasn't all starters, it will be interesting to see how the team takes it, along with their first trip outside KC for a league game. The Wizards come into this game very healthy with only Zoltan Hercegfalvi being out for this one, other than that the rest of the roster should be available. Ryan Smith, Stephane Auvray, Jimmy Nielsen, and others should be returning to the starting lineup after either having Tuesday off or coming in off the bench.

Key Match Up - Ryan Smith vs James Riley - Smith has been one of the very bright spots early in the MLS season and will have the chance to prove his wares on the road against Riley. Riley is known to Wizards fans for being abused by Eddie Johnson in his hattrick against the Revolution a few years ago. Smith is a different type of player, but if Smith can take advantage of Riley, it should be a good day for the Wizards winger.

PREDICTION - This is going to be the toughest of the season so far for KC, on the road against probably one of the better teams in the league, it'll be a real test for the rebuilt Wizards. Seattle is going to be near the top of the Western Conference and the league this entire season I would expect. Smith is going to need to take advantage of his match up with Riley, while Auvray is going to need to follow Ljungberg when he drops into midfield, while also being midfield of Osvaldo Alonso and Brad Evans coming out of midfield. KC doesn't need to come into Seattle intimidated, having won their last year with a team that wasn't as talented as this one. A draw seems like it could be a likely result out of this. That said, getting a draw out of this game would be a good result for KC in my opinion.

KC - 1 (Wolff)
Sea - 1 (Montero)

Former Wizards Update

More former Wizards are joining the list, and we're at the point where we'll see the most former Wizards playing at one time as we will for most of the season. The silly season has started this year, and the first former Wizard mentioned, is Herculez Gomez who has had a strong season with Puebla. He's being linked with Club America as well as other clubs. In other former Wizards news, briefly a Wizard, Luis Gil was called in the US U-18 national team camp. Also congrats to Sean Bowers, Paul Wright, and the San Diego Sockers for doing the double and winning the US Arena Open Cup this past week as well.

Here's the rest of your former Wizards update.

MLS
Preston Burpo - New England - Started and played 90 minutes in New England's 4-1 win over Toronto.
Adam Cristman - DC United - Came off the bench and played 8 minutes in DC's 3-2 loss to Philadelphia.
Nick Garcia - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Toronto's 4-1 loss to New England.
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Did not dress in Salt Lake's 2-2 draw with Seattle. Did not play in Salt Lake's 3-3 (5-3) PK shoot out win over San Jose in the US Open Cup.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 2-2 draw with Salt Lake.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 2-2 draw with Columbus.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Dallas.
Chris Klein - LA - Dressed but did not play in LA's 2-0 win over Houston.
Claudio Lopez - Colorado - Did not play in Colorado's 1-0 loss to KC on Saturday. Came off the bench and played 11 minutes, recording an assist in Colorado's 2-1 win over KC in an Open Cup qualifier.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in Salt Lake's 2-2 draw with Seattle. Started and played 120 minutes in Salt Lake's 3-3 (5-3) PK shootout win over San Jose in the US Open Cup.
Kurt Morsink - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 3-2 loss to Philadelphia.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Did not dress in San Jose's 2-1 win over Chicago. Did not play in San Jose's 3-3(5-3) PK shootout loss to Salt Lake.
Carey Talley - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 3-2 loss to Philadelphia.
Shavar Thomas - Philadelphia - Dressed but did not play in Philadelphia's 3-2 win over DC.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle - Came off the bench and played 42 minutes in Seattle's 2-2 draw with Salt Lake.

USSF Division 2
Doug DeMartin - Portland - Did not have a game this week.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Started and played 66 minutes in Minnesota's 2-0 loss to Vancouver.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Did not have a game this week.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Did not play in Rochester's 1-1 draw with Miami.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 2-0 win over St. Louis.
Ryan Pore - Portland - Did not have a game this week.
Abe Thompson - Miami - Started and played 90 minutes in Miami's 1-1 draw with Rochester.
Lance Watson - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 2-0 win over Montreal.

Indoor
Sean Bowers - San Diego - San Diego beat Louisville 11-7 in the US Arena Open Cup Final.
Paul Wright - San Diego - San Diego beat Louisville 11-7 in the US Arena Open Cup Final.

