There was only one team at Giants Stadium Saturday night desperate for a win, but it's not like the New York Red Bulls were going to turn down three points, either.
And thanks to a Juan Pablo Angel brace and a big penalty kick save by Jon Conway, that's exactly what the home side got, beating the Kansas City Wizards 2-1.
With the win, the club's first since beating Chicago at home Sept. 1, the Red Bulls clinch third in the Eastern Conference and will play New England in the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series, with the first leg Oct. 27 at Giants Stadium.
Meanwhile, Kansas City could have booked their postseason ticket with a win, but will now will await their fate on the final weekend of the season for a third consecutive year, barring a Los Angeles Galaxy loss against Toronto on Saturday night and Colorado failing to beat Chivas USA on Sunday.
After Jose Burciaga Jr. handled Dave van den Bergh's cross, Angel made it 5-for-5 from the penalty spot, beating Kevin Hartman low to the 'keeper's right to put the Red Bulls in front on 19 minutes.
Two minutes later, though, the Wizards equalized on a set piece of their own as Jack Jewsbury headed Davy Arnaud's free kick past Conway to level the score.
Angel capitalized on another Burciaga miscue as the defender fell on the ball, allowing Dane Richards to run free towards goal. The Rookie of the Year candidate found Angel, who tapped the ball past Hartman from the spot for his 18th goal of the season in the 24th minute.
The Red Bulls had two other quality chances to extend their lead before the half, but Francis Doe headed the ball over the crossbar from 12 yards in the 41st minute and then put the ball off the crossbar in the third minute of stoppage time.
After his team gave up 11 goals in the past five games, including several of the soft variety, Red Bulls boss Bruce Arena made several changes to his team's starting XI Saturday.
Conway made his first start since giving up a late own goal against New England Aug. 25, replacing Ronald Waterreus. Carlos Mendes was back in the starting lineup, playing centrally alongside Jeff Parke as Seth Stammler moved up in the midfield in place of the suspended Joe Vide.
Hunter Freeman started in place of Chris Leitch, who was on the substitutes' bench and Dema Kovalenko moved into the middle of the park in place of Claudio Reyna, who missed the match because of turf toe. Arena started Jozy Altidore, Doe and Angel together, with Altidore playing wide on the left side of midfield.
Kansas City welcomed back Jimmy Conrad and Jewsbury from suspension as the only changes in Onalfo's starting XI. Onalfo was also the first to make a change, bringing on Sasha Victorine at the start of the second half for Burciaga, who had a forgettable first half.
Conway came up big in the 53rd minute after Mendes pulled down Scott Sealy just inside the box and referee Mark Geiger pointed to the penalty spot. Eddie Johnson stepped up for what the Wizards hoped would be the equalizer. But Conway dived to his right to make the stop.
Three minutes later, Johnson went down in the box after contact with Freeman, but Geiger booked Johnson for a dive in the box.
The Red Bulls came up with another big defensive stop in the 75th minute. Sealy tapped Johnson's cross in front of the goal, but Conway dived and made the save. The ball caromed out and appeared to be about to cross the line, but van den Bergh swept in and cleared the ball off the line.
Conway, who had six saves, made one final stop, pushing Johnson's shot from distance away in the 90th minute.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
