you can't prevent him from crossing the ball, that's impossible especially in a big field like this."
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Kansas City Wizards return to action after a week off, continuing their long road spell following a 2-1 loss to the Columbus Crew two weekends ago at Crew Stadium. The Wizards have 10 points from seven matches, tied for fifth place in the Eastern Conference with Toronto FC, a point behind New York and three in arrears of third-place New England.
LAST MATCH
• The Crew came into the match atop the Eastern Conference for the first time since the 2004 season, with three victories on the trot, while the Wizards were facing the third game of a six-game road swing following a win and a loss in the first two.
• The Crew have made their home performance a special emphasis this season and they got off to a terrific start, opening the lead after just four minutes. Guillermo Barros Schelotto swung a free kick from the right all the way to the other side, where Chad Marshall headed it back across goal. Adam Moffat got up at the back post to nod it over the line for his second goal on the campaign.
• The home side doubled their lead in the 34th minute. After an interception from a throw-in, an overhead kick from Alejandro Moreno found Robbie Rogers streaking down the left side. He slipped in front of a defender and poked the ball past Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman as he came off his line, sending it trickling into the goal.
• Just two minutes later, the Wizards were left down a man when Roger Espinoza was sent off in a homecoming of sorts, after a clash with Crew fullback Frankie Hejduk. Espinoza played his college soccer in Columbus at The Ohio State University.
• Even shorthanded, the Wizards came back into the game and pulled a goal back 11 minutes from the end. Danny O'Rourke pulled down K.C. striker Scott Sealy as he tried to spin past him just inside the area, and Claudio Lopez finished from the spot -- the first of three penalty kick attempts to beat Crew 'keeper William Hesmer this season.
• Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo made one change to the team that lost 2-0 to Toronto FC the previous weekend. Eloy Colombano made his first appearance in the starting lineup on the season, replacing Kerry Zavagnin.
• Here's Onalfo's team (4-3-1-2): Kevin Hartman - Chance Myers, Jimmy Conrad, Tyson Wahl, Michael Harrington - Eloy Colombano (Ryan Pore 74), Jack Jewsbury, Roger Espinoza - Kurt Morsink (Carlos Marinelli 61) - Ivan Trujillo (Scott Sealy 46), Claudio Lopez. Substitutes Not Used: Aaron Hohlbein, Eric Kronberg, Sasha Victorine, Kerry Zavagnin
• "It was gut check at that moment (of the red card)... 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."
TEAM NEWS
• After back-to-back shutouts - where they took four points - the Wizards have allowed two goals in each of their last two games and dropped both. The two goals allowed in Columbus put the team in an early hole from which they weren't able to break out.
• "I think that there were a couple of times when our back line was stepping when they should be dropping. We have a lot of young players on our team, so we are going to make those mistakes," Onalfo said. "We can live with that because we feel that we are building a team for the future, a team that is not only going to be good in the future, but darn good now."
• Said midfielder Kurt Morsink: "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. 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."
• Just two of the Wizards' eight goals have come in the first half; they've now conceded four before the interval. "For some reason, we haven't been getting off to good starts," said goalkeeper Kevin Hartman to the Kansas City Star. "That's something we need to address as a group."
• Onalfo said the bye weekend was good in some ways, but after losing two games on the trot, it would have been nice to return to action quickly.
• "You never want to have any time off, you always want to get right back into it. We want to continually get better," Onalfo said. "We are right in the middle of a very long away stretch. It will only make our team better. They are going to learn through this experience."
• But Onalfo said it would be in getting three regulars - Carlos Marinelli, Sasha Victorine and Davy Arnaud - all back to health.
• "The reason why we have a lot of younger players playing is partly our philosophy of developing players. But more so that we have three starters that aren't currently playing, which gives us [time to those guys]," said Onalfo. "It's a real positive ... you're developing depth."
• Especially key, said Onalfo, will be the return of Marinelli. He has not been able to start any of the last three games, missing the Chicago win entirely, and limited to late substitution appearances in the two losses in Toronto and Columbus.
• "Carlos started the season very, very well. He has passes in him that change the outcome of the game, and when he's on the field, [Claudio] Lopez plays a bit further up the field for us. We're just a better team going forward," said Onalfo. "When you lose a guy of that caliber [to a lingering injury], you lose some of those final passes."