International
Vicente Arze - Club Aurora - Bolivia - Did not play in Aurora's 1-1 draw with The Strongest.
Eloy Colombano - Ferrocarril Sud - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes in Ferro's 3-0 loss to Liniers.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla FC - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Puebla's 2-1 loss to Indios. Did not play in Puebla's 2-0 win over Atlas tonight.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Started for Harbour View in their 3-0 win over Village United.
Will John - NK Vinogradar - Croatia - Lost 1-0 to Hrvatski Dragovoljac.
Eddie Johnson - Aris FC - Greece - Came off the bench and played 16 minutes in Aris' 2-1 loss to Asteras Tripolis.
Chris Konopka - Waterford United - Ireland - Started and played 90 minutes recording the shut out in Waterford's 2-0 League Cup win over Kerry League.
Carlos Marinelli - CA Aldosivi - Argentina - Came off the bench in the 60th minute and played 18 minutes before being subbed out in the 78th in Aldosivi's 4-3 win over Tiro Federal. Did not play in Aldosivi's 3-1 win over San Martín Tucumán.
Yura Movsisyan - Randers FC - Denmark - Started and played 82 minutes in Randers 1-0 win over København. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Randers 3-1 win over Silkeborg.
Akeem Priestly - FK Mughan - Azerbaijan - Did not play in Mughan's 2-1 win over Olimpik.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesund - Norway - Did not play in Aalesund's 3-1 win over Viking or their 2-1 loss to Haugesund.
Matt Taylor - FSV Frankfurt - Germany - Did not play in Frankfurt's 1-0 win over Rot-Weiß Oberhausen.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Columbia - Did not play in Quindío's 2-1 loss to Sante Fe. Lost to Deportivo Pereira in the Copa Colombia 2-1.

KC Trying to Get Hall of Fame

The US Soccer Hall of Fame closed it's doors in Oneonta, NY this past February, and the Wizards have stepped up to try and fill the gap. Apparently Kansas City, KS, the Wizards, the NSCAA, and other groups have held preliminary discussions with the Hall in hopes of at least getting a branch of the Hall of Fame to come to the Wizards new stadium once it is completed in 2011.

It doesn't look like the full Hall of Fame may ever be back together, at least for the immediate future according Jonathan Ullman, president of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum. Ullman says that the Hall is using a new model that includes having exhibits in different places around the country. Ullman's quotes as a whole though, don't seem to favor KC, they seem to point towards Ullman wanting other locations.

The grand vision of Greg Cotton, chief operating officer of the Wizards, is to have the yearly Hall of Fame inductions take place in KC along with the final of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and a major youth tournament on the new youth fields. I like the general idea, but I still think the final should be hosted by one of the two teams, but done via a draw, not a bid process. In the past the finals as a whole have not been well attended, but neutral venue finals haven't been well attended either. At least at the home of one team (with decent marketing) you can have a decent turnout.

Personally I would love for the Hall to be in KC, I'd always wanted to go to the Hall of Fame in Oneonta for years, but unfortunately didn't make it before it closed. Having it here in KC would be fantastic and a great opportunity for KC to put itself on the soccer map even more. The big thing I'd personally want here in KC though would be the archives, and all the great stats and history that are included in those. So here's to the Hall coming to KC.

Wednesday After Stats

It's barely Wednesday, but here are a few stats for you from tonight's US Open Cup qualifier between the Wizards and the Rapids.

Jimmy Conrad and Michael Harrington are the only 2 players to appear in all 3 Open Cup Qualifiers the Wizards have ever played, Conrad is the only one to start all 3.

Teal Bunbury scored his first career goal.

Tonight's game was Josh Wolff's 142nd in all competitions for KC, breaking his tie with Francisco Gomez for 13th place on that list.

Open Cup Run Over

Well that didn't take long. The Wizards trip into the 2010 US Open Cup is over before it officially got started as the Wizards were knocked out in the first round of MLS qualifying by the Colorado Rapids tonight, 2-1 on the back of two Wells Thompson goals. The game started very brightly for KC, as in the 5th minute, Teal Bunbury made a nice solo run down the left wing and played in a lofted cross. It was a poor cross that appeared headed right for Steward Ceus in the Rapids goal made a complete mess of the cross though and it went through his hands and into the net to give KC the very early lead and Bunbury his first professional goal.

Like the first game between these two teams on Saturday it was a very physical game, and the referee was letting the teams play, which led to many tackles and challenges that would at other times be fouls allowed to play on. This played more into the Rapids style of play, and the Wizards started to give up more possession. As the Rapids held more possession, the Wizards sat deeper and deeper and started to give away a few corners. On one corner, the ball was partially cleared and sent back across the box where Menhdi Ballouchy fired the ball across the face of goal, but no Rapids player got on the end of it and it was cleared for another corner. On that corner, the ball was played to the back post where Thompson headed the ball into the net to level the scores.

The goal seemed to wake the Wizards back up and they began to press again and should have added two more goals before the break. Josh Wolff played a nice ball in behind the Rapids defense that Chance Myers got on the end of, but then couldn't get a shot off to finish. Wolff himself had a chance as well on a beautiful cross field ball from Graham Zusi. Wolff's first touch off his chest though was too hard and ended up in the hands of Ceus.

