The Kansas City Wizards came into their Sunday afternoon meeting with Houston Dynamo as the top scoring side in Major League Soccer; they had not been shut out in 11 matches. But after a bevy of decent chances that included 14 shots and five on goal, the Wizards can no longer claim either distinction. They must, however, own up to a three-game winless streak.
"We created enough chances to win the game, and we didn't," said Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo. "I'm going to say it until I'm blue in the face: we're not going to get caught up in the result. At the end of the day, we played a good soccer game today and had enough chances to put the game away, and we didn't."
Still, the Wizards remain hopeful even though they failed to make up ground on the conference-leading New York Red Bulls during the two games they had in hand.
"You look at the positives. We were rock solid and didn't give anything away almost the entire game, gave them a set piece goal in the 81st minute," Onalfo said. "Our guys fought and gave everything they possibly had. We fell short; that's life."
Set pieces for both sides were a large factor in the contest. The Wizards earned eight corner kicks against Dynamo but failed to score. Added to their 10 corners against Columbus on Wednesday without a goal and the Wizards were looking for better.
"Yeah, and we had been working on them the last two days. But go figure," said Onalfo. "When you play as many games as we have in the last week, it's difficult to spend quality time doing that. But that is something we'll spend next week getting ready for Toronto at home."
Surely the Wizards will work on defending set pieces too as it was a corner that Patrick Ianni put past K.C. goalkeeper Kevin Hartman in the 81st minute for the win.
"The ball they play in there on the goal is the most dangerous ball, and that's the one we want to hit too," said Sasha Victorine. "It'll come, but it's frustrating because you get to the point where you are forcing it almost. But right now, it's either the service or the run. It's just not there."
The lack of execution on set pieces and in the final third are certainly frustrating for the Wizards, but taking responsibility is a sign the Wizards are confident things will be righted.
"For us, it's frustrating and disappointing that we haven't been able to pick up very many points in the last couple games," said Hartman. "We just have to make sure we take a little bit of time off, get our work back together and really believe in one another and don't believe that this is something that is going to dictate our season. ... If you play enough games, you're going to take some losses."
Hartman's realistic attitude reflected a Wizards team owning up to its recent transgressions but it still has hope for the ample positives it can build uon.
"I take the positive from this. Carlos [Marinelli] got 80 minutes; he's played three games in a row, and team is now starting to understand how to find him. We're extremely dangerous," Onalfo said. "We had two one-v-ones with the goalkeeper. You have to put it in the back of the net, end of story. We're not going to let that result mess with the mood in this locker room."
Bob Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
