then just before the hour mark, the home side took the lead on a lightning-quick counter from a corner kick. A quick clearance found Nicolas Hernandez on the left, and he raced forward before knocking a long pass into the path of Herculez Gomez. Gomez carried into the area with two defenders in hot pursuit before curling a shot under Matt Pickens and inside the far post from the left side of the box (58).
• Yet the Fire finally found their way through five minutes from the end. Chris Rolfe skipped through a couple of tackles and clipped a short pass to Chad Barrett, all alone in the Rapids penalty area after the Colorado defense had stepped forward. Barrett quickly brought the ball down and slotted under an advancing Bouna Coundoul for the equalizer, leaving both teams with four points from their opening two games.
• Fire head coach Dave Sarachan made no changes to the team that defeated the New England Revolution 1-0 at Toyota Park in the season opener.
• Here's Sarachan's team (3-4-1-2): Matt Pickens - C.J. Brown (Thiago 46), Jim Curtin (Calen Carr 79), Gonzalo Segares - Logan Pause, Chris Armas, Diego Gutierrez (Pascal Bedrossian 70), Ivan Guerrero - Justin Mapp - Chad Barrett, Chris Rolfe. Substitutes Not Used: Jon Busch, Brian Plotkin, Dasan Robinson, Osei Telesford
• "It was a little frustrating," Fire coach Dave Sarachan said. "Eighty-five minutes with a man advantage, you expect to win. But sometimes you play a team with 10 men, it's tough because you have to solve problems you don't usually have to solve. Frankly, I don't think we did a good job of it. At the same time, coming away with a point is a good thing."
TEAM NEWS
• Despite playing with the man advantage for nearly the entire game, the Fire didn't create many opportunities on the night, forcing Rapids goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul to make just two saves.
• "The Rapids did well, the Rapids really defended well which made it very difficult to figure out how to break them down," said Chris Armas. "Maybe we could have played the ball quicker, moving better, just create more opportunities. We were a little impatient, but we got a point."
• However, the goal finally came from Barrett, and while the Rapids at first felt the Fire striker was offside, replays showed was in front of the last defender when the ball was played, before the Colorado line stepped forward.
• "We were wearing them down and (the Rapids) had to chase the game a little bit," Sarachan said. "We still toward the end created some chances, Chad got the goal, but (the Rapids) are a team that can battle."
• Sarachan made no changes to his team at the start, keeping the same 3-4-1-2 formation as gained the 1-0 victory against New England in the season opener at home.
• "Sometimes it looks that way and sometimes it look like a 3-5-2, sometimes a 3-4-3," said Sarachan. "We really did not set up like that. We sort of allowed guys to find their roles. We allow certain guys freedom to move into spaces and toward the end of the game we threw a lot of numbers forward."
• The Rapids going with just one striker up top and ensuring the two central midfielders stayed deeper (with the addition of Pablo Mastroeni) meant the Fire could reorganize as well.
• "Sometimes it's hard to play teams with 10 men, because they really lock it in and drop a lot of numbers. We asked Thiago and Justin (Mapp) to find the spots a little more underneath," Sarachan said. "We told them to play aggressive and be forward; however it wasn't executed as we hoped."
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Kansas City Wizards got their 2007 season off to a rousing start, going to RFK Stadium and coming away with a 4-2 victory against D.C. United last Saturday evening. The Wizards are tied for third place in the Eastern Conference with three points, along with the New England Revolution, a point behind the Fire and New York Red Bulls.
LAST MATCH
• United were making their home debut while the Wizards were opening their 2007 campaign after sitting out the opening weekend of the season.
• But the Wizards had a two-goal lead after just eight minutes in a wild opening half that saw five goals scored. A long ball was flicked on into the left corner and rookie Michael Harrington ran onto it. After Facundo Erpen fell on the wet turf, Harrington rounded the fallen United defender and hammered a low drive inside the near post to give Kansas City a lead after just three minutes. It was the earliest goal in league history scored by a player making his MLS debut.
• Then five minutes later the Wizards doubled the lead. Scott Sealy chased down a ball on the left and sent in a low cross that Eddie Johnson corralled in the heart of the area. Instead of shooting, he pushed the ball to his right where Sasha Victorine came rushing in to send the ball crashing into the top of the goal.
• Yet United pulled a goal within three minutes. Erpen sent a long ball forward to the K.C. penalty area, where Luciano Emilio was inexplicably left completely alone behind the Wizards defense. The Brazilian striker brought the ball under control and hooked a quick shot home.
• United drew level in the 34th minute. The Black-and-Red won a free kick well out from goal, and Christian Gomez sent a drive past the wall. But it skipped off the wet turf and Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman somehow saw it bound off his chest and into the goal to make the score 2-2.
