Columbus got two second-half goals from previously goalless players to beat the Kansas City Wizards 2-1 in Columbus and snap a seven-game winless streak. Wizards defender Jack Jewsbury tallied in the 93+ minute to end the shutout against former Wizards goalkeeper Will Hesmer who started his second-straight match for the Crew. The Wizards have not been shutout in their last 20 MLS matches, dating back to August 16, 2006.
Both teams began the game's first half with extended runs of possession without many real scoring chances. The game's first opportunity came through Wizards forward Scott Sealy in the 13th minute.
Sealy dribbled his way into the penalty area after a long run of Kansas City possession, but he was dispossessed before getting off a shot with his left foot.
The Crew's first chance came in the 20th minute when midfielder Danny O'Rourke laid a ball off for midfielder Ned Grabavoy. Grabavoy took a shot from 23 yards out that sailed high and wide of goal.
In the 23rd minute, midfielder Sasha Victorine gave the Wizards their best scoring opportunity of the opening half hour. Victorine collected a ball in the middle of the park, settled and fired a right-footed shot low on the ground toward goal from 22 yards out. Victorine beat Hesmer but the ball slid inches wide of the back post.
Two minutes later, midfielder Carlos Marinelli fired high over the bar from the top of the penalty area after a quick give-and-go with Sealy.
Columbus saw its best opportunity of the first half in the 41st minute when a cross from the left wing was deflected out by a diving Hartman directly to Crew playmaker Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Schelotto attempted to head the ball across the face of the goal for a teammate, but Hartman was there to clean up the loose ball.
The final opportunity of the opening 45 minutes came to the Wizards as rookie midfielder Michael Harrington worked his way up the left side of midfield through several Columbus defenders in the 43rd minute. His left-footed cross found Davy Arnaud in the penalty area, but Arnaud's left-footed shot was saved by Hesmer after a quick cut around a Crew defender. Referee Brian Hall blew his whistle just two minutes later after awarding no stoppage time.
Kansas City nearly took a 1-0 lead early in the second half through Sasha Victorine in the 49th minute. Victorine received the ball after one-touch passes from Sealy and Zavagnin near the top of the penalty area put Victorine through into space. His first-time effort, however, was stopped by a diving Hesmer.
Columbus then opened the scoring in the 56th minute after forward Eddie Gaven collected a bouncing ball in the box and fired under a Wizards defender to the far post. Crew captain Duncan Oughton played a ball from the left flank into forward Alejandro Moreno. Moreno deflected the ball down for Gaven who stepped to his left before firing across his body with his left foot underneath Wizards captain Jimmy Conrad and past a diving Hartman. It was Gaven's first goal of the season.
In the 60th minute, the Crew maintained pressure for the next five minutes, with Schelotto finding a crease on the right side of the Wizards defense and firing a point-blank shot on goal from near the end line. Hartman deflected the ball out of play, conceding a corner that would prove dangerous for the Crew.
Schelotto took the corner, finding defender Stefani Miglioranzi at the back post ten yards from goal. Miglioranzi rose and redirected the ball across the face of goal, just over the out-stretched hand of Hartman who tipped the ball but could not push it over the bar. Miglioranzi's first goal of the campaign gave the Crew a two-goal lead it would not relinquish.
Kansas City pressed forward time and again after the second Crew goal. First, in the 63rd minute, substitute Yura Movsisyan found midfielder Davy Arnaud in front of goal, but Arnaud's shot was deflected out for one of the Wizards 10 corner kicks. Nine of the Wizards season-high 10 corner kicks came after halftime.
In the 68th minute, Arnaud again proved dangerous, winning the end line and crossing a ball to the penalty spot for Harrington. Harrington had to backpedal, however, to get his head to the ball, and his effort sailed wide of goal.
Four minutes later, Arnaud again caused trouble by whipping in a cross from the right flank that past two Wizards runners by only inches before sailing across the end line and out of danger.
In the 83rd minute, Victorine unloaded his third dangerous shot of the match. This time with his left foot, Victorine missed just inches wide of the right post from the top of the penalty area.
Arnaud continued his relentless search for goal in the 90th minute when he beat two Crew defenders on a 10 yard run into the penalty area. As Arnaud neared goal, however, he tangled with a Columbus defender and lost his footing and the ball. Hesmer scooped up the loose ball as Arnaud appealed for a penalty that was not awarded.