At half time, coach Peter Vermes pulled Korede Aiyegbusi and Sunil Chhetri (who didn't look bad, but didn't really do much to impress in his debut) for Michael Harrington and Kei Kamara. The Wizards once again started the half as the stronger side with Kamara almost getting on the end of a Harrington cross as Ceus again spilled the ball. As the second half wore on though, it was the Rapids who started to really press the game, as Andre Akpan and Quincy Amarikwa both pushed the Wizards back line, getting called offside a number of times, but also getting their chances pushing shots just wide or forcing Eric Kronberg into saves. KC had a few chances of their own, with Zusi forcing Ceus into a decent save. The introduction of Claudio Lopez around the 80th minute turned the game as with basically his first touch he played in Thompson who beat Kronberg and gave the Rapids the lead. With the lead, Colorado was the ones who sat back and tried to absorb the pressure and did a good job of it, although KC had their chances, as Stephane Auvray had a shot blocked and it rolled just wide of the post. Then late in second half stoppage time, KC had a couple more chances, as a header was tipped over the bar by Ceus, Leathers had a shot on goal saved off the line by a Rapids defender, and another header went just wide of the post. In the end, KC couldn't find the net and Colorado advances to take on New York, Philadelphia or New England.

Wizards Man of the Match - Craig Rocastle - Rocastle was a calming, direct influence on the field tonight, he did a good job of breaking up plays and starting Wizards attacks. He also looked good with his feet, doing well to evade defenders and try to find the open man. At the same time he just collected and distributed the ball around. Nothing overly flashy, efficient.

Lineup - Kronberg 5, Aiyegbusi 4, Conrad 5, Escobar 4, Leathers 5, Rocastle 7, Zusi 6, Chhetri 4, Bunbury 5, Wolff 6, Myers 5. Subs Kamara 6, Harrington 4, Auvray 5, Diop NR.

Keeping Busy

The Wizards continue a busy week as they take on the Colorado Rapids for the second time in 4 days tomorrow out at UMKC. This time, the two teams are battling to try and get one step closer to the US Open Cup proper. A few of Colorado's starters from Saturday have returned to Colorado, while a few other players have come into KC, including former Wizard, Claudio Lopez. It seems like there will be quite a few Rapids players pulling double duty tomorrow night after playing on Saturday.

My original thought when I heard about this match, was that the Wizards will play mainly, if not all, reserves in this game, but with what Colorado appears to be putting out, I think we'll see a few more starters in the lineup. The other thing that will affect the lineup is the US Open Cup rules, which allow for only 5 international players on the game day roster. That currently puts a dent in my thought, when guys like Sunil Chhetri, Igor Kostrov, Craig Rocastle, Santiago Hirsig, Pablo Escobar, and Birahim Diop are all currently reserves. Factor in that KC will also likely need to use a spot for Jimmy Nielsen who I think will just be on the bench while Eric Kronberg gets the start and you realize you're going to need to have more starters in the game. Sure there will be more reserve players, but I'm starting to think we'll see more starters. One thing that we would appear to know is that our new Indian forward, Chhetri, will be getting the start according to the Star.

Myers - Chhetri - Bunbury
Rocastle - Zusi - Jewsbury
Aiyegbusi - Escobar - Besler - Leathers
Kronberg

Key Match Up - Sunil Chhetri vs CO back line. Chhetri has 4 goals in 2 games against college teams, now is the time to see how he steps up against another professional team.

PREDICTION - My lineup is a bit of a crap shoot as it's hard to guess exactly how KC is going to lineup, I'm sure there will be a few reserves as well as probably more starters than the two I listed in my prediction. This game will certainly give a chance to check out at least a portion of our depth, but we're also limited by the international player rule. Either way I think KC has more talent in their bench and they'll pull it off here.

KC - 2 (Bunbury x2)
CO - 0

Steel Signing and Stadium Pictures

Yesterday out at the Wizards new stadium site, Wizards season ticket holders had the chance to sign the very first piece of steel that was going to be placed inside the stadium. Many of the Wizards season ticket holder base came out to be a part of this event, myself included. I didn't stay around for the announcements that were made by Robb Heineman and the rest of the Wizards leadership, but I did get my name on the steel. Multiple other people did, including Hillcrest Road and I'm sure Thad will have photos up on his blog better than any I would have taken anyways. If you want to see the few pictures I did take, they are here.

Speaking of the stadium, I was looking at the Wizards media guide the other day and found two rendering pictures of the new stadium that I had not seen yet. And if I hadn't seen them yet, I'm sure many other people hadn't seen them yet either. The below two pictures are screen shots I took of those pages of the Wizards media guide, so enjoy those as well. The first is from the air looking down on the stadium from the northeast. The second is inside taken from the east stand, close to the south side of the stadium looking back towards the west stand and the player benches.

