The Kansas City Wizards battled the San Jose Earthquakes to a 1-1 tie in Bradenton, Florida Sunday afternoon. Wizards Head Coach Bob Gansler used several veterans, all seeing extended playing time in the team's fourth of seven scheduled exhibitions in Florida.
Kansas City controlled the play for much of the first half, and
their efforts paid off with the game's only goal of the first stanza. In the
38th minute, Alex Zotinca sent a freekick from inside the Wizards end to
Josh Wolff on the left of center. Wolff flicked a ball forward as defender
Jose Burciaga overlapped and charged into the box. Burciaga gained
possession and blasted a shot from ten yards out towards the far post and
past 'Quakes goalkeeper Pat Onstad, giving the Wizards the 1-0 lead.
The Earthquakes made several changes at halftime, while the Wizards
opted to keep most of their starters in the game as Bob Gansler begins to
prepare his troops for longer duty with their Champions' Cup match against
Costa Rican side Deportivo Saprissa looming in just over two weeks.
San Jose evened the score in the 72nd minute as rookie Antou Jallow
connected with fellow rookie Chris Wondolowski, who chipped a shot over
Wizards 'keeper Will Hesmer for the equalizer.
With the tie, Kansas City's record improves to 2-1-1 in four matches, with
three more to play in the Sunshine State. The Wizards will return to action
on Tuesday, February 22nd when they take on the University of South Florida
on the USF campus in Tampa. The match will kickoff at 6:00 p.m. CT.
Scoring Summary:
KC- Jose Burciaga (Josh Wolff) 38'
SJ- Chris Wondolowski (Antou Jallow) 72'
Kansas City Wizards Lineup:
Bo Oshoniyi-GK (Will Hesmer-60'); Alex Zotinca
(Shavar Thomas-70'), Jimmy Conrad, Nick Garcia, Jose Burciaga; Jay Alberts
(John Minagawa-Webster-46'), Kerry Zavagnin, Diego Walsh (Doug Lascody-55'),
Chris Klein; Josh Wolff (Ryan Pore-75'), Davy Arnaud
San Jose Earthquakes Lineup:
Pat Onstad-GK (Jon Conway-46); Craig Waibel
(Wes Hart-46), Eddie Robinson (Troy Dayak-46), Chris Aloisi (Ryan
Cochrane-46), Wade Barrett (Orlando Ramirez-67); Brian Mullan (Roger
Levesque-67), Ricardo Clark (Danny O'Rourke-46), Tighe Dombrowski (Kevin
Goldthwaite-46), Brad Davis (Chris Wondolowski-67), Ronald Cerritos
(Alejandro Moreno-46), Brian Ching (Antou Jallow-67)
