FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Kansas City Wizards will face Columbus in an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series after clinching the fourth seed in the conference with a 3-1 win Saturday against a nine-man New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium.
Claudio Lopez scored on a penalty in the 26th minute after Gabriel Badilla drew a red card for preventing Lopez's goal-scoring opportunity. Khano Smith saw red three minutes before halftime for a harsh tackle on Herculez Gomez. Davy Arnaud added the killer second eight minutes after the break to seal the victory before Michael Parkhurst scored an own goal. Jeff Larentowicz scored in second-half stoppage time for New England.
Kansas City extended its hex over the Revs at Gillette Stadium -- the Wizards have gone 6-1-4 at the venue -- and picked up only its second road win of the season while New England saw its winless streak reach six games.
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol named an unchanged side from last Thursday's 2-1 defeat in D.C. That meant Sainey Nyassi had to settle for a place on the bench with Mauricio Castro preferred once again on the right wing. Gabriel Badilla once again partnered Michael Parkhurst in the middle of the team's four-man back line.
Kansas City also opted to stick with the same 11 players who toppled San Jose 3-2 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark last Saturday. Argentinean striker Lopez hoped to add to the goal and two assists he notched against the Earthquakes as the Wizards tried to garner their first away win since Apr. 20 in Chicago.
The two teams struggled for meaningful possession in the opening stages. Neither team could establish a rhythm going forward and the passing in midfield looked choppy rather than crisp. This led to a period of aimless play with little on the ball possession.
Out of nothing, Kansas City found the opener. Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman launched the ball forward from inside his own penalty area. Parkhurst misjudged the distance and the ball bounced over Badilla's head. The gaffe allowed Lopez in behind the defense. The Costa Rican defender wrapped his arms around Lopez's collarbone and tugged him to the ground.
Referee Kevin Stott issued a red card for the tug as Badilla denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity. Lopez dusted himself off and drove the resulting penalty straight down the middle of the goal to give the Wizards a precious lead.
Nicol elected to remain with the personnel on the field. The transition meant the Revs returned to a back three with Parkhurst sliding into the middle.
The dismissal seemed to spark the Revs momentarily. Castro saw his shot deflected wide en route to goal before Jimmy Conrad poked away an opportunity before Taylor Twellman could fire on goal.
Things went from bad to worse three minutes before the break when Smith lined up Herculez Gomez in the corner and slid in with a high, two-footed tackle on Gomez. Stott issued his second red card on the evening for the reckless tackle as the Revs watched any possibility of dragging out a result skitter away after being reduced to nine men.
The game turned into a war of attrition after that as Nicol withdrew Shalrie Joseph to avoid a second booking and both teams set up shop for the most part.
Onalfo sent on Kerry Zavagnin with nine minutes to play so the retiring midfielder -- a key cog for the Wizards in the center of the field in Kansas City's MLS Cup run in 2000 -- could enjoy a last swansong in his final regular season game.
Parkhurst added a late own goal before Larentowicz tallied to provide an exclamation point as the Wizards sealed a date with Columbus next Saturday to open the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Two Wizards chances doom Galaxy
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Wizards strike twice, down Galaxy