Chhetri Set to Play Tuesday

Wizards fans will get the chance to see Indian national team striker, Sunil Chhetri for the first time in a competitive game this week. The Star is reporting that Chhetri will be on the team that will be taking on the Colorado Rapids on Tuesday in a US Open Cup qualifier at UMKC. Last week in two friendlies, Chhetri scored 4 goals against the two college teams, including a hattrick against Evansville. The debut will make news halfway around the world in India, where the Wizards have become increasingly known. The team's official Facebook page has added about 5,000 people in the last week or so, mostly from India or fans of Chhetri would be my guess.

Sunday After Stats

Here is your new Sunday After Stats update after last night's game against Colorado.

In the 14th minute, Josh Wolff hit the 10,000 minute mark in league play for the Wizards, he's the 11th player to hit that mark for KC. He finished the game with 10,056 minutes.

In was also Wolff's 141st appearance for the Wizards in all competitions, tying him with Francisco Gomez for 13th place on that list.

Michael Harrington made his 96th start in all competitions for KC, tying him with Chris Brown for 20th place on that list.

Jack Jewsbury made his 127th start in league play for the Wizards, breaking his tie with Matt McKeon for 8th place on that list.

Wizards Remain Undefeated

The Wizards didn't let the week off last week slow them down, they took care of business last night against the Colorado Rapids, winning 1-0 on the back of a Kei Kamara goal. Unlike opening week against DC, Colorado put up much more of a fight against the Wizards at CBA. KC started the game strongly again, and Ryan Smith almost scored inside the first 10 minutes as he beat his man down the line and tried to catch Matt Pickens off his line. Only a slight touch from Pickens pushed the ball over the bar and kept the score 0-0.

With Colorado's front line, Jimmy Nielsen was called into action more often this week. The biggest in the first half being a save on Omar Cummings that Nielsen took right off his face. The biggest talking point of the first half was the officiating, of which there were some interesting calls both ways, especially late in the half, where two fouls were accompanied by yellow cards for dissent when Pablo Mastroeni and Ryan Smith both threw the ball after separate fouls.

KC continued to pressure early in the second half, and quickly found net as a Smith freekick was headed in by Kamara over Pickens who'd come a little too far off his line. As the second half progressed both teams had their chances with both Nielsen and Pickens making saves to keep the score 1-0. Colorado had thought they pulled level when Conor Casey put the ball in the net after a Wells Thompson shot had been saved, but Cummings, who played the ball to Casey was offside when the original shot was taken. In the 72nd things changed when Julien Baudet picked up a red card for a reckless challenge on Kamara. Of the two teams, Colorado had the better chances after the red card as KC set back a bit to defend the lead. And while they had some chances, Nielsen was able to take care of all of them and keep his shutout streak to start the season in tact.

Wizards Man of the Match - Stephane Auvray - This guy is just good, he's all over the midfield and keeps teams from coming in through there. Auvray made the entire middle of the field his last night forcing Colorado to bypass the midfield more to avoid dealing with him.

Honorable Mention - Jimmy Nielsen

Player Ratings - Nielsen 8, Harrington 7, Conrad 7, Besler 8, Espinoza 8, Jewsbury 6, Arnaud 7, Auvray 9, Smith 8, Kamara 7, Wolff 7. Subs Myers 6, Bunbury 5, Rocastle NR

New Podcast

Some game day listening for you before tonight's Wizards game. Thursday night Thad and I recorded a new From the Byline to the Back Post. Check out part 1 where we discuss current Wizards news as well as look back on the games against St. Louis and Evansville. In part 2, we discuss some player news and preview the two upcoming Colorado games.

Something Kind of Cool

I was looking around Facebook tonight and came across a post from the Major League Soccer fan page. Basically Chicago is hosting a Sister Cities International Cup in Chicago in late May. Along with the Fire, 3 teams from Europe will compete in the tournament as well, all 3 are from sister cities of Chicago. There's Legia Warsaw, Paris Saint-Germain, and Red Star Belgrade. Personally I think this is a pretty interesting idea to bring in teams affiliated as sister cities with the home city for a small tournament. True the timing may not be the best, but I like the overall idea.

If there was something KC were to do, there are plenty of cities to choose from for sister city teams. Kansas City, MO has plenty of sister cities that have teams that could be invited to such a tournament. A tournament in KC could contain clubs like Sevilla FC, Hannover 96, FC Metz, or even a team that is already a sister club, Atlas. Even if the team was interested in using KCK, the Kansas City on the other side of the state line also has their own sister cities (although their clubs aren't as glamorous. If you used KCK, you could have LASK Linza in Austira, NK Karlovac in Croatia, Limerick FC in Ireland. Overall, it's a good concept Chicago has with this tournament and it'll be interesting to see how the tournament turns out. I personally think the concept around the tournament is pretty cool by bringing in teams from the clubs from the sister city of the team. Whether KC does some sort of local tournament isn't know, there had been talk a few years ago about a similar tournament, although that never came to be. Still it's nice to think about the likes of Sevilla and Hannover coming to KC.

