the key to the Earthquakes' attack all night long -- gave the Quakes the winner in the 83rd minute. After chasing down an overstruck corner on the left wing, Francisco Lima chipped a long cross to Ryan Johnson inside the box. Johnson headed the ball down to an onrushing Huckerby, who headed home from close range.
• Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo made one change to the team that came back for a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas the previous weekend at home. Kurt Morsink returned to the team, in place of Sasha Victorine.
• Here's Onalfo's team (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Jack Jewsbury, Jimmy Conrad, Aaron Hohlbein (Roger Espinoza 86), Matt Marquess - Michael Harrington (Chance Myers 90), Kurt Morsink (Carlos Marinelli 46), Kerry Zavagnin, Claudio Lopez - Davy Arnaud, Josh Wolff. Substitutes Not Used: Eric Kronberg, Kevin Souter, Ivan Trujillo, Tyson Wahl
TEAM NEWS
• The Wizards have won just one of 12 games away from CommunityAmerica Ballpark, one of five teams in the league with just one away win. They have taken eight points on the road, but still have the ninth-best away mark in the league.
• "It puts more of an onus on us to do well at home," Onalfo said. "Fortunately for us, we have five of our last seven games at home. We go to Houston next weekend to play the defending champions and then we get to go home. Our destiny's in our hands. You win five games and you're in the playoffs. But we have to get points, there's no doubt about it, with eight games left."
• After winning three times in their first five games, the Wizards have struggled to find consistency, with just three three wins in the 17 games since. They have not won back-to-back games since winning their opening two games of the season.
• "For us, it's been like that. Every game is tough," Onalfo said. "Five games into the season, we're in first place, then we went on a six-game road trip and we lost a lot of momentum. Since then, every game has been a dogfight. But that's MLS. There's enormous parity, on any given day, anybody can win. There's really nobody that's really separated themselves."
• Onalfo kept his team the same as it has been for the last four weeks, with Matt Marquess holding down the left back slot and Michael Harrington on the right of midfield. But with Darren Huckerby's penetrating work on the left for the Quakes, Onalfo swapped Harrington and right back Jack Jewsbury at the break.
• "We made some adjustments at half time that I thought helped us, and I thought we were the better team in the second half," Onalfo said. "There was a 25-minute stretch where we had the run of play, where we were putting pressure on them. We got one goal out of it when we needed to get more."
• Despite falling to the bottom of the Eastern Conference over the past couple of months, Kansas City is still within reaching distance of the playoff chase. If the Wizards were in the Western Conference, of course, they'd be just one point out of a playoff spot.
• "We have eight games left still and there are 24 points out there to go and get, so we are by no means out of it. We are not going to quit. We want to get to next weekend as soon as possible and try and get a result," said Davy Arnaud.
