• Recap
• Bleachers

United and Wizards draw 1-1United and Wizards draw 1-1United and Wizards draw 1-1

May 7, 2009 - 3:51 AM KANSAS CITY, Kan. (STATS) - Rodney Wallace put D.C. United alone atop the Eastern Conference. Josh Wolff kept the new leaders from pulling three points ahead.

Wallace's goal gave United the lead in the first half, but Wolff's equalizer in the second allowed the Kansas City Wizards to salvage a 1-1 draw Wednesday night.

The point gave D.C. (3-1-4) a four-game unbeaten streak and sole possession of first place in the East. United has 13 points, one more than idle Toronto FC.

"Our mentality is pretty good," coach Tom Soehn said. "We're in the mindset that we're not going to lose games. You'd like to win, but we'll take a tie on the road."

Kansas City (3-3-2) moved into a third-place tie with Chicago, which was also off Wednesday night. The Wizards, who just missed on several second-half scoring opportunities, would have taken over first place in the East with a win.

"We've got to keep plugging away," coach Curt Onalfo said. "There are times you're going to put away all your chances. Other times you don't."

Rodney Wallace put United up 1-0 in the 27th minute, taking Jaime Moreno's pass at the edge of the penalty area, shouldering off a challenge from defender Lance Watson and tapping a slow roller through the legs of onrushing goalkeeper Kevin Hartman from 12 yards.

"I gave him a little bump," Wallace said. "He got off balance, and it gave me a little bit of an opening so I could score."

Watson thought he had Wallace sealed off on the play.

"I could see the buildup coming, and their guy poked it through," Watson said. "I tried to get myself in a good position to win it. I was not real sure if I was going to let Hartman win it or play it outside, but I felt like I was in a position good enough to clear the ball."

Wolff got the equalizer in the 52nd minute on assists from Watson and Jack Jewsbury. Jewsbury took a through ball from Watson and crossed to Wolff, who put out his left foot and one-timed the ball past Louis Crayton from the edge of the 6-yard box.

"Jack hit a good ball in," Wolff said. "I just slammed the front post, got a piece with a pretty good pace and was glad to see it go in."

Eight of Kansas City's 10 goals this season have come in the second half.

The Wizards had two chances to win shortly after Wolff's third goal of the season, which tied him with Davy Arnaud for the team lead. Claudio Lopez's shot in the 58th minute and Wolff's header in the 62nd both missed by inches.

"It was a good ball from Claudio," Wolff said. "The whole time I was trying to get inside my guy, and I was kind of fighting with him at the back post. Anyone will tell you that you're going to have a little bit of contact that throws you off balance, but I was still disappointed to see it go wide."