SECOND LEG
COLUMBUS CREW v KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
Sat., Nov. 8, Columbus Crew Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET; HDNet; ONN; MetroSports)
LEAGUE HEAD-TO-HEAD: CLB 16 wins, 64 goals scored; KC 16 wins, 59 goals scored; 5 ties
2008 HEAD-TO-HEAD: CLB 2 wins, 8 goals scored; KC 0 wins, 4 goals scored; 2 ties
AT CREW STADIUM:
5/10: CLB 2, KC 1 (Moffat 4; Rogers 34 - Lopez 79 pen)
7/17: CLB 3, KC 3 (Schelotto 26; Moreno 33; Marshall 38 - own goal 22; Espinoza 24; Wolff 75)
MLS CUP PLAYOFFS: CLB 0 wins, 1 goals scored; KC 0 wins, 1 goals scored; 1 tie
REFEREE: Ricardo Salazar.
SAR (bench): Anthony Vasoli; JAR (opposite): Nate Clement;
4th: Mark Geiger
INJURY REPORT: COLUMBUS CREW -- OUT: MF Brian Plotkin (athletic pubalgia) ... KANSAS CITY WIZARDS -- DOUBTFUL: FW Josh Wolff (fibular stress reaction); DF Lance Watson (foot stress reaction); PROBABLE: FW Abe Thompson (groin strain)
SUSPENDED: KC: Herculez Gomez (through Nov. 9)
WARNINGS (suspended next yellow card): CLB: Gino Padula; Chad Marshall ... KC: Jack Jewsbury
CREW: If the Columbus Crew are to move onto the Eastern Conference Championship, they will likely have to do so by winning their first playoff game in six years. The Crew have gone six postseason games without a victory, their last win in the MLS Cup Playoffs coming Sept. 28. 2002, a 2-1 win against the San Jose Earthquakes at Crew Stadium. They have lost two and tied four since. "It's been a while since our club has been in the playoffs, so there's always a little bit of apprehension and tentativeness," said Sigi Schmid after the first-leg draw. "I think to get the first game under our belt knowing we didn't play our best game and being able to come out on equal footing at the end of the day, I think that was very important for our team." ... The Crew boast the league's best home record this season (11-2-2) and come into the second leg riding a six-game home winning streak. The last time they were held without a victory on Black & Gold Boulevard? The 3-3 tie with Kansas City on MLS Primetime Thursday on July 17. The Crew have not lost at home since June 7. "I've been a believer you always want to play the second game at home," Schmid said. ... If anything, the late equalizer will likely change the approach for both teams in the second leg. "It changes (Kansas City's) approach probably, more than anything," Schmid said. "If they had the lead they could come like 'Let's really sit in. Let's look to counter.' Now they have to play." ... Moving away from the smaller field in Kansas City could help the Crew as well. 30 of their 50 goals on the season came at home. "We've got to get better flank play. I don't think Robbie Rogers had his best game. Eddie Gaven didn't necessarily have his best game, either," Schmid said. "With a little more space that will help us on the flanks. We still need to get Guillermo (Barros Schelotto) a little closer to Alejandro (Moreno) at times to help create more problems that way." ... Lenhart goal's in the first leg was his fifth in league and MLS Cup play this season; three have produced ties from the 87th minute on. "It was a big goal for him, a big goal for the team and one you're going to need in order to be successful in the playoffs. We have a very good opportunity going home and doing the things we know how to do at home and trying to get a result."
WIZARDS: Over the middle part of the season, the Kansas City Wizards had shown a propensity to give up leads late, a trend they had put rest to down the stretch. Unfortunately, it came back in the first leg against Columbus. "We said from the beginning this series is just a 180-minute game. Right now after 90 minutes, it's even," said K.C. head coach Curt Onalfo. "I'm disappointed because I felt we should have walked out of (Kansas City) with a win and a one-goal advantage, but we didn't. Nobody ever said this stuff is going to be easy." ... The Wizards feel they can have success in Columbus. In the first league meeting, the Crew jumped out to a two-goal lead, but the game changed with the first-half ejection of Roger Espinoza. The Wizards took an early two-goal lead in the second meeting, only for the Crew to storm back with three goals before the teams settled for a 3-3 draw. "We're definitely excited to go there and play. We did enough offensively the last time we were there to get a win. Unfortunately we had some defensive mistakes and they were able to capitalize on it," said Kevin Hartman. "... They had the better of us in the series this year, and we're looking forward to having the opportunity to play well." ... Davy Arnaud has scored the last two postseason goals for the Kansas City Wizards. A year ago, the Wizards returned to the MLS Cup Playoffs after a two-year absence, and Arnaud scored the team's only goal in three games. The last Kansas City postseason goal not scored by Arnaud came on a penalty kick from Josh Wolff in MLS Cup 2004. "I thought the goal was going to hold up," Arnaud said. " ... I thought we continued to battle hard and had an unlucky break at the end. Having said that, we're all square. We obviously wanted to win at home, but we didn't lose any ground so we're going into [this] weekend even and with everything to play for." ... With Herculez Gomez suspended for the second leg, Espinoza could start in his place, or Josh Wolff could get a start in attack with Claudio Lopez moving to a wide midfield role. "Certainly it's a big loss. He's been an excellent player for us. He's been a constant threat on [the right side] of the field, but every team has to deal with that kind of stuff," said Onalfo. "We'll find a way. We have plenty of other good players who can step in and do a good job."
