KANSAS CITY - Nothing pushes a season in the right direction more than winning.
The Wizards are going in the right direction with their current form of two consecutive victories on the heels of a five-game winless streak. Their next task is two games in five days against D.C. United, beginning Saturday in Washington.
The quirk in the schedule gives the Wizards a chance to make up some ground on D.C. and reverse their fortunes against United. The Wizards have lost two games against D.C. already this season. Saturday's game and the game Wednesday in Kansas City against United will be the last time the two teams meet in the regular season.
"The good side of it is that they have the same predicament. D.C. is, obviously, on top and that's who we need to measure ourselves against," Wizards coach Bob Gansler said. "We are looking forward to it."
D.C. has a nine-point lead on Kansas City in the Eastern Conference standings, but has played two more games than the Wizards. If the Wizards win both games, they will both gain in the standings and have the two games in hand.
The games with the Wizards come in a busy part of D.C. United's schedule. D.C. played last Saturday (a 1-1 draw in New England) and Wednesday against the Chicago Fire at home (a 1-0 victory).
A bit of controversy touched the two previous games between the Wizards and United.
United received a boost in their 2-1 victory in Washington on May 13 from a penalty the Wizards questioned. In D.C.'s 3-1 victory in Kansas City on May 27, D.C. received another penalty kick and scored a goal the Wizards felt should have been ruled out for offside.
"We don't feel like we're the lesser team," Gansler said. "We feel like that within four days we have two opportunities to show what we're made of."
Both games were part of the Wizards' five-game winless skid.
"It's not like we were not playing well, we just we just not getting results," Wizards forward Scott Sealy said. "Sometimes the game goes that way. You are not able to get certain breaks and calls don't go your way. But eventually, when it's all said and done and (we) turn the corner and start getting some points, things start to change and luck starts going your way."
But lately, the Wizards have simply been performing well enough to take three points in each of the last two games.
"We have not been outperformed in our last four games. Maybe it's a few more than that," Gansler said. "You need to execute on the offensive end as well - not just work out the offensive chances, but also realize some goals. As long as you work out opportunities, these guys have scored goals all their lives. If they don't come sooner, they will come later."
The Wizards broke out of an offensive rut of sorts. Their 3-2 victory over Chicago on Saturday broke a streak of nine games in a row in which they scored only one goal.
Forward Scott Sealy scored two of the three himself and earned Major League Soccer's Player of the Week honors.
"I've scored two goals in a game before and never got the award," Sealy said with a chuckle. "It's always good to be recognized for what you do. I'm happy for it and the team got a result, too."
The Wizards might be at the beginning of a good run that will make up for the five-game winless run.
"When you win games it gives you an indication that you are doing things right," midfielder Kerry Zavagnin said. "You can see teams throughout the league that when they go on these win streaks they are tough to knock off. We're trying to create a wave and ride it as long as we can, knowing we will have dips in the season. But right now we want to take as many points as we can from this one."
The next two games could have the feel of a two-leg cup series or perhaps an MLS playoff series.
"Based on our performance last time we should feel confident we can go in there and play well and get some points out of the first leg of this and return home and try to get points here as well," Zavagnin said.
Robert Whitman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
