KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Nobody needs to tell the Wizards how crucial Saturday night’s game against the Revolution is in the quest to make the playoffs.
Kansas City are working with precious little wiggle room entering the last third of the season, and the stakes are high with fellow Eastern Conference straggler New England coming to CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
Collect three points, and the postseason dream continues. Walk away empty handed, and the already long odds just got a lot longer.
"We need to win the game," assistant coach Kerry Zavagnin said. "We understand the implications, especially at this point in the season when we are chasing points to get in the playoffs. It's well understood that we need to go out and win this weekend."
And not just this weekend either.
Including Saturday's game against New England, Kansas City have five opportunities remaining to play in front of their home fans at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. The Wizards are 4-3-3 at home this year, but one glance at their road record (1-6-2) makes it clear that they will likely need three points from all five.
Unfortunately, it’s also clear that the Wizards will have to earn those points without some of their most dangerous weapons on Saturday.
Rookie forward Teal Bunbury is unavailable for selection, suspended for his part in the confrontation that resulted in a red card to San Jose’s Jason Hernandez last weekend. Winger Ryan Smith is listed as probable after suffering a knee strain in practice, but he was visibly hobbled on Wednesday and will not be at 100 percent physically if he does play.
[inline_node:307479]Even likely replacement Josh Wolff, who is also listed as probable, has been struggling with a calf injury for the past few weeks and hasn’t played 90 minutes since July 3 against FC Dallas.
That’s not good news for a team that has struggled to score – even when completely healthy. The Wizards have only scored 15 goals this year from a wealth of offensive chances.
"At the end of the day, you want to create chances,” captain Davy Arnaud said, “but we've maybe lacked a little bit of that killer instinct in the final third. You have take advantage of your opportunities. It's plain and simple: to win you have to score."
And to score – and win – the Wizards will have to break down a Revolution side that is one of MLS’ hottest teams.
Before losing in Chicago on Wednesday, Steve Nicol’s side was undefeated in eight straight while resurrecting their own playoff hopes and placing this game squarely in must-win territory for both sides.
With that in mind, there is little doubt that Saturday’s game will have an air of intensity indicative of two teams desperate for points and down to their final few opportunities.
"I think it's going to be a very physical game,” Zavagnin said. “Most teams come in to CAB, sit back and try to turn it into a roll up your sleeves and play for set pieces kind of game. It's going to be competitive."
With so much on the line for both sides, nobody would expect anything less.
