Monday, January 05, 2009

Matches of the Year, Lack of News

Unlike last year at this time, when we were knee deep in Eddie Johnson abroad rumors, this year, there's not as much Wizards news going around this January. There's the upcoming MLS draft in St. Louis, that I'm still trying to work my way into attending. There's two Wizards with their respective national teams right now, training for upcoming games. Other then that, there isn't a lot of news out there. I'll try to fill the gap with some more stat stuff about the Wizards, including updating both goalscoring stats I do. If there are other stats you'd like to see, let me know and I will try to get them up. I'm also looking to do the second all time Wizards draft, as I did last year, with a different twist, so keep an eye out.

Here's a minor thing to touch on today. Recently, MLS came out with their Best XI matches of the 2008 season. The Wizards 3-2 win over San Jose ended up on the list. Here's my top 5 Wizards matches of this past season.

5. 4/20 Wizards at Fire - Only the Wizards second win ever in Chicago, the Wizards got an early goal from Jack Jewsbury, and were able to hold on through the end (with some help from Chad Barrett's poor finishing ability) and get a big win to start their 6 game road trip.

4. 9/20 Wizards vs TFC - Coming off the win against LA, the Wizards needed to keep the momentum going to keep their playoff hopes alive. Jack Jewsbury gave the Wizards the lead from the penalty spot, and then Kevin Souter finished what was a dominating performance for KC (TFC had 0 shots on goal) with his first MLS goal.

3. 3/29 Wizards vs DC - The Wizards opened 2008 swimmingly, as their two new signings, Ivan Trujillo and Claudio Lopez both scored to help the Wizards to a big opening day win over DC. Unfortunately it was the last MLS goal Trujillo would score all year.

2. 9/13 Wizards vs LA - KC came into the game winless in 4 and on the verge of being left behind in the playoff race. A slow first half exploded in 3 minute span in the second half with Josh Wolff scoring a cheeky goal, and then an absolute rocket from Davy Arnaud gave the Wizards a much needed win.

1. 10/18 Wizards vs San Jose - Yes the Wizards blew two leads, yes it was against an expansion team, but seriously that all disappears when that 90th minute goal by Herculez Gomez hit the back of the net. Claudio Lopez played a part in all 3 goals, scoring the first, before setting Davy Arnaud up for the second, and playing in the corner that Gomez turned in for the winner.

No comments: