Burciaga pulls Wizards win out of Fire
After the Wizards won a late corner, Burciaga was credited with the game-winning goal after driving a low hard cross along the goal line that Fire goalkeeper Zach Thornton accidentally deflected into his own net.
The Fire then appeared to tie the game in stoppage time. Gonzalo Segares' shot from about 30 yards deflected off Wizards midfielder Kerry Zavagnin and ended up rolling around in the goal. But referee Andrew Chapin waved off the apparent goal after Wizards defender Nick Garcia and goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi showed the referee a hole in the side of the net they claimed the ball went through.
In the first half, Scott Sealy had scored twice for the Wizards as the home side twice came back from a goal down. When Sealy hit for his second in the 39th minute, it marked the first time since April 8 that Kansas City scored more than one goal in a game, a span of nine matches.
The Wizards went into an early hole when Andy Herron scored for Chicago in the fourth minute. Thiago found Herron with a pass in the crease in the middle of the Wizards defense and Herron shot past Oshoniyi.
The Wizards kept pressing forward with three more shots on goal in the next 15 minutes. Lance Watson had best of the shots on Thornton when he shot from about 20 yards in the 19th minute. The Fire defense did not stop Watson as a dribbled from near the halfway line to the point from where he shot.
A good buildup from the back led the tying goal, scored by Scott Sealy in the 27th minute. Sasha Victorine fed the ball ahead to Sealy running at the goal from the left wing. Sealy pulled ahead of Fire defender Leonard Griffin and held his shot until he was about 10 yards from Thornton.
Wizards defender Tyson Wahl had a header on goal from an Alex Zotinca free kick in the 29th minute, but Thornton had no trouble catching it.
About a minute later, the Fire took the lead for the second time a Nate Jaqua's header in the 30th minute. Fire midfielder Ivan Guerrero did the bulk of the set-up work, racing down the left wing with the ball and putting a left-footed cross on Jaqua's head. Oshoniyi appeared to stop the shot, but lost his balance as the ball trickled over his head.
The Wizards tied the game in the 39th minute on Sealy's second goal of the game. Victorine sent Burciaga down the left side with a pass past Griffin, who stumbled as he turned to chase. That gave Burciaga more space to find Sealy with a cross to the far post.
Kansas City had seven shots on goal in the first half, just two fewer than their season high for an entire game.
The Wizards nearly took the lead in the 55th minute, but Victorine's shot bounced off the crossbar. Burciaga found Wizards midfielder Davy Arnaud with a long pass out of the back, but Arnaud laid the ball off to Victorine when two defenders converged on him.
The home side then came close again in the 73rd minute. Jack Jewsbury, who had come on as a substitute only three minutes earlier, hit a shot off the bottom of the right post from about 30 yards off a free kick play. Burciaga, Victorine and Jewsbury stood over the ball, Burciaga tapped the ball to Jewsbury, who had a clear shot on goal only for it to come back off the woodwork.
Both teams kept pressing forward trying to gain the three points. Substitute Matt Groenwald made Thornton save his 20-yard shot off a counter attack for a corner kick, the same corner that led to Burciaga's game-winning goal.
Robert Whitman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
