in the first game of 2006 away from home (April 15), a span of six games. The Wizards had been shutout in three games running, to go with their losing skein.
Dynamo took the lead after just 21 minutes. A corner kick sailed through the goalmouth and bounced off Eddie Robinson at the back post for his second goal of the year. But the Wizards put an end to their 310-minute scoreless run just two minutes later, a corner whipped in, flicked on by Sasha Victorine at the near post and Josh Wolff headed home at the far for his first goal since returning from the World Cup.
But Houston took command of the game with two goals in 10 minutes after the interval. Brad Davis put Dynamo in the lead in the 56th minute with a terrific free kick, hooking in a shot from the right, some 30 yards from goal, inside Bo Oshoniyi's left-hand post.
Then Brian Ching scored his third goal in as many games, receiving the ball at the top of the area with his back to goal, before turning on his marker and firing a shot into the roof of the goal (66).
The Wizards pulled a goal back three minutes from the end on another corner kick. This time Jimmy Conrad got forward to head home for his second goal on the season, but it wasn't enough to put an end to Wizards midseason slump.
Wizards head coach Bob Gansler made two changes to the team that lost 1-0 to the Colorado Rapids on a stoppage-time goal the previous Saturday in Denver. Jose Burciaga Jr. and Sasha Victorine both returned to the lineup, coming in for Matt Groenwald and Jack Jewsbury.
Here's Gansler's team (4-4-2): Bo Oshoniyi - Tyson Wahl (Jack Jewsbury 71), Nick Garcia, Jimmy Conrad, Jose Burciaga Jr. - Alex Zotinca, Sasha Victorine, Kerry Zavagnin (Scott Sealy 73), Lance Watson (Davy Arnaud 46) - Eddie Johnson, Josh Wolff. [Substitutes Not Used: Will Hesmer, Ryan Pore, Ryan Raybould, Shavar Thomas]
"The big question we have to ask ourselves is, 'Is this our level? Can we play better than this or can't we?'" Gansler said. "If we can't play any better than this, then this isn't acceptable. I think there is more there. I think the guys out there feel there is more there. We have to work on that and get it done."TEAM NEWS
The Wizards announced some shock news on Wednesday when head coach Bob Gansler stepped down. The longest-serving current coach in MLS, he took just days into the 1999 season, leading the Wizards to their only two honors, MLS Cup 2000 and the 2004 U.S. Open Cup. Gansler had an 86-85-51 regular season record. Brian Bliss will take over as interim head coach.
I think, quite frankly, he is doing the same things that he was doing in 2000, or 2004, 2003 whatever the case may be," said Wizards general manager Curt Johnson. "He is pulling the same strings, he's got the same passion, and certainly he has the same abilities as a head coach but for whatever reasons it was not translating into wins. It is result-related, this business -- it's a cliché, but that is what it is and we have only won six times in our last 26 games and that is not acceptable."
Bliss said that he feels the team needs a "mentality change": "Does that mean an all-out offensive force or does that mean bunkering it in? I don't think it means either. ... We have always considered ourselves a good defensive team, but we have lost our way a little bit there. We want to make sure that our defending is taking a step forward when we defend instead of taking a step back. What does that mean in laymen's terms? It means when you win the ball, you are already moving forward. Which will hopefully jump start your attack as well. It is a little bit of a philosophy change, but a psychological change as well to the way we address things."
Dynamo scored two of their three goals from dead ball situations. "Defending set pieces in general is just concentration," Conrad said. "And sometimes you can look at how a set piece is created. Sometimes it's a turnover we give away in a bad area that leads to a corner kick. If we play that right, we're not giving up set pieces. There is always the play before the play and we just have to get some more of those."
The Wizards have now scored the first goal just twice in their last 13 games - when they've won just twice, and lost nine. After nine consecutive games where they scored just one goal in each, they've scored two goals in two of their last six (shutout in four), but they've lost both.
"It's obviously something where you start thinking about it a lot. What do we do from here? We're just thinking, 'Oh, man we're giving up the first goal,'" Conrad said. "It's just starts to snowball. I think if we can just melt the snow in some way, we'll be all right. I think really getting that first goal and having a lead at some point will be a nice change for us."
After winning their first two games of the season at Arrowhead Stadium, they've now won just one of their last five. "This is our home and we've got to press and we've got to push. We've got to be the ones who are putting teams on their heels and I don't think we did," Victorine said. "I think in the first half at times they were pressing more than we were. We were turning the ball over and it was allowing them to have more possession in the game."
