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Wizards, Toronto FC battle to 1-1 draw

Jul 2, 2007 - 6:59 AM KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Getting to the net hasn't been a problem for the Kansas City Wizards. Finding the net has.

Danny Dichio scored in the 46th minute as Toronto FC played to a 1-1 tie with the Wizards on Sunday.

Kansas City collected 25 shots in the contest - including seven on goal - but only managed one goal, continuing a trend in which they have outshot the opposition, 52-29, since the departure of leading scorer Eddie Johnson to international duty.

"It's been the story the last couple of weeks," Wizards forward Davy Arnaud said. "It would be even more frustrating if we weren't playing well. Scoring comes in waves. It seems like early on this season, every time we put a foot on the ball, it was going in. Now, we are getting in great position to score but we miss by a couple of inches."

Johnson has missed the last three games due to his commitments with CONCACAF Gold Cup and Copa America. The high-scoring forward became the first player in MLS history to record back-to-back hat tricks prior to his departure.

"(Not having Eddie here) is adding to the pressure," Wizards forward Michael Harrington said. "We have to keep our heads up and find the back of the net."

With Kansas City leading, 1-0, in the 46th minute, Dichio outjumped Toronto FC's Nick Garcia for a crossing pass from Ronnie O'Brien from the far right sideline head a shot past Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.

"It was a great cross from Ronnie," Dichio said. "We made a good connection and, fortunately, we were able to make it count."

"We created enough to get three points (from a win)," Toronto FC coach Mo Johnston said. "Both teams had their chances. They got a lot of chances but we had the (cleanest) chances."

Kansas City's 24 misses were their most since July 23, 2005, at Columbus when they missed on all 25 shots in a 2-0 loss.

"They created a lot of chances," Johnston said. "They used the long ball over the top and that gave us some difficulties, but we defended well."

"We came out of the second half and played well," Arnaud said. "We should have won the game. Toronto is very physical and they made it difficult. In the second half, we played more of our game and we had more chances. We just have to do a better job of finishing."

The Wizards' long tally came as a result of a blast from Harrington, who scored on a right-footed kick into the lower left of the goal. That gave Kansas City the first goal of the game for the first time in seven contests.

The 21-year-old defender was assisted on the goal by Carlos Marinelli, who broke out of the defensive end and found Harrington from about 15 yards out.

"We took off on the counter-attack," Harrington said. "I knew if I got loose, Carlos would find me and he did. It was a very good pass."