Rapids in Town for Two

Tomorrow the Wizards go back into MLS play as they will take on the Colorado Rapids out at Community America Ballpark. Colorado comes into the game undefeated in their first two games in league play, defeating Chivas USA 1-0 on the road on the opening weekend and drawing with Chicago in their home opener last week. Colorado is led offensively by Conor Casey and Omar Cummings, one of the most dangerous forward teams in the league. Behind them there's a strong central midfield of Pablo Mastroeni and Jeff Larentowicz, who are going to be a strong team there throughout the season and be a good matchup for the Wizards central midfield. There is also going to be a familiar face on Colorado, although he's more likely to appear on Tuesday, is Claudio Lopez, who now has his P-1 Visa.

KC has had some minor injuries after the first week of the season, and four players didn't even travel to St. Louis last weekend. The injured included Davy Arnaud, Stephane Auvray, Jack Jewsbury, Ryan Smith, and many others. According to the Star, though, those players were all practicing on Thursday, with only Zoltan Hercegfalvi and Santiago Hirsig not practicing on Thursday. With the team's 4-0 win over DC being as strong as it was, it's hard to believe that Peter Vermes will change anything up if everyone is healthy and ready to play. I have a feeling that barring any 11th hour stuff, that we're likely to see the same lineup.

Smith - Wolff - Kamara
Arnaud - Auvray - Jewsbury
Espinoza - Conrad - Besler - Harrington
Nielsen

Key Match Up - Ryan Smith vs Kosuke Kimura or Marvell Wynne - Smith was a man among boys for much of the DC game until he got hurt. He'll play a big part tomorrow if the Wizards are to win. The Wizards have to favor that match up if it's against Kimura, who is a decent player, but I think he'll have trouble with Smith's speed. Wynne will be a more interesting challenge if he's on the right wing. Wynne can stay with Smith speed wise, but the question of some of Wynne's defensive skills could come into play.

PREDICTION - This match up will be much more difficult for the Wizards than the DC was, Colorado is a strong team up from and are a solid team through the middle. Still at home, I think that KC can be the better team, I would take KC's offense over Colorado's offense on KC's smaller field. And while both team's have momentum, I think KC is going to come out ready for this game.

KC - 2 (Smith, Kamara)
CO - 1 (Cummings)

Changes to Roster Rules

MLS has added two more players to teams' rosters, those two players though have to be home grown players, meaning they have to come from the team's youth system. The plan of the development is to push teams to develop their own players more. The first 18-20 senior roster players will count against the cap and make a minimum of $40,000 a year. Teams then have 4-6 protected players, these players can be Generation Adidas, or earning the minimum salary of $40,000. Two of these 6 potential spots though are reserved for home grown players. Meaning to get to the 26 roster mark, you have to have two home grown players on the roster.

To help continue the development, instead of the regular transfer rules the clubs get 75% of a transfer or loan deal of a home grown player. That's up from 66% that clubs get for regular players. The rules also change for GA players. GA players with 1 year in MLS, the club only gets 33%. Two years, the club and league split 50-50. Three years and clubs get the standard 66%.

What does this mean for the Wizards? I honestly don't think it means much currently. I don't think there are currently players in the Juniors system that are close to being ready to step up to the pro game. Meaning the Wizards will likely be sticking with the 24 man roster, not able to use those 2 extra spots. There may be some good college players that could eventually step up to the pro game, but I don't think there's anyone right now. The closest in the older groups may be Jon Kempin, who is playing on the 16's. Kempin was Kansas State High School boys soccer player of the year as a junior this past year and has spent time with the US U-17 national team. Unfortunately I don't think he's going to be quite ready for the pro game either. We'll have to see what happens though, but hopefully soon the Wizards we see the Juniors start to develop players that can be brought into the first team.

Former Wizards Update

Here's another week of former Wizards updates for you. More and more players are appearing on this list, I've added for draft pick, Vicente Arze who is now playing back in Bolivia, also added are Claudio Lopez who has signed with Colorado officially, although he's still a little ways away from competing. Also back in MLS is Scott Sealy who has re-signed with San Jose. Next week even more former Wizards will return as the USSF Division 2 kicks off this week.

MLS
Preston Burpo - New England - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in New England's 2-0 win over DC.
Adam Cristman - DC United - Dressed but did not play in DC's 2-0 loss to New England.
Nick Garcia - Toronto - Did not play this week.
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Did not dress in RSL's 2-1 loss to Houston.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 1-0 loss to New York.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Did not play this week.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Did not play this week.
Chris Klein - LA - Dressed but did not play in LA's 2-0 win over Chivas.
Claudio Lopez - Colorado - Is not cleared to play yet.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in RSL's 2-1 loss to Houston.
Kurt Morsink - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-0 loss to New England.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Just re-signed with San Jose.
Carey Talley - DC United - Started and played 76 minutes in DC's 2-0 loss to New England.
Shavar Thomas - Philadelphia - Did not play this week.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 1-0 loss to New York.

