Following a contest from earlier in the season, which ended in a 3-3 tie, the Kansas City Wizards faced off against the Real Salt Lake team at the chilly East River Park fields. The Wizards dominated offensively in the first half, with a record 16 shots on goal by Adrian Dillulio, Liam Fuerst, Ben Karam, Ryan Porcaro, Tyler Rohan and twin talents Nick and Lucy Winokur. The Wizards’ sideline was in disbelief as many of the shots were wide of the mark; the rest were saved by Salt Lake goalkeeper Clyde Huibregtse. In addition, powerful defense by Salt Lake’s Walter Bernath, the tenacious play of Grace Bristol, the height and strong boot of Simon Curtis-Ginsberg, kept the Wizards at bay, until Porcaro finally connected to bring the score to 1-0.
Salt Lake’s Luke Dilworth had some excellent runs, but the Wizards’ diamond defense, anchored by sweeper Julian Chow and including Max Kong, Tommy Wu and Tyler Adams (who was on fire with several key clears), prevented all but one shot on goal, which was saved by Douglass “Shep” Stapler.
In the second half, Fuerst moved into the goal for the Wizards, and was challenged when Gabbi Rutherford, now at sweeper, tried to stop Bernath’s breakaway but fell backwards in her enthusiasm. Bernath continued dribbling toward the goal, but Fuerst calmly snagged the ball for his first of two saves. Curtis-Ginsberg was challenged by additional pressure by the Wizards, including great ball-handling by midfielder Dante Vega-Lamere, but energy of Salt Lake defenders Olivia Lemonides, Eva Roso, Anna Miliakos, Daphne Tsapalas and Sophia Stoch kept the score 1-0 until Stapler, now at forward for the Wizards, landed a corner kick on an assist from N. Winokur to move them ahead 2-0.
Lachlan Robinson also showed great skill with the ball, and teammate Niall Gallagher tried to put one on the boards for Salt Lake, passing through two defenders, but Chow cleared the ball. N. Winokur’s pass to Jackson Kaufman was headed toward the goal, but was saved by Curtis-Ginsberg. Milo Bernfield-Millman and Brandon Mirabella also made some excellent blocks, continuing to frustrate Dillulio’s passing and shooting, until he eventually scored, bringing the Wizards to their first 3-0 lead of the season. Soon after, L. Winokur hustled the ball downfield, and her shot ricocheted off the post right back to her. In a post-game interview, she said it was very annoying that her follow-up shot went wide, especially since her penalty kick was the game-winner for Middle School I.S. 89 varsity over cross-town rival M.A.T.
The final score was 3-0, Wizards.
