Wizards continue magical run vs. NE

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Symmetry ruled the Kansas City Wizards' away form this season.

In their opening road game of the season, the Wizards beat Chicago 1-0 at Toyota Park. Kansas City didn't win again on the road until a 3-1 win at Gillette Stadium to close out the regular season.

It continues the success the Wizards have had in New England -- the Wizards are 6-1-4 all-time at Gillette and have gone 8-1-4 in their past 13 overall meetings in Foxborough -- but bucks the trend of road fecklessness this season.

"We don't worry about the past," Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo said. "We're a different team. We made a lot of changes eight weeks ago, nine weeks ago. Those changes have proven to really help us. We don't compare the results. It was a different time."

Times certainly have changed. The Wizards sealed a date with Supporters' Shield winner Columbus in the first round of the playoffs with the victory.

"Anytime you get three points, it's a good thing," Onalfo said. "Our team has played very well over the last seven or eight weeks. I thought we had a very disciplined game plan. I thought we executed it well."

Discipline eluded the Revolution after Gabriel Badilla and Khano Smith picked up first-half red cards.

"The game becomes a lot easier," Conrad said. "They have one or two spells of coming at you over a 20-minute period instead of five or 10. You have to keep focused."

Claudio Lopez scored a first-half penalty kick before Davy Arnaud and a Michael Parkhurst own goal ensured the Wizards would leave Gillette as winners. Jeff Larentowicz tallied a late consolation goal for the Revolution.

The win upped the Wizards record to 5-1-1 over their last seven games heading into the playoffs.

"We've been playing at a high level," Wizards midfielder Herculez Gomez said. "We have an understanding of each other. We're playing at our best. I think we've been doing the right things. We need to keep doing those things."

Heading into the playoffs in good form was one of the team's goals, Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad said.

"We wanted to have good form going into the playoffs," Conrad said. "We're 5-1-1 in our last seven games. We'd be considered one of the hotter teams going into when it counts. Columbus has been very very good this year. We haven't beat them yet. We're looking forward to it. It should be fun."

The fun starts next weekend with a home date at CommunityAmerica Ballpark against the Crew in the first leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series. The Wizards boasted a 9-2-4 record at CAB this season and will look to gain an advantage heading into the second leg.

"It's not just one game," Gomez said. "It's two games. We're not only playing two games, we're playing two games against the best team in the league. We're excited about the challenge at hand."