After dominating for 90 minutes and leading 1-0 going into stoppage time, the Kansas City Wizards' 1-1 draw at FC Dallas on the Fourth of July felt much like a loss. Yet there are significant positives from the match that will be taken into Thursday night's home match with the New York Red Bulls.
"If anything, it's motivation for Thursday because we let two points slip," said center midfielder Kurt Morsink. "But it's frustrating. ... Honestly, it feels like a loss."
Taking motivation from a disappointing result can ring hollow, especially for a team sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but Kansas City's play of late has been promising.
Defensively, play has been promising not just of late but most of the season. The Wizards lead MLS with six shutouts and have allowed only 17 goals in their 14 games. The adage goes "defense wins championships"; the stinginess is a good sign, but it's not everything.
"You realize once you get into the playoffs, games really tighten up and the teams that have a good defensive foundation and that have had success throughout the year defensively tend to adjust to the playoffs a lot better than teams that are wide open and just attack all the time and give up a lot of goals," said veteran midfielder Kerry Zavagnin. "Certainly, we have that going for us. [However], there is still a need to take a little pressure off of us defensively, and that [is done] by scoring goals."
Offensively, forward Scott Sealy's 39th-minute spinning strike on Friday was the first by a Wizards' player in 448 minutes. The goal is hopefully a harbinger of many more to come for K.C. and for Sealy, who has averaged nearly nine goals in each of his first three years.
"[D.C. United's Luciano] Emilio had 20 goals last season, and seven games without any goals [this year]. You get a couple bounces going your way, and now he probably won't stop scoring the rest of the season. That's how it is," said Sealy. "You want to score every game, and it's very disappointing when you don't. It's up to you to keep your head down and don't get shy [where] you don't want to shoot or take any chances. But ... I'm going to shoot. I'm not going to be shy. I'm going to take my chances, and more often they're going to go in."
However, the Wizards failed to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities last Friday, a fact labeled "concerning" by head coach Curt Onalfo -- certainly a deserving label. To take charge at home and to likely avoid another disappointing result, cashing in on an early chance against New York is imperative.
"[Jumping on top] is very important because the result [the Red Bulls] just got against Colorado was a negative result for them and because we're playing at home," Morsink said. "Anytime we're playing at home, we want to be able to jump on a team, get an early goal and impose our style of play."
And as they head into a stretch of four games against fellow Eastern Conference opponents, briefly interrupted by the July 24 All-Star Game, the Wizards' season goals come to the fore. Achieving them begins with beating the Red Bulls and climbing out of the conference cellar.
"We still believe in what we are doing. We still have a style of play. We still have the roster, and we still believe we can achieve every goal we set," said Morsink. "We still want to finish first. We still want to win MLS Cup. We're going to get there, and it starts with getting three points against New York."
Added Onalfo: "Make no mistake about it; it's a huge game on Thursday, and we're going to give everything we have to get the three points."
Bob Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
