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Wizards 2, Real Salt Lake 0

May 17, 2009 - 4:21 AM By JASEN ASAY STATS MLS Correspondent

SANDY, Utah (STATS) - Kansas City Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo challenged a group of his veteran players to step things up a notch and play to their potential prior to facing Real Salt Lake.

That's exactly what happened as Josh Wolff scored twice and Kevin Hartman made seven saves to help the Wizards give Real Salt Lake its first home loss of the season, 2-0 Saturday night.

"We had a lot to prove because we've struggled in the prior two games and we felt like we were better than the performances that showed in the last couple of games," Onalfo said. "We had an inspired week of training."

Jack Jewsbury lobbed the ball over the defense and Wolff beat goalkeeper Chris Seitz on a breakaway in the 20th minute.

Kansas City (4-4-2), which ended a three-game winless streak, extended its lead in the 67th minute when Michael Harrington sent the ball in front of the goal and Wolff found the back of the net again.

"The first one we just caught their back line flat and after a good first touch the second touch got away but I was able to get to it and just chip it over the goalie," Wolff said. "On the second one Mikey just played it great and I beat the goalie to the near post."

Wolff, who has scored in three straight games, has six this season and is tied for the most in MLS with Chicago's Brian McBride. Wolff also scored twice in one game on April 18 in a 2-2 tie against Chicago, which got two goals from McBride.

"He was outstanding," Onalfo said of Wolff. "He's makes intelligent runs and he had the finishing touch tonight."

In between Wolff's goals RSL (3-5-1) nearly tied the game, however Kyle Beckerman's shot in the 47th minute hit off the post. Javier Morales' follow-up shot was deflected wide.

RSL, which is winless in its last four games, was unlucky again in the 82nd minute when Luis Miguel Escalada's shot hit the crossbar.

Jewsbury picked up his fourth assist on the season while Harrington has two on the year.

RSL finished with a 7-4 edge in shots on goal, however was shut out for the fifth time this season.

"I think the effort was there but we just weren't good enough," head coach Jason Kreis said. "Just too many players had bad nights tonight. Not average nights, not mediocre nights, but bad nights."

Part of the reason RSL struggled to score was the play of Hartman. Four of his saves came in the final 10 minutes plus stoppage time, as he earned his fourth shutout of the season.

The 34-year-old goalkeeper made two big stops in the 36th minute, first deflecting a shot by Robbie Russell wide of the goal then blocking Beckerman's header on the ensuing corner kick.

"The last 15 (minutes) he came up big," Wolff said. "He's got quite a tenure in this league and a great deal of respect from everybody in the league. His resume speaks for himself and it was another big night for him."