• But just before the half, Kansas City again nosed in front, again thanks to a defensive lapse. A poor ball out of the back was deflected and picked off by Johnson, who out-raced the United defense into the penalty area before ripping a low drive past D.C. goalkeeper Troy Perkins.
• After the break, the Wizards put the game away. Again Johnson was the instigator, running onto a long ball from Victorine and sending a drive on goal. Perkins was able to parry the attempt, but Sealy came racing in to put the rebound home, sealing a victory for head coach Curt Onalfo in his first match in charge in the stadium he used to call home.
• Onalfo didn't have Nick Garcia available for the season opener, suspended for a red card received in the season finale last year. That meant a start for Aaron Hohlbein - one of two players taken in the supplemental draft in January who started for their teams on opening day (New England's Gary Flood the other). The Wizards also had a rookie start in Michael Harrington on the left of midfield.
• Here's Onalfo's team (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Jack Jewsbury, Jimmy Conrad, Aaron Hohlbein, Jose Burciaga Jr. - Davy Arnaud, Sasha Victorine, Kerry Zavagnin, Michael Harrington - Eddie Johnson (Kurt Morsink 88), Scott Sealy (Yura Movsisyan 78). Substitutes Not Used: Will John, Eric Kronberg, Ryan Raybould, Tyson Wahl, Lance Watson
• "It's a great way to start out the season and gain some confidence. It's one game and we have to make sure we put together two, three, four, five," said Onalfo. "(But) if we can continue to do the things we did tonight, then we'll be a good team all season long."
TEAM NEWS
• Eddie Johnson was named MLS player of the week after his performance, where he was credited with a goal and two assists and was involved in all four Wizards goals.
• "I've always believed in Eddie," said Onalfo. "He's a very hard worker and today was a reflection of all his hard work (in the offseason)." Said first-goal scorer Harrington: "Eddie was unbelievable. He showed his speed and talent. He had guys all over him and he scored a big goal to put us up 3-2. He was huge tonight."
• In addition, Johnson's strike partner of Scott Sealy scored a goal and added an assist himself. "We need to harness Eddie and Scott and we have figure out a way to be successful. They did a pretty good job of getting service in the box," said Jimmy Conrad. "The team is dangerous and as long as we continue to have that mentality and that attitude and capitalizing on other teams' mistakes, I think we'll have a good situation at the end of the year."
• Despite the scintillating victory against a conference rival, the Supporters' Shield winner from a year ago, and coming in his head coaching debut, Onalfo was trying to keep his excitement tempered after the game.
• "We're going to keep playing our game, going to keep playing our style. We're going to show up and play the same way and like I said, continue to get better," he said. "There are some things in the game we need to improve on. We're going to look at ourselves as a team and continue to progress. We get a little better every day, and I think today you saw a team that believes in themselves and we're going to continue to do it."
• After the early two-goal cushion, the Wizards conceded two goals before pulling away again. It was creditable performance for a back four featuring rookie Aaron Hohlbein in the center (a supplemental draft selection this January) and Jack Jewsbury at right back - a new position for him after figuring as a wide midfielder for most of his career.
• "I think we defended well. We knew that D.C. was going to come out [hard]. I think it was their home opener. Anytime you play in D.C., it's a tough place to play, and I think we overcame that. We started off well. We got two early goals and I think you can't control what the ref does but I just think we overcame that, we got another goal before half and I think overall it's a great performance."
• Without the services of newly-signed Argentinean midfielder Carlos Marinelli, Victorine emerged as the leader behind Johnson and Sealy, relentless in building the attack through the middle. Onalfo lauded Victorine after the game, who he called his "playmaker."
• On Wednesday, the Wizards lost 2-1 in extra time to Real Salt Lake in their U.S. Open Cup play-in game at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Jeff Cunningham put RSL into the lead in the 12th minute when he converted a penalty kick after Freddy Adu was upended in the box, but just two minutes from full time, Sasha Victorine banged home a rebound from close range to pull the match level. In the added period, Cunningham slipped a quick pass through to Andy Williams, and he fired home off the inside of the post to send Real through. It was the sixth time in Wizards club history they were knocked out of the competition after just one match.
• "No one is happy with losing, but I think everyone is happy with the ability we showed with holding the ball at the end and creating opportunities," said Victorine. "And this is all away from home. That same mentality of going at people and playing with confidence and have a little bit of a swagger, I think that's the kind of mentality we're trying to have."
• Here's Onalfo's team: Kevin Hartman, Jack Jewsbury (Davy Arnaud 72), Jimmy Conrad, Nick Garcia, Michael Harrington, Ryan Raybould, Kurt Morsink, Kerry Zavagnin (Carlos Marinelli 61), Will John, Eddie Johnson (Scott Sealy 46) (Sasha Victorine 76), Yura Movsisyan. Substitutes Not Used: Jose Burciaga Jr., Aaron Hohlbein, Eric Kronberg
