From the Wizards website: The Kansas City Wizards withstood 90 nerve-wracking minutes and held on to its single-goal series lead at the Home Depot Center on Saturday night, holding Chivas USA to a scoreless draw to advance to the Western Conference Championship.
And from the KC Wizards website, a summary of the year-to-date and Team Awards for the season:
The 2007 season was a successful campaign in which the Wizards reached the playoffs for the first time since 2004, under first-year Technical Director Peter Vermes and Head Coach Curt Onalfo. Kansas City increased its win total over 2006 in two less games played and introduced an exciting, attack-first brand of soccer that provided an entertaining on-field product.
Kansas City also made huge organizational strides off the field. The Wizards instituted a youth development program for the first time in team history. The KCW Juniors will field U-15, U-16 and U-17 teams in 2007-2008 that begin training November 1. The U-17 squad finished 2nd in their first ever competition, the Soccer United Marketing U-17 Cup held in conjunction with the 2007 MLS All-Star Game in Commerce City, Colorado. The U-17s beat several established teams just one month after the program’s formation. New ownership group OnGoal constructed a state-of-the-art training facility at Swope Park with two full-sized grass practice fields. A third artificial-turf field is currently under construction for first-team and KCW Juniors training sessions and community use.
The following players have been chosen as the Wizards 2007 Team Award winners by media members:
* Eddie Johnson – Honda MVP, Budweiser Golden Boot
* Jimmy Conrad – Defender of the Year
* Michael Harrington – Rookie of the Year
* Jose Luis Burciaga, Jr. – U.S. Soccer Foundation Humanitarian of the Year
* Davy Arnaud – Kansas City Wizards Heart Award
* Ryan Pore – Kansas City Wizards Reserve Team Player of the Year
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