Wizards miss chance to gain ground

HOUSTON -- With the Houston Dynamo without four starters because of international duty - including leading scorers Brian Ching and Dwayne De Rosario - Sunday's match could have been a prime opportunity for the struggling Kansas City Wizards to steal a result against the Western Conference leaders.

However, the Wizards gave up a first-half goal to Brad Davis that started them chasing the game, then on the strength of two goals from Nate Jaqua, Houston put the game away early in the second half, handing the Wizards their fourth defeat in six games.

After the Wizards struggled to mount a coherent attack in the first half, Wizards coach Curt Onalfo made some aggressive substitutions at halftime, bringing in midfielder Carlos Marinelli and forward Abe Thompson for midfielder Kerry Zavagnin and injured defender Aaron Hohlbein. The move paid off initially - the Wizards got off three shots in the first six minutes of the second half, as many as they had in the entire first half.

"Aaron Hohlbein had an issue with his quad," Onalfo said. "I didn't want to put another defender in, because I knew I was going to need the subs at the end, so I decided to switch to a 3-4-3 so we could kind of take the game to them. I thought it worked - I thought we started getting momentum."

But the move left Kansas City vulnerable to counterattacks, and Houston took advantage twice in a 15-minute span, with Jaqua beating a defenseless Kevin Hartman twice from close range.

"For us, it was a basically a day of having to improvise - we go in with a game plan and a certain group of players. Then during warmup we have an issue with one of our players, so we have to make a change, and at halftime we have another issue, so all of a sudden we're forced to change some things," Onalfo said. "I thought it was a hard-fought game - the only thing I was pleased about with my team was that they didn't give up. And at the end of the day, I thought the better team won."

Onalfo was proud of his team's effort, as Texas native Davy Arnaud salvaged a goal for the Wizards, with his persistence in the penalty area allowing him to score in the 87th minute. Midfielder Claudio Lopez almost narrowed the deficit to 3-2 two minutes later, when he fired from close range off the near post.

"Our guys showed enormous grit to never give up, and we end up sneaking a goal at the end," Onalfo said. "And we could have had another one when Claudio hit the ball off the post."

With their defense already shorthanded after Matt Marquess cramped up in pregame warmups, the Wizards had an early scare when captain Jimmy Conrad had to leave the game briefly in the third minute after being shaken up on a hard challenge. Kansas City's best scoring chance in the first half came a few minutes later, when a professional foul against a streaking Josh Wolff gave the Wizards a free kick about 40 yards from goal.

The resulting service resulted in a good look at net for Lopez, about 10 yards out on the left side, but goalkeeper Tony Caig made a good save on the near-post shot, and the Wizards could not convert on the resulting corner. Lopez said the Dynamo did a good job of playing within themselves.

"They did everything they could to put us at a disadvantage, and they made it so they could have an easy game," Lopez said.

The result left the Wizards still tied for sixth place in the Eastern Conference with Toronto FC, both teams with 26 points. But with all the teams they are battling for the final spots in the MLS Cup Playoffs race also losing, the Wizards feel they can still reach the top eight.

"I'm disappointed but I can't worry about this," Onalfo said. "We have to worry about the next games - we have five of our last seven games at home and we have to make the most of that."