Soccer is the type of sport that lends itself to a young person's legs. A little too much of it, however, might not always be a good thing as the Kansas City Wizards found out Sunday afternoon in a 3-1 loss to Santos Laguna at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
The loss ends Kansas City's run at the SuperLiga 2009 title, while Santos will move to the semifinal round against fellow Mexican Primera Division team Tigres UANL in Foxborough, Mass. on July 15.
Kansas City veteran defender and captain Jimmy Conrad's shaky right hamstring, which kept him out of last Wednesday's SuperLiga 2009 match in New England, gave way toward the end of the first half, forcing him to the sideline with a strain and leaving his team with next to nothing in terms of experience on the back line.
Little used Rauwshan McKenzie, who saw action against New England last Wednesday in SuperLiga play but hasn't appeared in a Major League Soccer game in his two years with the Wizards, replaced Conrad and joined rookie left back defender Matt Besler, third-year player Aaron Hohlbein and Jack Jewsbury, who has spent this season in the midfield but was moved to the back in the second half after another substation.
That wasn't going to work against the active attack Santos brought to the field.
Early and often, Santos pushed the issue, something not seen often this season at the smaller CAB field.
It meant constant work for Kansas City's backline, including Conrad, who said he felt his hamstring starting to give about the 30th minute while battling for a ball in the corner.
"I kind of went into the corner with the ball," Conrad said. "One of their guys was trying to steal the ball and knock it out because I felt it. We got tangled, and my pride and ego got in the way. I said 'there's no way this guy's beating me.'
"I don't know if my hammy's a little strained or what, but [getting taken out] is just precaution. I don't want it to get any worse than it is."
Like wolves, Santos' attacking players immediately began hunting the Wizards defenders, repeatedly sending deep balls in exploration of holes.
"Well, yes, it took a while for us to make goals," said Santos technical director Sergio Bueno. "I think we had various offensive chances to convert earlier but well, the goals came at an opportune time."
One of those balls made it through in the 61st minute, as forward Agustin Herrera collected a pass from Walter Jimenez and scored with McKenzie in the area.
Santos found another goal 13 minutes later on a Matias Vuoso header over goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, which effectively put the game out of reach as the Wizards would only get a Claudio Lopez goal off a free kick in the 80th minute.
Coming into Sunday's Group B finale, Santos Laguna had never beaten a Major League Soccer team in the tournament. For that matter, they were 0-3-2 all time in SuperLiga play, after a 4-2 loss to New England and a scoreless draw with Atlas this year.
It meant Sunday's win on the road was mandatory if Santos wanted to advance.
"It was the only result that would help us," Bueno said. "Due to what we had done before, this is how we get to the next round."
Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo said the result left something to be desired.
"Disappointing, very disappointing," Onalfo said, "especially when you felt like we had a chance to tie the game.
"Anytime you lose Jimmy Conrad, who, in my mind, is one of the best central defenders in [MLS], you're going to have issues. Having said that, I thought Rauwshan did a fairly solid job. But, you're playing against a very savvy group of attacking players.
"That ended up being the difference in the game."
Besler, who has been solid if not great for the Wizards since joining the starting 11 early this season, said the team fell short even though it knew what had to be done to advance to the semifinals.
"The bottom line is we didn't get the job done," Besler said. "We came out here wanting to win the game. Coach told us at halftime that New England won, so all we needed was a tie.
"That didn't really change out mentality. We still wanted to come out and get the first goal to make it easier on ourselves. Looking back at the game, there is a lot of 'what if's.' That's the frustrating part."
Even though it was a road game, a sizable portion of the CommunityAmerica Ballpark wore the familiar green-striped jerseys of Santos. To have so many fans show was pleasing to the club's coach.
"Yes, it's a nice surprise that so many people have shown up to cheer on the team," Bueno said. "It's just great for us."
With Tigres next up, Bueno said he expects a much different club than what the opposition showed through the group stage.
"Well, surprisingly they advanced because they came with a very young team," Bueno said. "And, they did what it took to get to the next round. But, surely we will see another Tigres team in the next round with their principal players."
Now finished with SuperLiga, the Wizards return to action on Tuesday in Minnesota, for their opening match in the U.S. Open Cup, a third-round game in Minnesota against USL-1 club Minnesota Thunder.
Curtis Kitchen is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
