The Kansas City Wizards and Major League Soccer today unveiled the 2005 MLS regular season schedule. The Wizards 2005 campaign features a 32-game slate that kickoffs on Saturday April 2 when they host the Colorado Rapids at Arrowhead Stadium beginning at 7 p.m. CT, and culminates with the 10th MLS Cup Championship game on Sunday, November 13.
"We are thrilled with our 2005 Major League Soccer schedule," said Wizards General Manager Curt Johnson. "In combination with our Champions Cup games and U.S. Open Cup games, our overall season schedule is shaping up to be very challenging and one that Wizards fans everywhere will thoroughly enjoy."
The reigning Western Conference Champion Wizards begin a new era in 2005 as they move to and compete in the Eastern Conference for the first time. With the realignment comes a series of intriguing matchups and new rivalries. The Wizards join the Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, the MetroStars and New England Revolution in Eastern Conference, while the two expansion teams, CD Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake, join the Western Conference.
The Wizards will face each Eastern Conference team four times during the season, twice at home and twice on the road, and will face each Western Conference team twice, once at home and once on the road. The realignment will allow the Wizards to enhance rivalries against teams including the Chicago Fire, which the Wizards beat in the 2000 MLS Cup Final and the 2004 U.S. Open Cup Final, and D.C. United, which Kansas City lost to in the 2004 MLS Cup Final.
A rematch of the 2004 MLS Cup will take place on Saturday, April 30th when 15-year-old phenom Freddy Adu and D.C. United come to Arrowhead Stadium for the first of two appearances in Kansas City. United's second visit to Arrowhead in 2005 will take place on Wednesday, July 20th. The Wizards are scheduled to play at RFK Stadium on Saturday, May 21st and Saturday, July 9th.
In another increasingly heated rivalry, Kansas City will travel to Chicago on Saturday, June 18th to face the Chicago Fire for the first time since last season's overtime victory at home in which the Wizards won their first U.S. Open Cup title. Chicago will travel to Kansas City for the first of two meetings at Arrowhead on Friday, August 19th.
Despite playing each of their former Western Conference foes just twice this season, the Wizards will still renew a bitter rivalry as they play a home-and-home series against the Los Angeles Galaxy on consecutive weekends in September. The Wizards first host the Galaxy at Arrowhead on September 17th followed by a return trip to the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA on September 23rd.
Prior to the start of the 2005 MLS season, the Wizards will begin play in the 2005 Champions Cup against Costa Rican side Deportivo Saprissa. The Wizards will host the first leg of the first round, aggregate goal series on Wednesday, March 9th at Arrowhead Stadium. The match will kickoff at 7:00 p.m. CT. Tickets to the Champions Cup match are available now through Ticketmaster.
Wizards 2005 Season Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by calling the Wizards office at 816-920-9300. Individual tickets will go on sale March 7th and can be purchased through Ticketmaster by calling 816-931-3330 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, log on to www.kcwizards.com or call 816-920-9300.
