The Kansas City Wizards (5-6-4, 19 pts) fell to the Houston Dynamo (9-3-4, 31 pts) 1-0 Saturday night on a 4th of July match at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Houston striker Kei Kamara scored the game’s only goal on a night where Wizards midfielders Davy Arnaud (USA) and Roger Espinoza (Honduras) represented their national teams. Espinoza started and played 68 minutes for Honduras in a 1-0 win over Haiti, while Arnaud was a 70th minute substitute for the United States in a 4-0 win over Grenada. Both matches were played at Qwest Field in Seattle. Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman moved into 2nd place on the all-time MLS games played list with his 318th regular-season appearance. Hartman now trails only New England Revolution midfielder Steve Ralston.

Kansas City generated three dangerous opportunities in the opening 10 minutes, with three near misses from striker Josh Wolff. In the 3rd minute, Wolff directed a header just inches wide of the left post. Then, in the 7th minute Wolff hit a first-time shot that Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad held at the near post. In the 10th minute, midfielder Herculez Gomez played a hard cross along the ground at the top of the six-yard area that Wolff slid to attempt to put home, but his effort came up just short and the pass rolled out of play for a Houston goal kick.

Dynamo then took a 1-0 lead eight minutes later through a combination play up the left wing. Midfielder Corey Ashe slid a pass forward for overlapping left back Mike Chabala. Chabala hit the ball on his first touch, sending a bent cross to Kei Kamara at the top of the six-yard area. Kamara made no mistake, powering the ball home with his head from the center of the field for a 1-0 Houston advantage. Chabala recorded his first career assist on the play.

Kansas City nearly leveled in the 21st minute through center back Rauwshan McKenzie, who made his first career MLS start Saturday. Striker Claudio Lopez sent in a bending free kick from the right wing. McKenzie broke out of a pack of players to get on the end of the cross, sending a snap header just wide of the left upright.

The Wizards continued to attack throughout the second half in search of the game-tying goal. In the 55th minute, Claudio Lopez started a counter attack with a driven cross from the right wing toward Josh Wolff making a run up the left. Wolff got to the pass, cut the ball back and laid it off for on-rushing midfielder Michael Harrington. Harrington hit a shot on goal with his first touch, but Onstad was there to cover the opportunity.

Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman then made a pair of saves in the 56th minute off long-range shots from Kei Kamara to keep the Wizards within a goal. On the night, Hartman made his 318th career MLS appearance, breaking a tie with former Wizards midfielder and assistant coach Chris Henderson for 2nd place in League history. Hartman has played 97 straight matches without missing a minute of play. His 8730 straight minutes of play are an MLS record.

Kansas City nearly leveled the match in the 83rd minute, again through Wolff. Jack Jewsbury played a hard-hit cross in from the right flank for Wolff making a run down the center of the penalty area. Wolff hit a header down off the ground that eluded Onstad but deflected off the cross bar. Substitute forward Abe Thompson hit a sliding follow-up shot between two defenders that went just wide of goal. Thompson hit another shot in the 88th minute that was covered by a diving Onstad after Jewsbury played a back-heel to put Thompson through between a pair of defenders.

Kansas City’s final opportunity of the match came in the 5th minute of second-half stoppage time after Wolff was fouled 22 yards from goal on the left side of the penalty area. Lopez and Jewsbury stood over the ensuing free kick, with Lopez eventually hitting a dipping shot over the wall that just missed the left post and sailed into the side netting.

The Wizards hosted several family-friendly events to celebrate America’s Independence Day including: a dunk tank, soccer inflatables, apple bobbing, sidewalk chalk and a halftime relay race. After the match, the Wizards put on the official fireworks spectacular of Kansas City, Kansas. Kansas City next returns home Saturday, July 25 as the Los Angeles Galaxy come to town in what is scheduled to be David Beckham’s 2nd MLS appearance this season.

Kansas City travels to Seattle for a Tuesday Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tilt against Seattle Sounders FC, before heading to the east coast for a Saturday match against the New England Revolution. The match will be part of a soccer tripleheader that night, including a pair of CONCACAG Gold Cup games, in which the United States will play Haiti, and Honduras will play Grenada. If Davy Arnaud and/or Jimmy Conrad plays for the United States and Roger Espinoza plays for Honduras, a Wizards player will take part in all three games of the tripleheader. The Wizards game will take place at 3 p.m. CT, broadcast live on Metro Sports.

Scoring Summary:
HOU – Kei Kamara 4 (Mike Chabala 1, Corey Ashe 3) 18

Kansas City Wizards Line-Up: Kevin Hartman; Lance Watson, Aaron Hohlbein, Rauwshan McKenzie, Matt Besler; Michael Harrington (Abe Thompson 61), Santiago Hirsig, Jack Jewsbury, Herculez Gomez (Michael Kraus 74); Josh Wolff ©, Claudio Lopez

Substitutes not used: Boris Pardo (GK), Kurt Morsink, Matt Marquess, Jonathan Leathers, Graham Zusi

Houston Dynamo Line-Up: Pat Onstad; Richard Mulrooney ©, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Mike Chabala; Brian Mullan, Brad Davis, Ricardo Clark, Corey Ashe (Daniel Cruz 93+); Kei Kamara, Dominic Oduro (Ade Akinbiyi 67)

Substitutes not used: Tally Hall (GK), Julius James, Erik Ustruck, Craig Waibel, John Michael Hayden

Misconduct:
HOU – Mike Chabala (caution; Delaying a Restart) 46+
HOU – Bobby Boswell (caution; Tactical Foul) 49
HOU – Geoff Cameron (caution; Dissent) 94+

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