For the first time this season, the Kansas City Wizards faced a real mountain to climb. And while they weren't able to come all the way back, falling 2-1 to the Columbus Crew on Saturday night in the third game of a six-game road swing, they certainly did enough to answer some questions.
From the start at Crew Stadium, the field was tilted for the home side. In just the fourth minute the Crew drew first blood. Crew midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto sent a free kick across to the far left side of the box. The ball was headed back across the face of goal by defender Chad Marshall, where Adam Moffat came moving in and finished with a header to the back of the net.
Kansas City rebounded to play great defense for a stretch after surrendering the goal, but their offense was not creating the chances they needed to equalize the game.
"I thought after [the first goal] we played extremely well. We gave up a poor goal ... two of our guys just not communicating properly," said Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo.
Just when the Wizards seemed to being gaining some momentum, Columbus scored their second goal in the 34th minute, with another defensive lapse being the culprit. Frankie Hejduk intercepted the ball and sent it toward Crew forward Alejandro Moreno, who flicked an impressive overhead kick pass to midfielder Robbie Rogers. As Hartman came off his line to try and claim the ball, Rogers slipped the ball past the sliding goalkeeper with a quick flick, sending it trickling into the net.
Bad went to worse in no time at all. Just two minutes after Rogers scored, Hejduk committed a foul on K.C. midfielder Roger Espinoza. In a scuffle for the ball after the whistle blew, Espinoza hit Hejduk high with a foreman that earned him an instantaneous red card from referee Mark Geiger.
The half ended with K.C. down one man and two goals and a lot of questions to be answered. Fortunately for the Wizards, Onalfo seemed to have a few answers. The Wizards came out sharp in the second half, creating scoring chances right off the bat. However, the team just could not seem to capitalize on their efforts.
"It was gut check at that moment ... and they passed with flying colors in the second half," Onalfo said. "It's the first time our team had to deal with some major adversity in a game and I thought our guys responded well. We were extremely well balanced and showed enormous grit -- there are a lot of positives to build on."
The Wizards were able to pull a goal back in the 79th minute when Crew defender Danny O'Rourke grabbed the jersey of K.C. forward Scott Sealy in the box, pulling him to the ground to win the Wizards a penalty kick. Forward Claudio Lopez pounded the spot kick past Hesmer with a low blast to the left side.
Lopez seemed to be all over the field for 90 minutes and played an all around great match for the Wizards.
"Every time he steps out on the field he pours his heart out," said Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad. "He's very passionate about playing soccer and playing the right way."
After losing two of the first three games on their testing road expedition, Kansas City is showing no signs of discouragement.
"The team is focused. We've played three away games and we've won one and lost two, but our two losses I feel like we played well," said midfielder Kurt Morsink. "We've given up a couple free kicks, a couple errors here and there, but all in all after 90 minutes I feel like we were the best team both times."
There is still a long road ahead for the Wizards, who will not play another home game until June 14 when they will face the Crew in a rematch. Although it will be a tough stretch, the team is not worrying this early in the season.
"There's no panic button. Everyone knows this is a long season and there is a lot of parity in this league and ultimately teams are going to win their games at home," Conrad said. "We are doing are best to become a tough team on the road."
Ryan Bergeman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
