#TBT Highest Scoring Game in KC History

On May 2nd, 1996, the then KC Wiz played at the time, the highest scoring MLS game in the league's short history. Against the Columbus Crew at Arrowhead Stadium, KC came from behind to top the Crew 6-4.

Played in front of 8,848, KC jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to a rocket of a shot by Mark Chung after a patented cut back by Preki drew three defenders to him in the fifth minute. Columbus was ale to find the equalizer in the 20th minute when Brian McBride headed home a corner from Billy Thompson, deflecting off of defender Tommy Reasoner who tried to keep the ball out with his knee. The score would stay at 1-1 headed into the half time break.

The second half started with a bang as KC jumped back out in front in just the 47th minute. Preki received the ball out wide and tried to curl a shot into the net. He succeeded in beating goalkeeper, Bo Oshoniyi, but didn't beat the cross bar. The rebound though fell to Mo Johnston who knocked the rebound home for a goal in his debut for KC. This time the lead lasted only a minute as a long throw in from McBride found Todd Yeagley in the box, he was able to bring the ball down and bury it. Columbus would take the lead for the first time a little after the hour mark as Mike Clark beat Reasoner to a cross by Thompson and headed the ball into the net to make it 3-2.

Only a minute after making it 3-2, Columbus made it 4-2 as McBride crossed the ball into the box looking for Adrian Paz, but Reasoner in an attempt to cleared the ball, fired the ball into his own net. The two goal lead would only last a couple minutes though as KC won a penalty kick as Digtal Takawira tried to dribble around a Crew defender on the ground who hit the ball with his hand. Preki stepped up to take the penalty, pulling a Panenka, softly chipping the ball past Oshoniyi and into the net to make it 4-3. Only a couple minutes after the penalty kick, KC was level with Johnston again the scorer. After a partial clearance out wide, Takawira headed the ball back into the middle where Johnston knocked it home to make it 4-4. KC wasn't done and in the 77th minute, Mike Sorber got in on the act firing a shot from long range that beat Oshoniyi and put KC in front 5-4. With Columbus chasing the game late, KC found a sixth to seal the game on the counter in the 88th minute. Takawira led the counter dribbling against two Crew defenders. At the top of the box, Takawira took a bit of a big touch and Preki pounced on the ball, one timing it into the corner right in front of Takawira.

The game would stand as the highest scoring game in league history for just two years before being surpassed by the LA Galaxy's 7-4 win over the Colorado Rapids in 1998. The game is still the highest scoring in KC history and tied for the record for most goals score in a game.

Preki Misses Hall of Fame

Preki was the closest of numerous former Wizards players up for election to the US Soccer Hall of Fame this year. Candidates need to be named on at least 75% of the 128 ballots to be elected to the Hall. Preki was named on 87 of them (68%). He was the highest finishing player along with Joy Fawcett. Other former Wizards, included current technical director, Peter Vermes (28%). Brian Bliss and Mike Burns (13%). Frank Klopas and Mike Sorber (11%). Roy Lassiter (8.5%). Mark Chung at only 2.3% is dropped from the eligibility for appearing on less then 5% of the ballots.

Former Wizards coach, Bob Gansler was almost elected on the "Builders" ballot, falling 3 votes shy of the 50% required by for "builders." Anson Dorrance was the only member elected person from the builders group. Hugo Perez was elected by the veterans committee.

Wizards Fantasy Draft Rounds 5 and 6

We're back with rounds 5 and 6 of the fantasy draft. Rounds 1 and 2 are here. Rounds 3 and 4 are here.

5(1). Team Shook - Diego Gutierrez - With the first pick of the 5th round, Team Shook selects Midfielder Diego Gutierrez

Gutierrez was an original member of the Wizards in '96 starting 24 games and all 5 playoff games then, after a injury and a stint in Chicago, Diego returned to the Wizards in 2002. Over the next four seasons, Diego established himself as a key cog for the Wizards and a fan favorite. Diego and Kerry Zavagnin formed a formidable pair in the defensive midfield, the pinnacle of success being the 2004 run to the US Open Cup championship and the 2004 MLS Cup final and gave up the fewest goals in the league. Diego also chipped in on offense that season with 3 game-winning goals and 4 assists.

5(2). Team DTB - Mark Chung - With the second pic of the fifth round, Team DTB select midfielder Mark Chung

Under appreciated during his time with KC, Chung was a mainstay in the early Wizards lineup, scoring 21 goals in the three seasons with the team mainly playing out of the left midfield spot. The highest point of his KC career was a Best XI appearance for his play in the 97 season.

