Kansas City failed to qualify for the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in a well-played match at Real Salt Lake under difficult weather conditions Wednesday. Argentinean signee Carlos Marinelli made his Wizards debut in the match, playing 60 minutes and jump-starting the play that led to Kansas City's only goal in a game that saw first-half snow flurries.
Marinelli entered in the 61st minute for midfielder Kerry Zavagnin and played solidly for the next hour. Marinelli's first significant touch for the Wizards nearly lead to a goal as a corner kick he took in the 64th minute was headed just wide by defender Jack Jewsbury.
Marinelli's solid play led to the game-tying goal in 88th minute. He made a swift move around a Real defender and laid a ball off to midfielder Davy Arnaud who served a cross into the box. Midfielder Will John redirected the Arnaud pass on goal with his head, but the shot was saved by Salt Lake goalkeeper Chris Seitz. Second-half substitute midfielder Sasha Victorine pounced on the rebound, burying it in the open net to tie the match and force extra time.
Salt Lake substitute midfielder Andy Williams spoiled the party for Kansas City, working a give-and-go with forward Jeff Cunningham and putting the ball past Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman in the 109th minute for the 2-1 win. Cunningham had a hand in both RSL goals.
Cunningham and Hartman tangled often early in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualifier as Cunningham was the only player to find himself on the score sheet in the opening 45 minutes.
First, in the fourth minute, Cunningham was shown a yellow for a high boot directed at Hartman after the Kansas City 'keeper had snagged a poor Salt Lake cross. Then, in the 12th minute, Cunningham put Real ahead with a well-taken penalty Hartman had no chance at stopping.
Real earned the spot kick after Wizards forward Eddie Johnson was called for being offside in the 10th minute. Real took the restart immediately and appeared to catch the Wizards off guard as Freddy Adu found himself alone in the right side of the Kansas City area. Hartman came out and challenged Adu with a sliding tackle. Referee Colin Tait blew his whistle and pointed to the spot immediately. Cunningham buried the ensuing penalty for a 1-0 halftime lead.
Kansas City next competes in MLS competition Saturday, April 21, at the Chicago Fire. The game begins at 7:30 p.m. CT and will be shown on HDNet. The reserve squad will make thheir debut the following day against the Chicago Fire Reserves.
The Wizards home opener comes Wednesday, April 25, at 7:00 p.m. CT against expansion side Toronto FC at Arrowhead Stadium. Toronto Head Coach Mo Johnston played in Kansas City under his current assistant, Bob Gansler, who remains the winningest coach in Kansas City history.
Kansas City Wizards Line-Up: Hartman, Jewsbury (Arnaud 72), Conrad, Garcia, Harrington, Raybould, Morsink, Zavagnin (Marinelli 61), John, Johnson (Sealy 46, Victorine 77), Movsisyan
Substitutes not used: Kronberg, Burciaga Jr., Hohlbein
Real Salt Lake Line-Up: Seitz, Stewart, Pope (Lancos 62), Torres, Forko, Klein (Williams 69), Talley, Ballouchy (Hashimoto 85), Cutler (Brown 110), Adu, Cunningham
Substitutes not used: Rimando, Harris, Besagno
Misconduct:
RSL - Cunningham (caution, reckless foul) 4
KC - Raybould (caution, reckless foul) 68
KC - Movsisyan (caution, delaying a restart) 90
KC - Marinelli (caution, game disrepute) 105
RSL - Torres (caution, game disrepute) 105
RSL - Williams (caution, game disrepute) 109
KC RSL
Total Shots: 15 8
Shots on Goal: 5 5
Saves: 3 4
Fouls Committed: 12 15
Offside: 5 2
Corner Kicks: 5 15
Referee: Colin Tait
Referee's Assistants: Feliciano Palomino; Brett Stephens
4th Official: Jeff Young
Wizards Notables:
Newly signed Argentinean Carlos Marinelli made his Wizards debut in the 61st minute. His first significant touch of the match was a deftly taken corner kick headed just wide of goal by defender Jack Jewsbury.
Kansas City rookie Michael Harrington showed his versatility, starting and playing a solid game for 120 minutes at left back after becoming the player with the fastest-ever goal to begin an MLS career, scoring just 3 minutes into the season opener 4/14 @ D.C. United as a left-sided midfielder.
Defender Nick Garcia made his 2007 debut, playing all 120 minutes after sitting out the season opener due to a red card issued in the 2006 season finale at New York. If Garcia plays 81 or more minutes in the MLS match Saturday at Chicago, he will pass former Wizards midfielder Preki for first on the Wizards all-time minutes played list.
Due to a tight schedule that has the Wizards playing 4 games in 11 days to begin the season, Kansas City started 5 players that did not begin the D.C. match. Defender Nick Garcia, midfielders Ryan Raybould, Kurt Morsink and Will John and forward Yura Movsisyan started in place of Aaron Hohlbein, Davy Arnaud, Sasha Victorine, Jose Luis Burciaga Jr., and Scott Sealy, respectively.
Both Wizards starting wing midfielders are Rockhurst High School graduates. Will John, class of 2003 and Ryan Raybould, class of 2001, began on the flanks for Kansas City.
Kansas City continued pushing forward throughout the match, out-shooting Real 15-8.
Kansas City fell to 1-3 all-time in overtime Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup matches, including a shootout loss against the Chicago Sockers (9/10/02).
The Wizards all-time record is 9-9 in Open Cup matches.
