United edges dull Wizards
By: Craig Stouffer
Examiner Staff Writer
September 9, 2009
D.C. United 1, Kansas City Wizards 0
It wasn’t D.C. United’s intended plan to generate just enough offense to get its home game-heavy push for the playoffs off to a good start, even though Kansas City came into Wednesday’s clash at RFK Stadium having gone scoreless in four of its last five matches.
But United got all that was necessary in the first half – a goal by Luciano Emilio and five saves from goalkeeper Josh Wicks – for much-needed 1-0 victory that propelled the team, for now, back into a playoff spot if the season were to end today.
“Right now we just worry about ourselves,” said United head coach Tom Soehn. “We’ve said that all along, that this stretch of [five consecutive] home games is crucial for us. We’ve built everything up to this point and said, if we stay close, we control our own destiny.”
United (8-5-12, 36 points) moved out in front of a four-team battle for the final two berths in the Major League Soccer postseason, but not before Wicks bailed out his teammates with his third shutout in four matches and defender Bryan Namoff provided another set of heroic blocks and deflections.
With regular defenders Marc Burch (ankle) and Dejan Jakovic (sports hernia) sidelined by recent surgeries, United’s cobbled together back line was nearly exposed in the second minute when Claudio Lopez made the first of his endless forays down the left side and found a streaking Davy Arnaud, whose point-blank effort required so little from Wicks for the save that he couldn’t remember the play afterward.
Jaime Moreno became the first of three players to hit the woodwork in the half with a 23rd minute header off the crossbar. But Kansas City was unlucky not to steal the lead in a frantic spell a dozen minutes later.
First, Herculez Gomez blasted a corner kick rebound from 25 yards on target, only to have Namoff head it clear over the goal. On the ensuing corner kick, Jimmy Conrad’s header was denied by the crossbar, and Josh Wolff had a bicycle kick parried by Wicks and a second rebound attempt again cleared by Namoff.
“Players were getting free in the box and making good runs, and we were losing track of our marks,” said Wicks. “But being the team that we were, we were able to grind it out and get by in the first half.”
D.C. wasted little time in turning the game’s momentum, going ahead in the 39th minute. Off a short corner kick, Namoff lifted a ball from the corner of the box to the back post, where Chris Pontius fearlessly dove in between Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and a defender, only for his header to hit the post. But this time, the ball rebounded to Emilio, who swept it into the unguarded net for the lead and his team-high ninth goal.
“The goal is important for the confidence,” said Emilio. “But it’s more important for the team because three points is very important for us.”
Soehn’s replacement of playmaker Christian Gomez with Ben Olsen’s solid midfield presence kept the Wizards (6-11-6, 24 points) from registering a second-half shot on goal and led to their fifth shut out in six matches.
“Defensively, it takes a full team effort,” said United’s Clyde Simms. “Bryan and Wicks had to make some plays, and they did that, and that’s what makes good teams good. Still, it was sloppy offensively, for sure, and we were a little frustrated with that. But it’s not going to be pretty every game.”