Jewsbury then stepped up from his right back position in the 93+ minute to grab a consolation goal and avoid the shutout. Harrington started the play, sending a cross from the left flank toward the back post for second-half substitute forward Ryan Pore. The Crew cleared the ball, however, and Jewsbury buried a powerful one-time shot from 20 yards out that slid between several players and past Hesmer at the back post to round out the 2-1 score line.
Kansas City does not have long until its next match, returning to Arrowhead Stadium to face 2006 MLS Cup Champion Houston Dynamo Sunday at 4 p.m. CT on Metro Sports and Telafutura. If the Wizards win that match, Head Coach Curt Onalfo will lead the MLS All-Star team July 19 against Scottish giant Celtic FC at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. The match Sunday kicks off a stretch in which the Wizards play six of seven matches at home.
Wizards Notables:
• Both teams played Saturday without regular starters. Kansas City was missing MLS leading goal scorer Eddie Johnson to United States National Team duty. Columbus was without regular starters Frankie Hejduk (U.S. National Team), Rusty Pierce (Suspension), Andy Herron (Injury) and Robbie Rogers (U.S. U-20 National Team).
• Columbus Crew Head Coach Sigi Schmid and Kansas City Wizards Technical Director Peter Vermes coached together on the United States Under-20 squad 2004-2005.
• Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and midfielder Sasha Victorine both played under Schmid with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
• Both Kansas City and Columbus were coming off 3-3 road ties over the weekend. Kansas City tied first-place New York at Giants Stadium after being down 2-0 within the first 15 minutes of the game. Columbus tied the New England Revolution 3-3 on a late Alejandro Moreno equalizer.
• Victorine, teammate Davy Arnaud and Columbus' Guillermo Barros Schelotto came into the match tied for third in MLS with four assists each.
• Schelotto recorded his fifth assist of the season on the Crew's second goal to move himself into a tie for second with Los Angeles forward Landon Donovan.
• Kansas City started the same lineup in back-to-back games for just the second time all season. In games three and four, both against Toronto FC, Kansas City started Hartman, Jewsbury, Conrad, Garcia, Burciaga Jr., Victorine, Marinelli, Zavagnin, Harrington, Johnson and Arnaud.
• The lineups did not stay similar for long April 25 and 28, however. In the second game, Marinelli left after just 16 minutes with an injury.
• Kansas City did not allow a goal in the first half for the first time in the last five matches. The last time the Wizards shutout an opponent for the first 45 minutes was also the last time the team recorded a shutout, May 5 in a 1-0 home victory over the same Columbus Crew.
• The Wizards have now gone down 2-0 in each of their last three road matches, going 1-1-1 over that stretch.
• Kansas City has allowed the first goal in each of the last six games, going 2-2-2 in those matches.
• The Wizards have not been shutout in their last 20 league matches. Four times in 2007 Kansas City has scored goals in the 90th minute or later to avoid being shutout. The Wizards are 1-3-0 during those games.
• Each of Kansas City's three losses in 2007 has been by a 2-1 margin.
• Jewsbury's goal in the 93+ minute was his first of the season and the eighth of his career. 10 different Wizards have scored goals in 2007.
• Midfielders Carlos Marinelli and Sasha Victorine had three-game assist streaks broken Wednesday.
• Wednesday marked the first match in 2007 the Wizards had not been awarded a caution.
• Wednesday was the second time Columbus had not been cautioned in a match this season.
• It was the first time in MLS play this season that no cautions were shown at all in the match.
• The Wizards remain just one point behind league-leading New York with a game in hand.
• Jed Zayner, a 71st minute substitute, played his first career MLS match for Columbus. He was drafted in the second round of the 2006 MLS SuperDraft.
Wizards Quotes:
Head Coach Curt Onalfo
On the match:
"We thought all along that they were a good team. It is tough to play any MLS team on the road. They dropped back and stuck to their game plan and executed well. I give credit to their players and coaches. Now we'll look forward to Sunday against Houston and focus on earning a win."
Defender Jack Jewsbury
On the match:
"We knew it would be a tough game, but that we could win it. We fell behind and were able to get a goal, but it was a little too late."
On Columbus' goals:
"We didn't think we gave away too many chances, but they got two goals so that was two too many. The good thing about having a game on Sunday is that we don't have to think about it for very long and can get back out on the field and make up for the loss tonight."
