In what was essentially a playoff elimination game, the New York Red Bulls beat the Kansas City Wizards 3-2 Saturday night at Giants Stadium to claim the fourth and final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference.
The Red Bulls will host rival D.C. United next Saturday at 2 p.m. in the opening leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series. They have Amado Guevara and referee Ricardo Salazar for that.
Twice Salazar called for penalty kicks and twice Guevara converted after Dave van den Bergh put the Wizards in front in the 23rd minute. Guevara completed the hat trick, the third of his career, in the 75th minute, beating goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi with a low shot inside the near post.
It's the second consecutive year New York eliminated Kansas City from the playoffs on the final game of the regular season. Last year, the MetroStars beat Chivas USA to clinch their berth to move ahead of the Wizards.
Trailing the Wizards by two points coming into the game, the Red Bulls needed a win but fell behind midway through the first half. Seth Stammler was dispossessed in midfield and van den Bergh started the attack. Josh Wolff rounded Carlos Mendes and New York goalkeeper Jon Conway saved his chip at the near post. But the ball bounced to van den Bergh, whose left-footed shot beat Conway for the 23rd-minute opener.
But the Red Bulls equalized eight minutes later on Guevara's first penalty kick after Chris Henderson was taken down by Ryan Raybould on a patented Henderson cutback. Guevara stepped to the spot and beat Oshoniyi high to the keeper's right on the half hour mark.
In the 40th minute, Jose Burciaga, Jr. nearly put the Wizards back in front but his free kick from 45 yards out bounced off the top netting.
The Red Bulls had two chances in first-half stoppage time to take the lead but Youri Djorkaeff was stopped by Oshoniyi at the near post and then Todd Dunivant put a shot off the crossbar from 25 yards out.
Guevara put the Red Bulls in front on the hour mark on his second penalty kick of the game. This time Burciaga was called for the foul in the box, pushing Marvell Wynne with his right hand. After momentarily hesitating, Salazar pointed to the spot again and Guevara took the kick again.
This time, the Red Bulls captain beat Oshoniyi low to the keeper's right. He improved to 4-for-4 on penalty kick attempts for the season.
Guevara completed the hat trick and stamped his team's playoff ticket in the 75th minute with a low shot from 24 yards out that rolled past Oshoniyi.
The Wizards drew a goal closer in the 83rd minute when Scott Sealy took Sasha Victorine's cross off his chest and rolled a low shot past Conway inside the far post.
But Kansas City's opportunity to equalize took a major hit when Nick Garcia was given a straight red card for tugging down John Wolyniec from behind three minutes from full time.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
