For the next four days, at least, the Wizards are still alive in their postseason quest.
Kansas City still have a mountain to climb in order to nudge Colorado out of the final playoff spot, but Tuesday’s comprehensive 2-0 victory in Chicago against the Fire was certainly a crucial step forward in that drive.
“Our mind set was obviously to go for three points,” said midfielder Davy Arnaud, who opened the scoring late in the first half. “We know what the situation is. We know all we can control is trying to win three games.”
With the first of those in the books, manager Peter Vermes’ side can look forward to Saturday night’s game against New England with a sense of confidence after breaking the three-game losing streak that threatened to kill the Wizards' postseason chances.
Kansas City still must win their final two games (against New England and San Jose) and hope Colorado drop both of their remaining matches (against Los Angeles and Real Salt Lake) to sneak into the playoffs in the eighth and final position.
But no matter how that pursuit ends, Vermes said he was pleased with the way his side bounced back from last Saturday’s home defeat against Seattle to beat the Fire on Tuesday, especially considering that their life is on the line.
“I give the guys a lot of credit for the way they seized the moment,” he said. “They know what they have to do.”
Based on their track record all season, what the Wizards almost certainly had to do to walk away with all three points was to score the game’s first goal.
After dominating possession for most of the first half, that goal finally came in first-half stoppage time, when Arnaud found himself on the receiving end of a magnificent attacking movement and accurately curled the ball around a diving Andrew Dykstra.
With the goal in the books, the visitors continued to push for more in the second period, knowing a draw was as good as a loss. The pressure paid off late in the second half, when Teal Bunbury scored his fifth goal of 2010, beating Dykstra with a knuckling drive inside the near post with 10 minutes remaining.
“We’ve found a lot of success on the road because we’ve put people under pressure,” Vermes said. “I think our guys came out with the idea that we were going to push it and go after it [on Tuesday] because we had nothing to lose.”
Now comes the unavoidable next step for Kansas City: winning another game this weekend and hoping Colorado stumble enough to let the Wizards live on for one more week.
“We’re focusing on New England,” Vermes said. “It’s simple.”