Indoor
Sean Bowers - San Diego - Don't play again until the US Arena Open Cup Final on April 10th.
Paul Wright - San Diego - Don't play again until the US Arena Open Cup Final on April 10th.

International
Vicente Arze - Club Aurora - Bolivia - Did not have a game this past week.
Eloy Colombano - Ferrocarril Sud - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes in Ferro's 3-1 win over Grupo Universitario.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla FC - Mexico - Came off the bench playing 45 minutes, scoring a goal in Puebla's 1-1 draw with Morelia.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Did not play in Harbour View's 2-1 win over Arnett Gardens.
Will John - NK Vinogradar - Croatia - Did not have a game this week.
Eddie Johnson - Aris FC - Greece - Did not have a game this past week.
Chris Konopka - Waterford United - Ireland - Did not play in Waterford's 3-2 win over Mervue United.
Carlos Marinelli - CA Aldosivi - Argentina - Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Aldosivi's 1-0 win over Unión Santa Fe.
Yura Movsisyan - Randers FC - Denmark - Started and played 84 minutes in Randers' 2-1 win over HB Køge. Started and played 76 minutes in Randers' 0-0 draw with AGF.
Akeem Priestly - FK Mughan - Azerbaijan - Did not play in Mughan's 1-0 loss to Simurq.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesund - Norway - Did not play in Aalesund's 2-1 win over Kongsvinger.
Matt Taylor - FSV Frankfurt - Germany - Did not play in Frankfurt's 2-1 loss to Arminia Bielefeld.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Columbia - Did not play in Quindío's 1-0 loss to Boyacá Chicó.

New KC Soccer Radio Show

The Wizards put out a release today saying that there is a new KC soccer radio show in KC. Sports Radio 810 is going to be broadcasting The Kansas City Soccer Show on Saturday mornings from 10-11 am. The show will cover the Wizards, Juniors, and other local soccer, international soccer, and the 2010 World Cup. The show is going to be hosted by Jake Gutierrez, a former goalkeeper at Western Illinois and consistent player in the Wizards Media Game each year and Josh Whisenhunt of the Wizards' youth soccer department.

It should be really interesting to see how this show comes along. I know many people have been wanting a show like this, and now people finally get the chance. Hopefully it becomes a good success. It continues a great offseason/early season for the Wizards when it comes to the KC media. First we had the announcement that the Wizards would be on KCWE this season for their games and that they'd be broadcasted in HD. Then we had the massive improvement in coverage from the KC Star and Charles Gooch, making the Star a more important stop for Wizards fans. And now this, it's all good news for soccer fans in the KC area as they now have more places to get soccer news and talk soccer with other people around KC. So call The KC Soccer Show 913-3-810-810 or use Twitter, or Facebook to ask questions.

Hercegfalvi Out with ACL Tear

As I posted on twitter earlier today, the Wizards will be without Zoltan Hercegfalvi for the next five to eight months after being diagnosed with a torn ACL. Hercegfalvi picked up the injury in the second half of KC's 2-1 win over AC St. Louis this past weekend. How big of a loss it will be remains to be seen. Me personally I am very disappointed in the injury as I thought Hercegfalvi was a good fit for the Wizards, he provided a determination and strength that I don't really see in KC's other strikers (not saying the others don't bring that, but Hercegfalvi did at a different level). Having torn my ACL twice I know it's not a fun experience at all. It's extremely painful and the rehab is a long hard process as well, but it's certainly recoverable from.

If there is a bright side in this news, it's the fact that it likely means the Wizards don't have to waive a player from the signing of Sunil Chhetri. With Hercegfalvi going onto injured reserve, the Wizards now have his roster spot open, as well as his international slot. It also gives other international players more time to get a green card so an international is not waived when Hercegfalvi does return. See Peter Vermes thoughts on the injury below.

UPDATE: Although the latest from Gooch at the Star is that it won't really affect Chhetri yet, as Vermes says he still needs to adjust. It also says that the Wizards have not gotten Chhetri's International Transfer card, although it appears it has been granted by FIFA.

Starting the Game Week

Almost to another Wizards home game, this weekend against the Colorado Rapids. Since there's no big news today out, and we're still waiting word on the extent of Zoltan Hercegfalvi's and Kei Kamara's injuries from the game against AC St. Louis, I thought I'd do something fun. Above is my ticket for the Wizards vs Colorado game this Saturday. How many people can name all 6 Wizards that are in that picture? Some of them are easy, one or two are a little harder. Feel free to name them in the comments section. The first one that gets all 6 will get a hearty congratulations. And depending on how this goes, and if I can find anything actually worth giving away, I'll make an occasional contest for this type of stuff. So good luck.

