The Kansas City Star’s Bob Luder points out that the Wizards may have added a new dimension to their attack, as two of the team’s three goals against Colorado on Saturday came from set pieces, which had been a glaring hole on the team stat sheet in 2007. Perhaps even rarer was the fact that both strikes came off the head of defender Jimmy Conrad, who was scoreless in 2007 and had only scored on five previous occasions in his Wizards career. Argentine midfielder Carlos Marinelli set up both goals, the first from a 30-yard free kick in the 52nd minute and the second from a corner kick two minutes later. Conrad headed both goals in from near the penalty spot.
Up 2-0 at home, Wizards coach Curt Onalfo would have wanted his team to comfortably see out the victory, but it was not to be. Three minutes after Kansas City’s second goal, former Wizard Jose Burciaga Jr. brought the Rapids back into the game, firing home a tight-angled shot with his left foot from about 15 yards. Onalfo will be especially displeased with the way Colorado equalized after 68 minutes: a comedy of errors in the box following a Terry Cooke corner led to five players falling on the ground. John DiRaimondo pounced and tied the game. However, three minutes from time, substitute Scott Sealy saved KC’s evening, putting home his own rebound after initially latching onto a Jack Jewsbury cross. The win moved the 2-0-0 Wizards to the top of the Eastern Conference.