The Columbus Crew got two goals within a five-minute span early in the second half and held on to put an end to their seven-game winless streak, defeating the Kansas City Wizards 2-1 at Crew Stadium on Wednesday night.
Goals from Eddie Gaven and Stefani Miglioranzi gave the Crew just their second victory on the season -- their first since April 28 -- and kept the Wizards from taking over the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo also would have been the coach of the MLS team in the MLS Sierra Mist All-Star Game if his side had won, but that honor will have to wait until Sunday.
Both teams had key players absent, as Frankie Hejduk for the Crew and Eddie Johnson for the Wizards were both with the U.S. national team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. But it was a trade-off Crew fans were more than happy to accept, with Johnson tied with Juan Pablo Angel of the New York Red Bulls atop the MLS goal-scoring chart, each with nine goals.
Crew coach Sigi Schmid chose to give goalkeeper Will Hesmer his second start of the season, and it came against the only other MLS team for which Hesmer has ever made a starting appearance. Hesmer allowed three goals in his first Crew start last weekend, against the New England Revolution.
The pace of the game started off slow, with neither team even attempting a shot until about the 20-minute mark. The two best chances fell to the Wizards, but neither greatly tested Hesmer.
Midway through the half, Sasha Victorine stepped into a square pass from Jack Jewsbury from outside the area and ripped a low drive, but it skipped just wide of Hesmer's right-hand post. Then near the end of the half Carlos Marinelli crossed the ball into the middle of the penalty area, but Davy Arnaud was unable to settle the ball in time to get enough strength on his left-footed shot, harmlessly rolling it to Hesmer.
Victorine had another glorious opportunity just after the start of the second half. A good passing sequence saw both center backs close on the ball, and Kerry Zavagnin found Victorine all alone right in front of goal. But Hesmer came quickly off his line to deflect the shot away as the Wizards midfielder could not believe how open he was.
The Crew started to come into the game more after the break, and went ahead in the 56th minute. Alejandro Moreno took a pass on the left wing, and after cutting inside toward goal, ripped a low shot into a group of players in front of the net. Gaven was there to gather the ball for the Crew and bury a left-footed roller inside the right-hand post for his first goal of the year.
Only minutes later the Crew lengthened their lead in style. Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who has been taking most of the dead-ball set pieces for the Crew since joining the team, sent in another beautiful curling ball on a corner kick in the 61st minute.
Miglioranzi rose above Wizards defender Nick Garcia to get a clean head on the ball while leaning away from goal, and he was able to send a looping header that just went over Kevin Hartman -- the Wizards goalkeeper was able to just get his fingertips to it -- and under the bar into the back of the net.
Down the two goals, the Wizards tried to pour on the attack, as Onalfo brought on forward Yura Movsisyan, the hero of their 3-3 draw in New York last weekend with two goals off the bench. But despite continual pressure and winning corner kick after corner kick (they had a 10-2 edge in corners on the night), the Wizards couldn't break through.
Kansas City did finally spoil Hesmer's shutout bid three minutes into stoppage time. A long ball into the box was just knocked straight out to the top of the area, and Jewsbury came in to hammer home a low, deflected drive for the final margin.
After scoring just five goals in their first seven games, the Crew have now scored 10 goals in their last five games. But it was the victory the Crew Stadium fans were most happy with, as it also put an end to the Wizards' four-game unbeaten run.
Nathan Linton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