Wizards Beat AC St. Louis

Playing without four starters from last week's season opener against DC (Davy Arnaud, Stephane Auvray, Ryan Smith, and Josh Wolff) the Wizards traveled to St. Louis to take on AC St. Louis in the second leg of their home and home series last night. With those 4 out, starts were given to Teal Bunbury, Zoltan Hercegfalvi, Santiago Hirsig, and Craig Rocastle. KC started the game out the same way they did against St. Louis in KC, dominating possession, but unable to really get many good chances on goal against Alec Dufty. KC broke through in the 31st minute, when Hercegfalvi intercepted a poor back past to Dufty and finished past two St. Louis defenders on the goal line to give KC the lead. KC continued to have the better of the chances, but St. Louis also showed more going forward than they had in the teams' previous game against each other.

In the second half, St. Louis started to get more possession and get deeper into KC's territory, but were unable to get off any real chances. In the 53rd minute, Wizards goalkeeper, Jimmy Nielsen was judged to have fouled a ACSTL player in the box giving them a PK. Nielsen guessed the right way, but the PK was well placed by Elvir Kafedzic into the corner to tie the game at 1-1. Shortly after the PK, the worst happened for the Wizards, and that was Hercegfalvi going down with what looked like a serious knee injury. He stayed on the field for a few minutes before being stretchered off the field. Even then he sat on the sidelines on the stretcher for a few more minutes before being carried to the locker room. Definitely not what KC wanted in this game. After the injury, the Wizards seemed to down shift a little bit more than they had before. They were still controlling much of the game, but you could tell they were also trying to avoid more injuries at the same time. KC grabbed what was probably a deserved winner late in the second half. Kei Kamara got fouled on the right wing, setting up a free kick that Rocastle put into the near post. Hirsig was the first one to reach the ball and just got a touch on it to put it past Dufty at the near post and give KC the 2-1 lead. Overall, a decent performance, not the solid performance of last week, but with 4 players I'd consider major game changers not on the field, I'll take the friendly win and the 4-1 aggregate score against St. Louis.

Wizards Man of the Match - Kei Kamara - Even though he was carrying an injury, he was a force down the right wing for KC, he gave St. Louis problems all game and won the free kick that led to the game winning goal. A solid performance from Kamara.

Honorable Mention - Michael Harrington

Player Ratings - Nielsen 6, Harrington 7, Conrad 6, Besler 6, Espinoza 5, Rocastle 6, Hirsig 7, Jewsbury 6, Kamara 7, Bunbury 5, Zoltan 6. Subs Aiyegbusi 5, Escobar 6, Zusi 5.

Chhetri Hattrick Leads Rangers by Evansville

In the first of two games yesterday, the Swope Park Rangers took care of business against the University of Evansville Purple Aces. The Rangers started 2 trialists, Kyle Brown, and Haggi Leboo a former Rockhurst University player. The game overall started fairly slow with neither team getting many chances, but the Rangers dominating possession. Evansville had half chances on the break, but early on there wasn't much between the teams. It was actually the Purple Aces who had the first best chance off a corner. A nice header that was headed for the lower corner was palmed out by Eric Kronberg before it crossed the line. The rebound fell to another Evansville player. Kronberg was up and blocked that shot, and dove on the ball as the Evansville player tried to get off another shot. Late in the first half, KC finally grabbed the lead through Graham Zusi. On a ball over the top, Zusi let it run by and into the box where he volleyed it. The ball hit the underside of the cross bar and bounced into the net to give KC the 1-0 lead which held up to half time.

The second half started quickly for KC, who earned a free kick on the corner of the box some 40 seconds into the half. Zusi played in the free kick, which was low and towards the near post. Sunil Chhetri beat his man and with a diving header, glanced the ball past the Purple Aces keeper to double the lead. KC continued to dominate the game and Chhetri made it 3-0 soon afteward. Brown played a ball across the top of the box on the ground to Chhetri, who calmly from about 16 yards out flicked the ball with the outside of his foot into the net, a nice little finish, showing some of his skill. Chhetri rounded out his natural hattrick on a break away when he was played through by Leboo. Chhetri got in alone on the keeper and slotted the ball into the net for a 4-0 lead. The scoring was finished up shortly after Chhetri's 3rd, when KC was fouled about 35 yards out. Mauro Fuzetti stepped up to take the kick and fired a shot that just squeezed between the keeper and the post to make it 5-0. The Purple Aces had one late chance, but Kronberg again made the save to keep the shutout and give the Rangers the 5-0 win.

Man of the Match - Sunil Chhetri - First time I've gotten to see him play, he looked a little lost in the system in the first half, but in the second half really came alive and played well. I liked his 2nd finish with the outside of his right foot as well as his willingness to lay out for the header on the first goal.

