KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- The challenge before Kansas City Wizards rookie right back Jonathan Leathers -- to stop the Columbus Crew's Robbie Rogers -- is vital to his team's success. And in the first match of their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series, Leathers kept the dangerous and pacy left midfielder off the scoresheet in a 1-1 draw at Kansas City.
"Every time I play against him, I have to give him a lot of respect," said Leathers. "But at the same time, I have to make it hard for him. We definitely made it hard for him last game, and hopefully we do it [Saturday]."
The Wizards will be taking on the Crew Saturday in the second leg at their fortress -- Crew Stadium -- where coach Sigi Schmid's side was victorious in 11 of 15 regular season matches while losing just twice, including winners of their last six.
Kansas City is playing the team that finished with MLS's best regular season record and with the second-most goals overall at home. But the best way to deal with such a challenge is to break it down. That's where the Leathers-Rogers battle comes in to play: the Wizards simply must win the individual battles to win the series.
One way to slow down the Crew is to get physical. Playoff soccer typically involves more fouls than a regular-season match. Match one last Saturday in the tight confines of K.C.'s CommunityAmerica Ballpark saw 32 fouls, 18 by the Wizards. But it's a fine line between being physical and putting yourself in a bind via resulting free kicks and even red cards.
"We have to balance it out," said Leathers. "We don't want to give them opportunity after opportunity, but, at the same time, we have to send a message that [the game] is not going to be easy."
Making things more difficult for Kansas City will be the absence of dynamic right midfielder Herculez Gomez after his straight red card in the 75th minute of the first leg. Kansas City head coach Curt Onalfo didn't want to reveal who will be taking Gomez's place in the lineup but emphasized his squad's quality in saying the Wizards "have a lot of really good options".
But the former U.S. national team assistant coach did reveal his selection criteria.
"We want to have somebody that's going to be a threat and [be] causing them issues on that side of the field," said Onalfo. "There's no doubt about it, [Gomez] has been very influential to our team, but it is an opportunity for somebody else to be influential."
Whether forward Josh Wolff will be an option in any maneuvering is also in doubt as the U.S. international did not train Tuesday and Thursday because of complications with his fibular stress reaction.
"He took a little bit of a turn for the worse Tuesday, so we rested him Tuesday and [Thursday]," Onalfo said. "We're going to see how he feels [Friday]. Based on that, we'll see if he's going to be available as a reserve."
The Wizards come into the match having lost only once in their last eight matches and having things their way in the first leg -- a defensive shutout and one-goal lead -- until the dying moments. And the last team to keep Columbus from winning at Crew Stadium was the Wizards, in a 3-3 stalemate July 17.
Capable individuals like Leathers make the Wizards capable of much together.
"If everybody plays his game, we'll be fine," said Leathers.
To a man, Onalfo has preached one battle cry.
"I told our guys [that] I want them to go out there and put it all on the line. If they give everything they possibly have and play every play like it's the last, they will have won regardless of what the score line is. That's what we ask them to do," said the second-year head coach.
"It's going to be a game that will come down to a play or two on either side of the ball that will be the difference," he continued. "We just have to be mentally tough and mentally right to be able to make those plays on both ends of the ball."
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