Metros fall to KC in first preseason game
February 10, 2002 (Official Game Summary)
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The MetroStars fell to the Kansas City Wizards, 1-0, at the University of South Florida in Tampa in their first preseason match of the 2002 season.
The Wizards' Roy Lassiter scored in the 18th minute after Eric Quill's cross inside the box was blocked by Tim Howard, but Lassiter was able to knock the rebound home to provide the only goal on a night when rain fell steadily all game long.
Howard was the lone MetroStar to play the full 90 minutes in a match that saw a total of 21 players see action for the MetroStars, including newcomers to camp such as Jamaican midfielder Winston Griffiths, newly-drafted midfielders Mario Gomez and Jeff Moore, tryout defender William Wilson, and tryout midfielders Byron Alvarez, Alberto Munoz, and former Austrian league player Orett Prendergast.
The MetroStars best scoring opportunities occurred in the first half. The first was in the 27th minute when Wizards goalkeeper Tony Meola saved Mario Gomez's strong header off a Petter Villegas cross during a counterattack.
The second occurred in the 39th minute when Wizards defender Mike Burns misplayed a ball in the backfield to Jeff Moore. The former Richard Stockton College (NJ) player then sent a low roller through the box to striker Ranvir Singh, but Peter Vermes hustled quickly from behind to block the shot.
Clint Mathis, Steve Jolley, and Daniel Hernandez saw their first playing action of preseason at the start of the second half. Prendergast also started, but left only five minutes later after injuring his right thigh and was replaced by Singh for the remainder of the game.
Mathis, who saw his first competitive minutes with his teammates since June 2, 2001 in New England, played 45 minutes in a defensive midfield role as the Georgia native looks to continue building upon his conditioning level.
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