Late-Season Goals

Four times this year, the Kansas City Wizards have played to a casual soccer fan's worst nightmare: a 0-0 draw. The fact that the Wizards have still managed to sell out four games with a defense-heavy team is a testament to the fact that local soccer fans are anything but casual. That home-field advantage has proven to be a huge boon for the team (which has four wins at home and only one on the road), and it bodes well for the team's plans to relocate to a new stadium on the former site of Bannister Mall in 2010. The team will have to start scoring during the last three months of the season if there's hope of reaching the playoffs. Tonight's Wizards match against middling Chivas USA affords a golden opportunity to do so. Tickets start at $15 for the 7 p.m. throwdown at CommunityAmerica Ballpark (1800 Village West Parkway in Kansas City, Kansas, 913-328-2255).
Sat., Aug. 9, 7 p.m., 2008