The Kansas City Wizards dominated the number of chances, but were unable to pull clear of the fortunate Columbus Crew on Wednesday night at Arrowhead Stadium, the teams finishing in a 1-1 draw. Mario Rodriguez tallied for the Crew on a Jose Burciaga Jr. error in the 69th minute, but Burciaga tied the match with a tremendous blast from a free kick seven minutes later.
Despite the near triple-digit heat at game time, the first 15 minutes saw each side use a fast field to their advantage to play crisp balls to feet and into space forcing some early fouls by each midfield to break up forward movement. The field also served as a detriment as it denied attackers near each danger zone who failed to apply a soft touch.
The first compelling chance of the evening was served up by Kansas City midfielder Chris Klein in the 17th minute when he streaked onto a keenly played Kerry Zavagnin ball that put Klein into the right edge of Columbus's area. Klein ran past defender Mark Schulte and played back a sharply angled ball for Davy Arnaud just to the right of the penalty spot. Arnaud struck with two defenders in front of him, but the shot rose above Bill Gaudette's bar and into the stands.
Arnaud then picked Robin Fraser's pocket in the Columbus end in the 24th minute and quickly fed for strike partner Scott Sealy, who ran at the defense undaunted. Given space to fire or play for Klein running right, Sealy forced Gaudette to the turf on his left where he corralled the ball between his hands and his abdomen.
Though Sealy shook his head in dismay, the Wizards were making progress in giving the Columbus defense a workout. But the cruel nature of the game of soccer nearly ruined the home side's momentum in the 34th minute when Edson Buddle played a ball across the Wizards' box that Kansas City goalkeeper, Bo Oshoniyi, waved at as it passed.
John Wolyniec eventually found the ball and snapped a challenging drive that headed for the left side of the net. In desperation, Oshoniyi sprawled to his right and swatted the ball away to keep the match scoreless.
Preki, the two-time MLS MVP and recent hero when scoring the game tying goal against Chicago on June 18, entered the match at the start of the second half to try and inject some more creativity into the Kansas City attack.
But is was directness that led to the Wizards next threat as Zavagnin played a long ball from just inside the Crew half across the field to Arnaud. He fought off his mark, kept his feet, and got off a left-footed shot that an off-balance Gaudette managed to save with his left arm and the 48th-minute crisis passed for the visitors.
The very next minute saw the Crew's Buddle poke the ball into the Wizards net from close range, but he was flagged for a clear offside.
But a rare-again Columbus possession would prove to be enough to gain the edge in the match in the 69th minute.
With the ball in the middle of the Wizards half, Wolyniec played wide left for winger Chris Henderson who promptly played a cross over the defense as it shifted to the right. The cross found Wizards defender Burciaga, who inexpertly chested the ball down straight down to the Crew's Simon Elliott.
The New Zealand international lightly hit a shot that still trickled by Oshoniyi but came back off the far post, but with Oshoniyi prone on the pitch, Mario Rodriquez tucked the rebound into the net for his first goal of the season.
Continuing undaunted, the Wizards continually attacked through the 42-year-old Preki -- who was sprite, though a bit rusty, in his efforts as he drew attackers and fed teammates.
A sandwiching of the crafty forward by Columbus led to a foul called in the 76th minute and with the set piece coming some 25 yards out from the middle of the goal. Taking a touch from Gutierrez, Burciaga made amends for his earlier error by hitting a blistering left-footed shot that split two defenders to the left of the wall and punctured the back right corner of the Crew's net to even the score.
The Wizards continued to press for the winner, but despite winning a flurry of corner kick, no real clear chances came the rest of the way and a deserving Wizards' side and a fortunate, but opportune Crew side had to be content with a share of the points.
MLSnet.com Man of the Match: Mario Rodriguez (Columbus Crew)
Robert Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
Columbus Crew (4-8-2) vs. Kansas City Wizards (5-3-7)
June 29, 2005 -- Arrowhead Stadium
Scoring Summary:
CLB -- Mario Rodriguez 1 (unassisted) 69
KC -- Jose Burciaga Jr. 2 (Diego Gutierrez 2) 76
Columbus Crew -- Bill Gaudette, Stephen Herdsman (Ryan Kelly 38), Robin Fraser, Chad Marshall, Mark Schulte, Mario Rodriguez, Simon Elliott, Kyle Martino (Stephen Armstrong 78), Chris Henderson, Edson Buddle (Chris Wingert 59), John Wolyniec.
Substitutes Not Used: Michael Cardenas, David Testo.
TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Edson Buddle 4, Mario Rodriguez 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (3 tied with 1); FOULS: 12 (Chris Henderson 3); OFFSIDES: 1 (Edson Buddle 1); CORNER KICKS: 3 (Mario Rodriguez 2); SAVES: 3 (Bill Gaudette 3)
Kansas City Wizards -- Bo Oshoniyi, Alex Zotinca (Jack Jewsbury 62), Nick Garcia, Shavar Thomas, Jose Burciaga Jr., Chris Klein, Diego Gutierrez, Kerry Zavagnin, Sasha Victorine, Scott Sealy (Preki 46), Davy Arnaud.
Substitutes Not Used: Dustin Branan, Will Hesmer, Pat McGinnis, John Minagawa-Webster, Ryan Pore, Ryan Raybould, Brian Roberts.
TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Davy Arnaud 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (4 tied with 1); FOULS: 13 (Kerry Zavagnin 5); OFFSIDES: 2 (Chris Klein 1, Scott Sealy 1); CORNER KICKS: 7 (Chris Klein 5); SAVES: 2 (Bo Oshoniyi 2)
Misconduct Summary:
KC -- Kerry Zavagnin (caution; Pushing, Holding) 40
CLB -- Mark Schulte (caution; Pushing, Holding) 54
Referee: Alex Prus
Referee's Assistants: Kermit Quisenberry; Richard Eddy
4th Official: Brent Sorg
Attendance: 5,519
Time of Game: 1:49
Weather: Sunny-and-94-degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial.
