United's Final Road Game Is a Tie

United 1, Wizards 1

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Oct. 5 -- After 45 minutes Friday night, D.C. United's 10-week unbeaten stretch seemed doomed. United was playing for the fifth time in 13 days, a span that saw the team travel from Chicago to Washington to Mexico to Missouri. Two starting midfielders were forced to miss the final leg of this trip because of injuries. Several players and members of the coaching staff were weakened by stomach ailments. And after a half, United trailed a Kansas City Wizards team that had not lost when leading at halftime.

But 45 minutes later, the Wizards were left literally shaking their heads -- "Oh, my," sighed defender Jack Jewsbury as he walked into his locker room -- and United's unbeaten streak was at 12. Christian Gomez equaled the score on a tremendous individual effort in the 56th minute, and United finished its road trip with a 1-1 draw.

"We kind of had to grind this one out a bit and suck it up," Devon McTavish said. "We'll take it, absolutely."

And with a chance to catch its breath -- United doesn't play for a week, and closes the season with two home games -- the club is still well positioned to win a second straight regular season title. Two wins would guarantee both the Supporters Shield and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

"If we win out, no one can catch us," said Coach Tom Soehn, who had a touch of stomach illness himself. "We control our own destiny; that's what you want as a team and a coach."

As things stand now, United would face Kansas City in the opening round of the postseason, but such a matchup would look considerably different from Friday's match. Kansas City's Jimmy Conrad and Davy Arnaud watched the game from the press box because of red card suspensions; Sasha Victorine was out with a strained hip flexor.

Meantime, two United midfielders -- Fred (groin) and Josh Gros (headaches) -- were nursing injuries back in the Washington area, while forward Jaime Moreno was bothered by a sore right ankle and did not start. Thus, Gomez started at forward for the first time this season, leaving defensive midfielders Clyde Simms and Brian Carroll to direct the offense. Simms woke up in the middle of the night Thursday with the stomach illness, felt weak throughout the match and finally left early in the second half.

The result was an attack that appeared disjointed at times, without the intricate passing United typically favors. Luciano Emilio, the league's top scorer and the leading candidate for league MVP, was swarmed every time he got near the ball, once attracting five defenders.

Still, United got the best of the early going and tested goalkeeper Kevin Hartman several times in the first half. Hartman, who during the match became the third MLS goalie to record at least 1,000 saves, stopped well-struck shots from McTavish and Gomez and made a leaping save of a Marc Burch blast just before halftime. It was United's fifth shot on goal of the half; to that point, Kansas City had just one.

But after the ensuing corner kick, Bryan Namoff lost the ball and Kansas City quickly countered. After Eddie Johnson collected a long ball, the Wizards' leading scorer coolly found a charging Scott Sealy, who had a clear look at the goal and sent a one-hopper into the far side of the net. The Wizards entered the game with a 6-0-4 record when scoring first.

After some early threats from Sealy, United had the more dangerous attack for much of the second half; Gomez made himself a perpetual pest in front of Hartman. He was finally rewarded when Kansas City failed to clear and the ball fell on the left side to Burch, who poked it forward to Gomez. The reigning MVP -- who has rarely played at forward in his four years with United -- hesitated, spun and then deposited a well-placed shot that beat Hartman on the near side.

"Just a great individual effort by Christian, really," Burch said. "When you get Christian the ball, good things happen."

Both teams had several fine chances in the closing minutes, but United goalie Troy Perkins charged out of his net to deny Sealy and McTavish headed a Rod Dyachenko cross wide.

"Overall, satisfying," Gomez said through an interpreter. "It's been a long trip for us, and even though toward the end we had some good chances that we could have put away and gotten the three points, overall a tie is very good for us."

United Note: After a quiet first half, five yellow cards were handed out in the second half. United defender Bobby Boswell will miss the next game with a yellow-card suspension.