Silence could be heard out of the Kansas City Wizards locker room Saturday. Smiles were scarce. Body language depicted disappointment.
And Wizards players probably had a good reason for not being in a celebratory mood.
Not after scoring the go-ahead goal against a team with 10 men with six minutes to play in a road match and failing to hold on to the lead.
Not after giving up a score in the 87th minute and losing a chance at adding three points in the Eastern Conference standings following a 1-1 draw against the Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center.
But despite the downbeat mood in the locker room, Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman had the motivation to step outside into the hallway and sign several autographs for awaiting fans.
Hartman's post-match actions are probably not out of ordinary for a 12-year MLS veteran. And they might not be unusual for a goalkeeper that Wizards coach curt Onalfo said has proven to be a team leader.
"He's had a very good year. But the point of emphasis, if you look at Kevin, he's gotten better each year," said Onalfo.
But what has stood out most to Onalfo about Hartman is his progress and meshing with the Wizards back line the last three seasons with the club.
"He's kept us in a lot of games and has put us in position to win games," Onalfo said about Hartman, who grew up in Palos Verdes Peninsula just a short drive from The Home Depot Center. "I thought he did that (Saturday)."
And it appeared Hartman would help secure a scoreless tie after making a wicked save late in the match. He slapped away a Chris Klein blast from about 22 yards out in the 82nd minute with his right hand while diving to his right.
It appeared he would be finishing with his fifth shutout of the season. And Hartman and teammates thought they were on their way to a win against the Galaxy for the first time since June 2004 after Davy Arnaud gave them a 1-0 lead in the 84th minute.
Arnaud tapped in a shot with his left foot off a diving header by Herculez Gomez, who redirected a Roger Espinoza cross toward Arnaud and the center of the goal.
Things were favorable for the Wizards. The Galaxy's Gregg Berhalter was ejected in the 58th minute after tugging at Claudio Lopez' shorts.
Lopez was speeding away from defenders when Berhalter reached out and grabbed Lopez from behind, prompting referee Terry Vaughn to show a straight red card.
Still it wasn't enough for Kansas City, which was without leading scorer Josh Wolff and starting midfielder Santiago Hirsig, to earn the three points. Both players served a one-match red card suspension.
"When [Galaxy] went to 10 men, we needed to get after the game, and go get the winning goal, which we did," Arnaud said. "It was unfortunate that we let one in ... in the last couple of minutes, but we should've come away with the three points."
Hartman couldn't reach Edson Buddle's shot inside the right post in the 87th minute that tied the match. Landon Donovan assisted on the breakaway play that started near midfield.
"It's nice to be back home playing in front of my family," said Hartman, who played for the Galaxy from 1997 to 2006. "But at the end of the day it would have been nice to get three points just for us in the standings. You're always disappointed when you give up a goal late."
The Wizards are 4-4-4 with 16 points and sit tied for third with D.C. United and Toronto FC in the standings instead of second place behind Chicago (21 points). The result also gave the Galaxy their fifth straight tie, its ninth in 11 games.
But Saturday's outing could benefit Kansas City. At least that's how Onalfo sees it.
"It's disappointing when you're winning 1-0 with an extra player we want to close out the game," Onalfo said. "We had a real quiet locker room. It feels like a loss to us. But what does it tell about our team? I still think that we do have depth but like every team in the league, we have to continue to get better."
And Hartman plans to continue to be a leader despite the locker room atmosphere.
"It's my job to try and motivate the guys, give lessons where they need to be given and when they have questions try to solve them and when we see problems," Hartman said. "You got to rectify them so we're not making the same mistakes throughout the year."
Ivan Orozco is a contributor to MLSnet.com
