AP News, April 14th, 2007
Eddie Johnson had a goal and two assists to lead the Kansas City Wizards to a 4-2 season-opening victory over the stumbling D.C. United on Saturday.
Michael Harrington, Sasha Victorine and Scott Sealy also scored against D.C. United, who have opened the season with back-to-back losses.
The Wizards scored three minutes into the game when Johnson slipped a sharp pass inside the goal area to Harrington for an easy score.
Minutes later, Kansas City made it 2-0 when Johnson sent a pass from Scott Sealy toward midfielder Victorine, who quickly put the ball into the net.
"I've said from the beginning that I've always believed in Eddie," said Wizards coach Curt Onalfo, who earned his first win as a head coach. "He's a player with enormous talent. He's been very motivated. He has an excellent attitude and he's worked extremely hard. And today was just an example of all the hard work he put into preseason."
D.C. United pulled within one in the 11th minute when Facundo Erpen cleared a pass from near midfield to Luciano Emilio, who sent the ball sailing past Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
United midfielder Christian Gomez picked up a free kick off a foul by Victorine in the 33rd minute and put the ball in motion through several Kansas City defenders to tie the game at 2-2.
"We slipped on the first two goals," United midfielder Ben Olsen said. "It's unacceptable, but it happens, people slip. It was maybe a little too open on our part or maybe we took too many chances with the personnel that we had out there."
Johnson responded, sliding in a ball deflected off Gomez in the first minute of stoppage time before the half as Kanas City regained its lead.
A shot by Johnson in the 53rd minute was quickly stopped by United goalkeeper Troy Perkins, but Sealy immediately sent the ball back toward the net for the final goal.
"We started the game with an attacking mentality and got two goals early," Onalfo said. "Any time you can get a lead, you want to be smart and move tactically. We're not going to be a team that sits back. We're going to be a team that plays aggressive, both home and away."