5(3). Bravado FC - Richard Gough - With the final pick of the fifth round, Bravado FC harkens back to the 1997 season (and it took our management that long to make this pick) with the selection of Richard Gough. Although Gough - an allocation signed from Glasgow Rangers - spent just one year in the rainbow shirt, he was a solid defensive influence that helped the Wizards compile a 21-11 overall record on the campaign and a first-place finish in the Western Conference. He was named to the MLS Best XI squad as well.

6(1). Bravado FC - Igor Simutenkov - With the first pick of the sixth round, Bravado FC selects Igor Simutenkov. Acquired during the 2002 season, Simutenkov provides another solid punch to the attack for Bravado. He scored a free-kick goal in extra time to give Kansas City the 2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and has tallied 12 goals and eight assists in his 49 regular season appearances for the Wizards.

6(2). Team DTB - Uche Okafor - With the second pick of the sixth round, Team TBA select Uche Okafor. The Nigerian international was a staple in the back for the Wizards from 96-99, helping to anchor the backline. He even appeared at World Cup 98 for the Nigerian national team. He was penciled in to be the starter on the back line of the 2000 MLS Cup winning side, but due to being ill to start the season lost his starting spot.

6(3). Team Shook - Sean Bowers - With the third pick of the sixth round, Team Shook selects Defender Sean Bowers. Bowers started over a hundred games on the Wizards backline from the inaugural season of 1996 through 1999, and paired with Uche Okafor to form the backbone of early Wizards defenses.
Bowers was the Wizards team captain for the 1999 season and was twice named team defender of the year.

After leaving the Wizards following the 1999 campaign Bowers went on to play in Major League Indoor Soccer and National Professional Soccer League and captained the US Futsal team to the second round of the 2004 Futsal World Championship.

All Competitions Goals

After going through the Wizards top scorers in MLS play, I decided to go through the Wizards goal scorers in all competitions. I'm not going to be posting pictures this time around as each of the players pictures are in the MLS top scorers posts. The numbers in parenthesis are the players goals in the different MLS competitions.

1. Preki - 22 (18 league, 4 playoff)

2. Vitalis "Digital" Takawira - 15 (13 league, 1 playoff, 1 Open Cup)

3. Mark Chung - 9 (8 league, 1 playoff)

4. Mo Johnston - 7 (6 league, 1 playoff)

5. Mike Sorber - 4 (4 league)

6. Alan Prampin - 3 (3 league)

7T. Frank Klopas - 2 (2 league)

7T. Scott Uderitz - 2 (2 league)

7T. Uche Okafor - 2 (2 league)

10T. Matt McKeon - 1 (1 playoff)

10T. Sean Bowers - 1 (1 Open Cup)

10T. Yari Allnut - 1 (1 league)

Wizards Top 20 goal scorers

I'm taking a page from something the Climbing the Ladder blog has done recently. He's posted the top 25 league goal scorers over the course of MLS's now 11 year existence. Any Wizards fan can probably tell you who the Wizards all time leading scorer is, he's our hero, recently named coach of Chivas USA, Preki. After that though, do people really know who the other top scorers are in the teams history? Sure you can guess at players that are up there, Mo Johnston, Digital Takawira, Josh Wolff, etc, but I was curious as to who the top scorers were as the seasons progressed. The majority of the pictures of the players come from the MLS Photo collection put together by the Climbing the Ladder blog.

So without further ado, here are the Wizards Top scorers for their inaugural season in 1996

1. Preki - 18 - A strong first season by Preki put him into the top spot in the first season and has yet to relinquish years later.












2. Vitalis "Digital" Takawira - 13 - Crawl Digital Crawl, the largest output from the popular Zimbabwean during his time with the team.

















3. Mark Chung - 8 - Wizards first round pick in the 96 draft.



















4. Mo Johnston - 6 - The current Toronto FC coach came into the league just in time to score 2 goals in what at the time was the highest scoring game in league history (KC 6-Columbus 4, May 2, 1996)



















5. Mike Sorber - 4 - The Wizards first allocation.















6. Alan Prampin - 3 - Wizards 10th round pick, had 2 appearances for the US National team in 1993.












7T. Frank Klopas - 2 - Another of the Wizards original allocations, played 2 seasons with the Wizards before moving to his home town team in Chicago.















7T. Scott Uderitz - 2 - Had been playing indoor soccer before moving to the Wizards.










7T. Uche Okafor - 2 - Nigerian international anchored the Wizards defense until 1999.













10. Yari Allnut - 1 - Played a total of 45 minutes for the Wizards, scoring 1 goal.










So there is the Wizards 96 season, the Wizards only had 10 goal scorers that season. I'll get the 97 season up later and continue this.