KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Wizards know it won’t be easy, but they are taking solace in the fact that their playoff fate still rests in their own hands with five games remaining.
Beginning with this weekend’s visit to Red Bull Arena, Kansas City have matches remaining against New York, Seattle, Chicago, New England and San Jose. All but New England are still in contention for a playoff spot or close to locking one up.
"We've got five games left,” Wizards manager Peter Vermes said. “We need all the points we can get, and [the game at New York] is the start."
READ: Hopeful Wizards visit hard-charging Red Bulls
Unfortunately – or fortunately depending on how you look at it – the first of the five games is away to the Red Bulls, which may just be the most difficult test the Wizards face the rest of the way. Kansas City haven’t been particularly good on the road this season (3-6-3), but their away form has improved considerably since defeating Columbus at Crew Stadium in late July.
The Wizards also knocked off the league-leading Galaxy at The Home Depot Center in August, which should give the team something to build on going in against the Red Bulls, who are riding a fine vein of form themselves and are looking to protect their still-developing home advantage.[inline_node:315358]
“We were in kind of a similar position when we went into Los Angeles to play the Galaxy,” Wizards captain Davy Arnaud said. “We got a really good result there, and this is just another challenge for us. A positive result [against New York] … will give us even more confidence in the last four games.”
But even if it doesn’t work out the way Kansas City hope, there is still plenty of play for, although the team isn’t ready to start thinking that way just yet.
“I don’t think we’re out of it with a loss,” Vermes said. “But … we need to get something out of the game. We don’t want to rely on other people’s results at the end of the day; we want to control what we can control.”
But even though Kansas City still hold some power in determining their postseason destiny, some of their competitors are still going to have to trip up along the way.
Seattle and San Jose, both with an upcoming trip to Kansas City, hold six point cushions over the Wizards. The Sounders, though, have played one more game than Kansas City.
Playoffs or not, the Wizards still have something to prove. Despite a win-less streak that stretched to nearly 10 games, Kansas City have clawed back into contention and set themselves up for success when they opens their own stadium next summer.
“Obviously, we can win all our games,” Kansas City forward Kei Kamara said, “but if the teams just above us are also winning, it still won’t put us in the playoffs.
“Regardless, we’re trying to make our mark and our statement out here,” he added. “We’re pushing for the playoffs, and we want to show we deserve to be there. We kind of put ourselves in the position we are in, but winning this game against New York would be really big for us.”
