Opportunity will come knocking for "non-traditional" starters for the Kansas City Wizards when they take on the Carolina RailHawks Tuesday night at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup round-of-16 match.
The game is sandwiched between the Wizards' 1-0 defeat of Real Salt Lake in a regular season MLS match last Saturday and a quicker than normal turnaround, when they resume league competition Friday in Dallas.
Thus, for rookies like Chance Myers, Roger Espinoza, and Jonathan Leathers, as well as those who have recently lost spots in the starting lineup such as Tyson Wahl and possibly Carlos Marinelli, and little used players like Lance Watson and goalkeeper Eric Kronberg, the match will provide a prime opportunity to show their quality in what should be a hotly contested game.
"We're going to play Saturday, Tuesday, Friday. ... It's going to be a game where we're going to have to use some of our non-traditional starters, and that's fine because we have a deep team," said Kansas City head coach Curt Onalfo. "Throughout the year, we've used a lot of players, so those guys have all got experience and they've all got games. So we'll have to utilize that game where a lot of those guys get minutes, and we'll have our "starters" -- a lot of them, not all of them -- on the bench, and we can utilize them if we need them."
The Wizards advanced to the U.S. Open Cup tournament proper by defeating the Colorado Rapids on penalties after playing to a 2-2 draw over 120 minutes in the third MLS qualifying round back on June 4. Their opponents, at first glance, might not seem as they will present a big challenge, sitting tied for fifth place in the USL First Division. Yet they have scored the second-most goals in the league. Moreover, the Railhawks are hardened Open Cup veterans.
In their first season of existence, the RailHawks earned the semifinals via four consecutive triumphs, defeating the Chicago Fire in the round-of-16 along the way and eventually pushing the New England Revolution to extra time before losing 2-1 in the semifinals.
"We've already scouted them and know what they are all about. We're very familiar with them; a lot of them played in MLS," said Onalfo. "But when you have a team from a lower division, they have a lot to prove. That means they are going to come out with a lot of fight. You have to make sure, at a minimum, that you match that. It's going to be a tough challenge; they're a good team."
This season the RailHawks are undefeated at home during their USL-1 schedule. Their roster includes former D.C. United players in forward Jamil Walker and defender David Stokes. Current leading point-getters are Uruguayan forward/midfielder Martin Nunez and forward Daniel Antoniuk with five each.
All-time, the Wizards are 9-9 in Open Cup play, 3-6 on the road. Saturday's win for Kansas City was their first in eight MLS contests. Sitting in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, the Wizards have shown signs of life lately, creating more chances in the attack and grabbing the MLS lead in defensive shutouts.
"The Open Cup is something that we think is very important to do well in," said center back Aaron Hohlbein, who has recently become a starter and will likely see some time Tuesday. "We have a big roster with players who are very good from 1-28. ... We're going there to win."
If they do, the Wizards' schedule will become more loaded as they will take on either Chivas USA in Los Angeles on Monday or the Seattle Sounders in Seattle on Tuesday in an Open Cup quarterfinal, depending on the outcome of that third-round match.
Kansas City is already scheduled for an MLS Primetime Thursday contest next week against the New York Red Bulls, as well as a Friday night exhibition against Mexican side Atlas.
Bob Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
