KC's hopes hinge on perfect finish

Wizards must win all remaining games for shot at postseason

By Jeffrey King / MLSnet.com Staff

"For 65 minutes we were pretty good," said KC coach Peter Vermes after the defeat. (Cardoso)

CARSON, Calif. -- The postseason hopes of the Kansas City Wizards took a blow on Saturday night, as they fell 2-0 to Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center. The Wizards controlled the tempo of the game's opening minutes, but were unable to break through the league's best defense, falling to two late goals in a three-minute span.

The loss puts the Wizards in a tough spot. They must now win the remainder of their games and hope New England loses its final two games, against Chicago and Columbus, if they are to play in November.

"I would say for 65 minutes we were pretty good," said Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes. "I thought in the first half we actually took it to them a little bit and had some very good chances, but physically, from a fitness perspective, we died out around the 65th minute and they really started taking a lot of the play. That sort of let us down today at the end of the game."

The Wizards fell behind in the 72nd minute on a Justin Braun goal and then quickly conceded another in the 74th as Sacha Kljestan scored. Down two goals, the team struggled to fight back against a resolute home side.

"Unfortunately, we found ourselves behind one and then two really quickly and at that point I'm not sure we reacted well enough to come back," said goalkeeper Kevin Hartman. "It's difficult when you're behind a team that can bunker in a little bit like that.

"Chivas is very, very tactically disciplined, so they are a tough team to break down," he continued. "I'm not sure how many shots we had on frame, but I don't think it's probably that many. But we did create opportunities across the 18 [yard box] and inside the box we just weren't able to put the finishing touch on anything." The Wizards saw a number of strong performances on the evening, most notably midfielder Graham Zusi, who was making just his third start of his rookie season.

"We had Graham in the lineup who hasn't been in the lineup for quite some time," said Vermes. "But he had an excellent performance."

Zusi was active all evening in the center of the field, and nearly found the back of the net in the 17th minute when he intercepted a back pass from Chivas USA defender Yamith Cuesta and blasted a shot just wide of the net.

"Performance-wise, I thought I did decent," said Zusi. "Center midfield has been my natural position prior to joining the team, so obviously it felt good to get back into the middle of the pitch."

If the Wizards are to gain the six points they need to keep alive any chance of making the postseason, at least they have the advantage of playing both games at home, playing host to Seattle on Oct. 17 and D.C. United a week later.

"It's pretty simple," said Vermes. "We know we have to win those games. But more importantly, we have to be sure our performance is good. If our performance is good, and we can hold onto something for 90 minutes and play and know how to manage the game, then we give ourselves a good chance to gain those points.

"If we go out there and just try to let it all hang out in the first half and not understand what the game requires, then we'll struggle," he continued. "We'll just take it one game at a time and see how it goes."

Jeffrey King is a contributor to MLSnet.com.