It was the familiar presence of Josh Wolff that really helped steady things. He was the dominating attacker this team lacked before his arrival a couple of months ago. He basically is what Claudio Lopez isn’t. He drew the penalty that Jewsbury buried to open the scoring. That was all that was needed, as the backline of Jimmy Conrad, Aaron Hohlbein, Tyson Wahl, and Michael Harrington made sure that Toronto didn’t even got a shot on goal. Impressive feat.

To add to the celebration, Kevin Souter came on as a substitute late in the game, and managed to score on a fluke goal (that somehow ended up as a GOTW nominee) for his first MLS goal ever. Next up is a trip out to Los Angeles to take on Chivas USA. They’ll have to take down Chivas lacking regular Jack Jewsbury who picked up his fifth yellow card of the season and be forced to take a seat.

The struggles for the Wizards have sat in the midfield. Turnovers have been a huge issue, along with distribution. Before last week, the defense had been consistent, with Tyson Wahl, Jimmy Conrad, and Michael Harrington all playing well. Things didn’t go so well last week against the Crew. Offensively, things have not been good. While Claudio Lopez hasn’t been disappointing this season, he hasn’t scored nearly as much as he needs to.

I thought this team had the experience and players to take a step forward. Instead, it’s been struggles galore. What exemplifies this the most is the inability to score goals. 10 goals from 11 games won’t cut it. Is Eddie Johnson really missed? Lopez is a different kind of player. He doesn’t have the same kind of speed as EJ, although he’s a better passer and distributor. Unfortunately, that’s not what has been needed.

Could this week start something new? It would be a huge boost to morale if they could stop their winless streak (which sits at six games). I don’t think they’ll be able to pull it off. Anything is possible, but someone on the front line is going to have to step up and actually score. Without it, they’ll be sunk.

Prediction: Toronto 2-0 Kansas City

• The Wizards shot themselves in the foot a number of times with sloppy turnovers, especially in the first half.
• The bungled clearing attempts cost them the first goal, as defense continues to be a bit inconsistent. Guevara’s goal was ugly and he may have been offside, but come on now. Terrible defense leads to goals
• Toronto really came out of the gates in the first 15 minutes with a real attacking mindset. Good job by KC to weather the storm.
• The fans in Toronto continue to impressive. The field may be astro turf, but with every game likely to sell out this year is great.
• Ivan Trujillo loved hugging the back post whenever Lopez fed in crosses. Crash near post. Also, not a great finish after a nice set up by Claudio in the 70th minute.
• Amado Guevara played like a monster. Great free kick in the 78th minute.

Hardly a disastrous loss, but more of a step back than anything else. Toronto played great and the Wizards were on their heels for a large part of the game. Onfalo tried to make the right moves, bringing on Scott Sealy and Carlos Marinelli, but they couldn’t crack the Toronto defense. It is still early, after all.

The progress of the defense will be important to monitor. This week saw a moment of blundering leading to the first goal. Conrad remains solid at the back, and Harrington’s speed kept runs from Wynne at bay. Chance Myers was a bit inconsistent, with some strong runs forward, although at times his final touch let him down. Bottom line is that the number of sloppy turnovers cost them.

Here are the highlights, courtesy of MLS.


Next Opponent:
Next stop is Columbus. Wizards look to get back against the Crew, who sit in first place with the best record in the MLS. They took down the Dynamo 1-0 last weekend.

A second win in a row will no doubt be important if the Wizards hope to be in a similar spot on the table come July. They’ll benefit from the return of Carlos Marinelli who has missed a couple of weeks with a groin strain. Hard to see how this game will end up, but the offense from the Wizards should be enough to snatch a goal or two, and the recent play of Kevin Hartman and Jimmy Conrad will continue their shut out streak.

Prediction: Kansas City to win 2-0