Honorable Mention - Graham Zusi

Player Ratings - Kronberg 7, Leathers 7, Escobar 6, Hohlbein 6, Aiyegbusi 7, Fuzetti 7, Zusi 8, Leboo 5, Brown 6, Chhetri 8, Kostrov 5. Subs were all trialist that I didn't know the names of so I'm not going to grade them.

New From the Byline to the Back Post

Thursday night, Thad and I got together to record a new edition of From the Byline to the Back Post. This time we divided it up into 3 parts for recording, but it is now up for you to download and listen to. In the first part, Thad and I discuss current league wide news, mainly the new designated player rule and the horrible mistake that is MLSsoccer. In part two, Thad and I talk about the Wizards big win over DC United to open the season. We finish in part three by discussing all the rest of the news surrounding the Wizards, including the game against Tulsa during the week, the upcoming AC St. Louis game this weekend, and the announcement of the US Open Cup qualifier against Colorado being at UMKC. We also discuss other player news and a quick former Wizards update. We're still looking for a better hosting site, but remember to download it to hear the entire thing.

An Off Week (Kind Of)

The Wizards don't have an MLS game this weekend, but it certainly won't be an off weekend for the team. KC makes their way to St. Louis for the second league of their home-home series with AC St. Louis. The Wizards lead the series 2-0 on aggregate after winning the first game two weeks ago. Tomorrow it should be a split squad playing against ACSTL, as the team also has a game against the University of Evansville the same night. That would make it likely that KC will put a more first team lineup out against the USSF Division 2 side. I would expect a few changes though, as a few players are carrying some knocks and I don't expect them to play. The highest profile of those is Ryan Smith who I don't see being risked in this game. One of the games should give me and other KC fans heading to the game a chance to see Sunil Chhetri for the first time in person, which should be nice to see.

Overall, AC St. Louis is still in preseason, they've recently been playing some college teams, beating Western Illinois and tying St. Louis University. I wasn't really impressed with them the first time they played KC. They were organized on defense, but going forward, they were anemic, as Jimmy Nielsen was little more than a spectator in the first leg. Unless something changed in the past few weeks I'm not sure I'll be seeing much more tomorrow, but who knows as a semi-decent crowd at Soccer Park could see a bit of a different result. Personally I think 2-0 again seems like a good guess on the score. I'll go with Teal Bunbury and Zoltan Hercegfalvi with the goals.

I will be providing updates for both the first team and the reserve game via twitter.

April Fool's Day

So I thought I'd do an April Fool's post this morning saying that KC was set to sign a designated player, which would have really gone well with the announcement today about the changes to the DP rule. Still, that wouldn't have come close to topping what the Wizards' players did today to teammate Michael Harrington. Harrington was led to the believe he was going to be featured in a Maxim magazine photo spread of athletes looking like animals. Well Harrington had on the makeup to look like a cat and did the shoot, only to find out after practice that it was a joke. It was so good it was just featured on ESPN's SportsCenter. Check out the video below and have a good laugh.

DP Rule Changes

MLS announced today changes to the designated player rule that take affect immediately. Instead of having 1 designated player and being able to trade for a second slot, team's will now be able to have 2 DPs and have the ability to purchase a third DP slot for their team. Each DP will count $335,000, so a team that uses all 3 DP slots will be using over $1 million on 3 players for their team. By buying a third DP slot, a team would be required to pay a $250,000 fee that would be handed out by allocation money to the other MLS teams that do not have 3 DPs.

What's this mean for KC? I honestly don't see KC bringing in the team's second ever DP this season. Peter Vermes seems happy with the team as it is now. Of course should a player become available after the World Cup, who's to say Vermes doesn't go after that player. Still I doubt that KC will be bringing in a DP. Next year seems a bit more of a possibility. I don't doubt that OnGoal will eventually bring in another DP, but I personally hope we don't get 3. I don't see the point of using that much cap space on just those 3 players, because you're more likely to put a team like the 2008 Galaxy around those 3 players. It will be interesting to see which teams do end up using the full 3 DPs allowed. I have a feeling LA and Seattle will be two of them. The other is potentially New York who seems likely to at least add a second this summer.

Open Cup Qualifier Date Set

The Wizards have to qualify once again to get into the US Open Cup proper this year. We found out about a month ago that the Wizards won the right to host the Colorado Rapids for the first play in game. Today the date and location of the game was announced. The Wizards will take on Colorado on Tuesday April 13th at Stanley H. Durwood Soccer Stadium on the campus of UMKC at 7:30 pm. The game will take place 3 days after the Rapids and Wizards get together in a league game out Community America. This would seem to make things easier for Colorado who could now just stay in KC, train on Monday before the game on Tuesday.