MLS Match #13

Saturday, June 28, 2008 ? 7:00 p.m. (CT)

English TV: Metro Sports; Español TV: TWC Channel 5

English Radio: 1480 La Playa; Español Radio 1340 La Gran D

CommunityAmerica Ballpark ? Kansas City, Kansas

Weather: 83 and clear

Attendance: 10,385 ? SOLD OUT

Score: 1 2 F

Real Salt Lake (5-6-4, 19 pts) 0 0 0

Kansas City (4-5-4, 16 pts) 0 1 1

Scoring Summary:

KC ? own goal (Tony Beltran) 89

(June 28, 2008) ? The Kansas City Wizards defeated Real Salt Lake 1-0 Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 10,385 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan. Fans packed the house for the second-consecutive match and third time in 2008, and Kansas City did not disappoint. The Wizards unloaded 21 total shots in the game and won on an own goal from RSL defender Tony Beltran in the 89th minute.

Kansas City was the aggressor early and often in the first half, outshooting RSL 8-1. Each team had one shot on goal. Defender Jack Jewsbury pushed forward and ripped long-range shots in the 13th and 43rd minutes from his right back position. Forwards Ivan Trujillo and Scott Sealy were active throughout the half, pressuring the Real Salt Lake defense and goalkeeper Nick Rimando into rushed long balls often.

Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman made the first of his five saves in the 30th minute after Scottish forward Kenny Deuchar collected a free ball behind the defense. Deuchar unleashed an early shot from just inside the top of the 18-yard area, but Hartman moved quickly to his right to smother the opportunity and keep the teams level at 0-0.

The Wizards continued with their attacking mentality in the second half, registering 13 more shots. Kansas City nearly went on top in the 86th minute after an outstanding bit of individual skill from Designated Player Claudio Lopez. Lopez received a ball 30 yards off the end line on the left flank. He quickly weaved through two defenders to get in behind the defense and lofted a pass into the center of the area. Goalkeeper Nick Rimando collided with his own player as the ball reached substitute Chance Myers on the right side of the penalty area, but Myers? effort went high over the bar.

Three minutes later, Kansas City went ahead 1-0 after a great passing combination that started along the back line. Defender Michael Harrington played a bending ball in behind a defender for streaking forward Claudio Lopez on the left wing. Lopez quickly cut the ball back around two defenders for substitute forward Ryan Pore cutting toward the center of the field. Pore was then fouled as he neared the penalty area, setting up a dead ball opportunity 20 yards from goal.

Lopez and Davy Arnaud stood over the ball in the 89th minute. Arnaud took the kick, curling a pass toward defender Jimmy Conrad just inside the penalty spot. Conrad and RSL defender Tony Beltran were locked up in a battle for position, and the ball struck Beltran before Conrad could reach the pass. The ball ricocheted off Beltran just under the bar for a 1-0 Kansas City win.

The Wizards have a busy week ahead of them, as the team embarks on a two-city road trip without returning home. Kansas City will play the Carolina RailHawks Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup round of 16 match. Video of the game will be shown live online at www.USLLive.com. Kansas City then travels to Dallas for an MLS match against FCD on Friday, July 4 at 6 p.m. CT on HDNet.

The Wizards next home game comes Thursday, July 10 at 7 p.m. CT against Red Bull New York. Kansas City will then host Mexican partner club Atlas AC the next night at 7 p.m. CT. Both games will be played at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan.

Real Salt Lake Line-Up: Nick Rimando, Tony Beltran, Jamison Olave, Nat Borchers, Chris Wingert, Andy Williams (Kenny Cutler 80), Dema Kovalenko, Javier Morales, Kyle Beckerman, Robbie Findley (Tino Nunez 69), Kenny Deucher (Yura Movsisyan 69)

Substitutes not used: Chris Seitz (GK), Matias Mantilla, Ian Joy, Matias Cordoba

Kansas City Wizards Line-Up: Kevin Hartman, Jack Jewsbury, Aaron Hohlbein (Chance Myers 78), Jimmy Conrad, Michael Harrington, Davy Arnaud, Kurt Morsink, Sasha Victorine (Carlos Marinelli 62), Claudio Lopez, Scott Sealy, Ivan Trujillo (Ryan Pore 62)

