Saturday night's match between the Kansas City Wizards and FC Dallas featured one team needing a win to clinch a playoff spot in the Wizards, and another in FCD whose postseason ticket was punched two weeks ago. In the end, it was the visitors who showed a sense of urgency in a 2-0 win thanks to two goals from Scott Sealy.
"That's how we have played all year [with a sense of urgency]," Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo said. "Tonight was a night where we kind of put it all together. We wanted it and played pretty well for the most part. We were rock-solid defensively and I don't think we gave a lot away."
Sealy's first goal came in the 39th minute after Davy Arnaud caught an FCD defender napping and sent a great lob over his head. Sealy got the ball to the left of the FCD goal and then beat goalkeeper Ray Burse to make it 1-0.
His second goal in the 55th minute was also assisted by Arnaud. The Wizards midfielder started the sequence by finding Jack Jewsbury on the right flank. Jewsbury attempted a shot that went offline and found Sealy, who was waiting at the far post. Sealy then calmly punched it in, beating Burse for the second time on the night.
"Scott [Sealy] is a goal scorer, a guy that you can count on in games when you need a goal," Onalfo said. "That's a luxury for a coach to have. I'm extremely proud of his performance."
The Wizards boss was equally complimentary of Arnaud's play.
"I thought he played as always, with unbelievable heart," Onalfo said. "He always seems to get in line and cause havoc. I thought with a little luck, he would have had a goal in the first half. I thought he had a solid performance."
Sealy had to leave the field in the 65th minute with a right quadriceps injury but his early departure didn't dampen his spirits at all after the game.
"It's a big win," he said. "We're in the playoffs after a couple of years where we underachieved and it's a good feeling. We came out tonight, played a complete game for 90 minutes. We head into the playoffs next weekend and I guess tomorrow, we find out who we play."
While it was his two goals that won the game, Sealy also offered kudos to the K.C. back line that helped the Wizards keep their first clean sheet in 14 games, since a July 14 win against Real Salt Lake.
"Besides the two goals, what I look at tonight was the defensive effort," Sealy said. "We got a clean sheet and haven't been able to keep one of those in a long time. The guys were solid tonight and that's the type of effort we need going into the playoffs. It was an extremely good performance tonight and I think that's going to roll over to the playoffs."
Besides Sealy, Eddie Johnson was also dangerous. Even though he missed a shot at an empty net in the 30th minute, Onalfo still liked what he saw from the former FCD player and the rest of his attack.
"We feel like we're a team that's dangerous in a lot of different ways," Onalfo said. "Eddie Johnson has got such great pace that he keeps you on your heels and the fact that he's up there causes havoc. I thought Sasha Victorine had a wonderful game with his passing. He really did a good job of looking up and spraying the ball."
For Johnson, coming back to Dallas, where he spent his first five seasons in MLS before coming to the Wizards last year, is always a special experience.
"It's always good coming back here," Johnson said. "Part of my heart is still here in the city and I still have a lot of friends on the team. As a team, we came here in a good spot but not in a spot where we had security."
Coming into the match, Johnson and his teammates knew they could exploit the fact that the Wizards had everything to gain from a win and the Hoops could see the regular-season finale as mostly meaningless.
"We knew this wouldn't be an easy game but knew we had something to prove and they didn't," Johnson said. "They were already in the playoffs and we knew that we would come out hungrier than they did and it showed. Scott Sealy, my hat is off to him tonight. He's a guy that has been battling injury all year and when he has been on the field, he has made some big plays for us. He showed that tonight."
The win was the first for the Wizards in more than a month. They last won on Sept. 15, a 3-2 victory against the Columbus Crew. But for Onalfo, the regular season is over and now that his team is in the playoffs, it truly is anyone's game.
"Our goal this year was to make the playoffs and any team that makes the playoffs is positioned to be successful," Onalfo said. "We need to figure out who our opponent is and once we figure that out, we will put together a game plan that we feel that will be successful over two games. We're going for broke. We feel that there's nothing to lose now."
Johnson echoed his coach's sentiments. "Right now, it's anybody's trophy," he said. "The hard part is getting to the playoffs. We have the monkey off our back and hopefully, we can carry that momentum into the playoffs."
Onalfo was adamant that he doesn't care when his side starts the postseason, only that they will be participating.
"This has been a goal that we've had all year," he said. "We started the season extremely well and then had a lull in the middle of the season and really struggled towards the end. It's nice to get a win heading into the playoffs with some confidence knowing that we've got some big games ahead of us."
The Wizards' playoff opponent could be D.C. United or Chivas USA. If Chicago beats the L.A. Galaxy on Sunday, then Kansas City would become the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference and face regular-season conference winner Chivas USA in the opening round.
However, should the Fire tie or lose to the Galaxy, then K.C. would be the fourth seed in the East and would face Supporters' Shield-winning D.C. United.
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
