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Hartman, Jewsbury key Wizards past Fire

Apr 20, 2008 - 10:45 PM BRIDGEVIEW, Illinois (Ticker) -- Kansas City Wizards goaltender Kevin Hartman made Jack Jewsbury's early goal stand up en route to a 1-0 triumph over the Chicago Fire on Sunday.

Hartman made five saves - some spectacular - for his second straight shutout and the 70th of his illustrious 12-year career.

Kansas City (3-1-1), which was playing the first game of a five-game road trip, jumped out to a quick lead when Jewsbury tallied in the fourth minute.

Wizards defender Michael Harrington raced down the right wing and fed to Claudio Lopez. The midfielder then centered the ball for the on-coming Jewsbury, who knocked in his second goal of the season. Jewsbury had just two goals all of last year.

"It's a great three points on the road," Wizards coach Curt Onalfo said. "We've been on the side a lot of games where we've had the majority of chances throughout. They certainly had more of the chances, but we found a way to grit it out and get three points on the road."

Chicago (2-1-1) tried to recover from the slow start but Hartman was up for the task, making a pair of saves on Fire striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco late in the first half.

"I felt calm and confident," Hartman said. "I made a couple of saves in the first half. I was thinking things are going to go my way today. Some days you feel it going your way and today was one of those days."

The Fire continued the pressure later in the second half, as Blanco and Wilman Conde had consecutive chances which went awry in the 68th minute.

Late substitute Calen Carr had a pair of shots in the final 10 minutes for Chicago, but failed to score the equalizer.

"Today was a day where they get the only goal," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. "We kept pushing and pushing and in the final third of the game, we just weren't good enough. We had good chances and good looks. In the end it was hard to take this defeat because our guys played well."

Chicago outshot Kansas City, 19-10, but had only five on goal. The Fire also had seven corner kicks.

Jon Busch made three saves for the Fire, who had their scoreless streak snapped at 202 minutes.

The Fire, who had scored 36 goals in 16 previous home meetings with the Wizards, dropped to 13-2-1 in home contests with Kansas City.

"This was a continuation of what we been doing so far," Chicago forward Chad Barrett said. "We've been getting good spots and good chances. Today was the first day we didn't finish them. We put a lot of good stuff together, but in the end it's about scoring goals and winning. We didn't do that today."