Substitutes not used: Eric Kronberg (GK), Jonathan Leathers, Tyson Wahl, Ryan McMahen

Misconduct:

KC RSL

Total Shots: 21 13

Shots on Goal: 3 5

Saves: 5 2

Fouls Committed: 4 13

Offside: 1 2

Corner Kicks: 8 1

Referee: Alex Prus

Referee's Assistants: Thomas Supple, Jeff Muschik

4th official: Doug Wolff

Notables:

· Following the match, Kansas City sits 4-5-4 in 7th place in the Eastern Conference.

· The Wizards are now 4-2-2 all-time against Real Salt Lake, including a 3-0-1 mark at home.

· Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman made five saves to record his League-leading 6th shutout of the season.

· Hartman holds the all-time MLS record with 73 career clean sheets.

· Hartman now has 1071 career saves, trailing only former Wizards standout Tony Meola on the all-time MLS list.

· Meola retired with 1136 career saves.

· Hartman and the Wizards defense now have a 203-minute shutout streak after posting clean sheets in the last two matches.

· Jack Jewsbury, Aaron Hohlbein, Jimmy Conrad and Michael Harrington have started along the back line in the back-to-back shutouts.

· Hartman and the defense also posted a 286-minute shutout streak earlier in the season.

· Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and defender Jimmy Conrad are the only Wizards to play all 1170 minutes so far this season.

· Forward Claudio Lopez sits just behind Conrad and Hartman with 1164 minutes and has played the entire 90 in 10 matches.

· Wizards midfielder Kerry Zavagnin missed the match due to a foot injury. Zavagnin is just 92 minutes shy of Kansas City?s all-time minutes-played record.

· Former defender Nick Garcia holds the current mark at 20,158 minutes.

· Kansas City tied the record for the second-fewest fouls in team history. The Wizards were whistled only four times.

· The Wizards also posted their second-lowest offside total of the season, after being flagged just once.

· Former Wizards forward Yura Movsisyan played his first career game against the Wizards, entering in the 69th minute as a substitute.

· RSL General Manager Garth Lagerwey and Assistant Coach Brian Johnson also spent parts of their playing career with the Wizards.

Quotes:

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS HEAD COACH CURT ONALFO

On the game

?It was an extremely hard-fought game. All I care about is three points. In this league it?s not always about how pretty it is, but at the end of the day it?s about getting three points. I?m extremely pleased with the win and we?re just going to build on it.?

On the sellout crowd

?It was excellent and I?m extremely pleased that we were able to get three points in front of them. They deserved it. We have excellent fans here and we want to continue to build onto our already wonderful fan base every day.?

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS DEFENDER JIMMY CONRAD

On the win

?It was great to get the monkey off our back. We?ve been looking for a win for a long time. Now we don?t have to worry about a winless streak or talk about it anymore. It?s huge for our confidence. There?s a real thin line between success and failure in this league and confidence is the real difference maker.?

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS GOALKEEPER KEVIN HARTMAN

On the win

?It was a great effort, and a great defensive effort. The guys worked really, really hard. Maybe it takes just a little bit of luck to break the losing streak we were on. We?re excited to get three points at home.?

On posting his League-leading 6th shutout

?I?d like to say that I had more of a roll in it. I think I had two tough saves but most of the saves were just routine. It really comes back to the fact that the guys really competed tonight.?

REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS

On the game

?I thought we did all the necessary stuff that you need to to pick up a result on the road. I thought we were together, we worked very hard and we created enough chances to score that goal that would have taken us over the top. In the end, the quality, the touch wasn?t there and we paid for it.?

On the own goal
?It is very frustrating, I know that Tony will feel very outdone by it. When you put balls in dangerous spots, those things will happen. So I wouldn?t necessarily fault the final touch that put it in the back of the net, but why we gave that free kick away in such a dangerous spot in such a dangerous moment in the game.?

On Kansas City?s attack
?I thought that Kansas City came out very aggressively tonight. It is a fair result to be honest because they created the majority of the chances. It was a typical away game for us.?