KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City Wizards Reserves (1-3-3, 6 pts.) picked up their first win in Reserve Division play with a convincing 3-1 win over the CD Chivas USA Reserves (1-5-0, 3 pts.) at Arrowhead Stadium Sunday morning. Chivas USA struck first with a goal early in the first half, but the Wizards responded with three unanswered goals to pick up the victory.
The match began with a torrid pace as both teams were able to string together passes in the opposing end and keep the defenses on guard from the opening whistle. Wizards forward Ryan Pore broke through to create the first chance of the day for either side in the 8th minute. He shook his defender and laid a pass to Khari Stephenson in the middle of the box, but Stephenson pushed his shot wide to the left.
Chivas USA grabbed the momentum after the opening sequence of back and forth action when midfielder Dru Hoshimiya rifled a shot on goal from 18 yards out, forcing Wizards goalkeeper William Hesmer to dive to his right to make the stop in the 18th minute. Three minutes later Chivas' Antonio Martinez unloaded another shot from nearly the same spot and again forced Hesmer to the ground to make the save.
In the 23rd minute, the Chivas USA pressure paid off as Christian Jimenez created his own space outside the top left of the 18-yard box and scooped a bending left-footed shot over the Wizards defense towards the far upper corner of goal. Hesmer tried to lunge for it, but the ball dipped in just under the crossbar to break the scoreless tie.
The Wizards responded very quickly as they literally took the ensuing kickoff and marched into the Chivas box. Preki sprung Ryan Pore on the right side of the box, allowing Pore to run onto the pass in full stride and hammer his shot inside the left post to even the score, just 40 seconds after Chivas' opening tally.
Pore would again find himself on the receiving end of a number of chances over the final minutes of the first half and into the opening of the second half. Two shots a minute apart in the 29th and 30th minutes and another early in the second half all missed their mark by mere inches.
With a number of substitutions available to the Wizards, they were able to keep their legs fresh in the brutal humidity. Chivas, however, was not as fortunate with only two field players available and their play showed as the pace slowed in the second frame.
Wizards second half sub Justin Detter doubled the lead in the 65th minute with a brilliant goal from inside the box. Ryan Pore began the series holding possession on the right side of the box. He slipped a ball to Preki near center, who in turn fed Detter who was unmarked near the penalty spot. Detter calmly curled a left-footed shot towards the far post with enough pace that the Chivas USA goalkeeper could do nothing but watch it rustle the back netting.
Kansas City continued to take advantage of a sluggish Chivas side when second half sub Davy Arnaud blazed into the right corner with the ball. As the Chivas USA defense regrouped to cover the speedy Arnaud, they left Preki open inside the box and Arnaud quickly took notice slipping the ball through to him. Preki took one touch to line up his shot and hammered his left-footed chance across the mouth of the goal and just inside the right post to cap the scoring for the day.
Scoring Summary:
CHV- Christian Jimenez (Unassisted) 23'
KC- Ryan Pore (Preki) 23'
KC- Justin Detter (Preki, Ryan Pore) 65'
KC- Preki (Davy Arnaud) 84'
Chivas USA Reserves (4-4-2): Javier Barragan-GK (Shaun Kalnasy-75'); Michael Erush, Victor Arbelaez, Aaron Lopez, Orlando Perez (Esteban Arias-46'); Mike Munoz, Dru Hoshimiya, Francisco Mendoza, Antonio Martinez (Francisco Gomez-61'); Christian Jimenez, Arturo Torres
Kansas City Reserves (4-4-2): William Hesmer-GK (Martin Hutton-64'), Brian Roberts (Davy Arnaud-77'), Ryan Raybould, Dustin Branan, Jack Jewsbury (Daniel Dobson-56'), John Minagawa-Webster (Pat McGinnis-66'), Doug Lascody, Alex Zotinca, Khari Stephenson (Justin Detter-46'); Preki, Ryan Pore.
Misconduct Summary:
CHV- Francisco Gomez (Dissent) 72'
Attendance: None (closed to the public)
Weather: Sunny, humid, 89 degrees
Referee: Rizal Milliken
Assistant Referees: Jerry Cova, George Major
4th Official: Younasse Tarbouni
