WIZARDS WIN 2-0

Goals by Trujillo and Lopez. More to come soon.

**Updated**

By soon, I meant about three hours. Nice.

So, the game was great. Everything about the night (except maybe the weather) was great for Kansas City soccer. The boys looked wonderful in their all-blue jerseys, the stadium proved to be a loud one (Holy smokes! To all you Hillcrest Road readers in the Cauldron, that was amazing. That place was packed in and you were standing and yelling. I'm very glad I was not Zach Wells after those goals. Wow.) and we definitely showed up to play.

I won't bore you with a game re-cap; you can check your TiVo'd copies of the match on Metro Sports for that. I will, however, offer some tidbits and the quote sheet from tonight.

Tidbits:
We managed a win with SIX players listed as out on the injury report. Among them? Davy Arnaud - usual starter; Chance Myers - would have started; Roger Espinoza - was fighting for significant playing time with solid pre-season camp. Good work guys. (Yes, I know that D.C. was without Jaime Moreno and didn't start Fred. Still.)

Ivan Trujillo would have scored a second. Replays show he was very onside on the goal that was disallowed. Overall, our forwards were very dangerous and fun to watch.

Jimmy Conrad anchored a back line that included no one of more than three years experience. Wahl - 3rd year; Harrington - 2nd year; Leathers - first MLS match. All four did very well for themselves, and Harrington even created the first goal with a great back-post cross.

Claudio Lopez is the real deal. He nearly created a goal with a cheeky chip in the 3rd minute, nearly scored one with a left-footed rocket in the 37th, then sealed the game with his perfectly timed run and classy chip. He looked very strong in 89 minutes tonight.

Kevin Hartman extended league records in wins (128 now) and shutouts (68 now). He's pretty good, isn't he?

If any of you had poor experiences at the ballpark, we apologize and promise that the situation will be improved. It was our first game at the stadium and, by all accounts, things went off very smoothly. We have certainly learned from game one and will always look to improve ourselves in game two. This blog post, for instance, will come earlier than 2 a.m. next time. Each member of our staff strives to provide the highest level of customer service possible. It is what OnGoal demands and what you fans deserve. Thanks to those of you that came out. It's a great feeling to sit in a sold-out stadium. Remember to buy your tickets early if you're not a season ticket holder. Walk-up tickets are a thing of the past in Kansas City.

Ok, I'm done here. Now for the quotes. This will also appear at MLSnet.com later:

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS HEAD COACH CURT ONALFO
On the game
“I thought we started slow, but we ended the first half very strong. We came out the better team in the second half and got the goals we needed to win.”

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS FORWARD IVAN TRUJILLO
On scoring in his MLS debut
“Jack Jewsbury played the ball into me, and I came in sliding and got my right leg to it. I put it off to the right where the ‘keeper couldn’t get to it. I was very excited and happy to score in my first game. I dedicated the match to my family and friends back in Colombia. I’m very excited about starting my time here with a goal.”

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS DEFENDER MICHAEL HARRINGTON
On starting the scoring play
“Coach always encourages us to join in the attack when we can. I was able to get up the line there and beat my man to get the ball on my right foot. I sent a cross in for Jack; he played a first-time ball to Ivan who finished with the first touch. It’s great to start off the season with a win over a good D.C. United team. We’ve still got three games in the next two weeks. Now we’re focused on playing well against Colorado next Saturday.”

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS MIDFIELDER KERRY ZAVAGNIN
On the atmosphere at CommunityAmerica Ballpark
“We were certainly excited going into the game, and the crowd made a huge difference for us. The atmosphere was more fun for the fans than in years past here in Kansas City. This intimate environment is great for us. We felt the fans presence throughout the match, and they no doubt played a part in our performance tonight.”

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS DEFENDER JONATHAN LEATHERS
On starting in his first professional match
“I found out yesterday that I would get to start. It was very exciting, and I was really nervous about the game as well. It took me about ten minutes to settle down, but all the guys around me gave me confidence and told me that I was doing fine.”

D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER SANTINO QUARANTA
On team philosophy
“We wanted to come out strong and win the game in the first half. Obviously, the first 15 minutes of each half are crucial. We let a goal up in the first five minutes of the second half, and it killed us. Our mindset wasn’t good coming out of halftime, and it hurt us.”

On team chemistry
“I don’t think it’s struggling with chemistry, we’ve been together two months now and that’s long enough to iron things out. It just wasn’t good enough tonight, but we’ll regroup for Tuesday.”

D.C. UNITED DEFENDER MARC BURCH
On the game
“We came out there and played hard. They got lucky on a few and we were unlucky on a couple. I don’t think it was a distraction, but we do have another game in two days so we’ve got to get ready for that.”

On the Kansas City goals
“They had a couple of good minutes where they had a little bit of possession and chipped two balls in. I don’t think there are any problems; nothing we can’t solve. I think we looked good as a unit. They didn’t have anything in the first half, and they had two chances in the second half.”

On next Tuesday’s CONCACAF Champions Cup match against Pachuca
“It would be nice to have a little bit of legs going down there at high altitude, playing a really important game. Not to say this one wasn’t important, but it’s a really important game we have down there.”

D.C. UNITED GOALKEEPER ZACH WELLS
On the game
“I thought both teams were pretty organized. Most of the first half was just feeling each other out, not a lot of pretty soccer. Like I said before, it was just a couple of lapses and we were punished for it.”

On the team coming together
“We’re all learning to play with each other and it’s going to take a little bit of time. We’re just got to stay organized defensively, make sure that teams are earning their goals and that we’re capitalizing on our chances at the other end.”