KANSAS CITY - The Kansas City Wizards couldn't have dreamed up a better start to 2008 as new additions Claudio  Lopez and Ivan Trujillo found the back of the net in the second half and the defense stifled DC United's touted attack to win 2-0 in front of 10,000 plus fans at Community America Ballpark.

It is the second year in a row that the Wizards have beat United by a two-goal margin to begin the season after winning 4-2 at RFK Stadium a year ago.

United fielded a less than full strength squad due to injuries and CONCACAF Champion's Cup action on Tuesday. Domenic Mediate received a rare start in place of Brazilian winger Fred, while Ben Olsen and Jaime Moreno remained unavailable.

Despite DC's performance in the CONCACAF Champion's Cup earlier in the week, the Wizards always seemed the more threatening side, finally capitalizing on their chances in the second half.

"They have been playing CONCACAF games so they were a little bit sharper than us the first 20 minutes," Ryan Pore told American Soccer Daily. "But I think we weathered the storm a little bit and once we got our confidence up we started playing with them. And in the second half we took care of business." 

Lopez looked dangerous throughout, and combined well with Trujillo while fellow Argentine Designated Player Marcelo Gallardo of United found space hard to come by in midfield.

Lopez wasted no time making his presence felt. El Piojo chipped a superb ball over the top of the DC defense to an unmarked Carlos Marinelli in the third minute. Marinelli found himself alone in front of goal, but his left-footed drive was well over the crossbar.

Though the Wizards looked the more dangerous side going forward, a mistake by first-year defender Jonathan Leathers nearly gifted DC a penalty when he bundled over Mediate in the 14th minute. United's cries fell on deaf ears, however, and referee Ricardo Salazar waved for play to continue.

Leathers looked shaky initially, but the Furman product settled down to contribute to the clean sheet. The youngster slotted in for fellow rookie Chance Myers, who was out with a foot injury.

United's best chance of the half came in the 34th minute when heralded Argentine Gallardo, who wore the captain's armband in his first regular season match, found a gap in Kansas City's defense.

Gallardo slipped a pass to a streaking Luciano Emilio at the top of the penalty area, but last season's Golden Boot winner failed to take advantage as Hartman acrobatically parried his powerful drive.

Lopez answered immediately for the Wizards. After cutting to back to the top of the area, Lopez fired his first shot in a Wizards uniform just past Wells' left post in the 36th.

A lull in action followed, and then Marinelli and Lopez almost combined to open the scoring just before halftime. Marinelli's ball sent Lopez through on goal, but DC's Gonzalo Martinez pulled him down just outside the area. Jack Jewsbury failed to beat the wall on the ensuing free kick, and the half ended with neither team breaking through. 

The nil-nil scoreline wouldn't last for long after the break. In the 47th minute, Michael Harrington's cross from just outside the penalty area found Jewsbury in space. The Missouri native sent the ball across the six-yard box, and Trujillo muscled his way onto the end of the pass to stab in from close range.

"Its a great moment for me," Trujillo told reporters. "I came here with the goal to achieve and be successful, and I'm very happy to score my first goal with the Kansas City Wizards." 

The deficit forced DC to commit players to the attack, and the match began to open up. Both sides had goals called back for offside, but Kansas City struck again when Pore found a path through the United defense in the 62nd minute. His chip into space found a streaking Lopez, and the two-time World Cup veteran calmly lobbed Wells to score his first Major League Soccer goal.

"When you first come to a team, you want to try and score your first goal as quickly as you can," Lopez told reporters. "I'm just glad that it came today."

United pushed forward in the hopes of finding a breakthrough, but it wasn't to be. Their best chance came in the 76th minute when Gonzalo Peralta chested down a cross from Emilio near the penalty spot, but the Argentine center back scuffed the shot and Kevin Hartman gobbled up the ball in front of charging DC players.

In the end, Wizards coach Curt Onalfo was delighted to receive an immediate return on the team's investments in Lopez and Trujillo.

"I just think they are quality players," he told ASD. "And quality players do things pretty quickly. I think its fortunate that they were able to both get goals, and I think its fantastic and a tribute to the group effort tonight." 

Meanwhile, Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman said it was one of the most intelligent defensive games the team has played since he arrived in Kansas City.

"I thought defensively we were very sound," Hartman told ASD. "I had to come up with a couple of saves in the first half. Michael Harrington literally made some tackles on the backside that were goal saving tackles. Jimmy and Tyson organized well, and I thought Jonathan Leathers came in and played a very mature game considering he probably didn't think he was going to start."

United will be back in action this Tuesday when the Screaming Eagles travel south of the border to face Pachuca in the first semifinal leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. United will follow that up by hosting Toronto FC April 5th. The Wizards will host the Colorado Rapids, who beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 4-0 in their season opener, next Saturday at CAB.

ASD's Three Stars
#1 Claudio Lopez
#2 Ivan Trujillo
#3 Kevin Hartman

Scoring
KC - Ivan Trujillo 1 (Jack Jewsbury, Michael Harrington) 47'
KC - Claudio Lopez 1 (Ryan Pore) 61'

Line-ups
KC - Kevin Hartman; Michael Harrington, Tyson Wahl, Jimmy Conrad, Jonathan Leathers, Kerry Zavagnin, Jack Jewsbury, Carlos Marinelli (Kurt Morsink 74'), Ryan Pore, Ivan Trujillo (Scott Sealy 69'), Claudio Lopez (Eloy Columbano 89')

DCU - Zach Wells; Marc Burch (Fred 57'), Gonzalo Martinez, Gonzalo Peralta, Brian Namoff, Domenic Mediate (Dan Stratford 82'), Marcelo Gallardo, Clyde Simms, Devon McTavish, Luciano Emilio, Franco Niell (Santino Quaranta 57')