*By finishing in 5th place in the East, the Wizards qualified for the playoffs as the 8th overall seed and switched brackets to play against opponents from the West.
The Kansas City Wizards host Chivas USA Saturday at 7 p.m. CT in the team's first playoff match since the 2004 MLS Cup Final. Kansas City and Chivas split the season series 1-1, with the Wizards winning 3-2 July 29 at Arrowhead Stadium and Chivas capturing a 2-1 victory September 22 at the Home Depot Center. In each match, the winning team scored after the 89th minute to win.
Kansas City will present a Trick-or-Treat Festival beginning at 5:30 prior to the game. Vendors will set up along the Arrowhead concourse and pass out candy and other items to participants. Costumed children 12 and under will receive one free admission with the purchase of an adult ticket. Families are encouraged to attend this safe and fun Halloween activity. Project Warmth will also attend the match, setting up a truck outside gate C for fans to bring new or lightly used coats and blankets for those in need.
The Wizards have played well against Chivas over the LA-based club's three-year existence. Kansas City is 3-1-2 all-time against the Goats and 3-0-0 at Arrowhead. Saturday will mark the second return of former Wizards playmaker Preki as Chivas USA's head coach. Preki is a front-runner for MLS Coach of the Year honors after guiding Chivas to the best record in the Western Conference in his first year at the helm.
Kansas City's own first-year coach has accomplished a great deal in his opening season with the squad. Curt Onalfo guided the team to its first postseason berth in three seasons and introduced an exciting, attack-first brand of soccer that Kansas City fans had not been accustomed to in past seasons. The Wizards responded with 1.50 goals per game and one more win than they produced in 2006 while playing two more games.
Chivas USA will be without the services of star forward Ante Razov Saturday due to a sprained knee. The Wizards Argentinean pair of Carlos Marinelli and Eloy Colombano are both in question due to injuries that forced them to exit the last regular-season match against FC Dallas early.
Kansas City and Chivas will play a return match Saturday, November 3 in Los Angeles, with aggregate goals deciding the series winner. If the teams are tied in aggregate after regular time November 3, a 30-minute mini-game will be played. If the series is still tied, penalty kicks will then decide the winner. Either Kansas City or Chivas will move on to face the winner of Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas. If Chivas wins, they would host the one-game conference semifinal. Kansas City would travel for the semifinal.
