Wizards get past Fire with second-half rally

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jose Burciaga Jr. scored a goal and assisted on goals by Sasha Victorine and Scott Sealy, all in the second half, to lead the Kansas City Wizards to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Chicago Fire on Wednesday night.

The Wizards (9-7-5) snapped a two-game losing streak and moved 1 point behind third-place New York in the Eastern Conference standings. The Fire (6-9-5) is in sixth.

The Fire took the lead in the waning seconds of the first half on a goal by Chad Barrett, off a nice assist from Mexican star Cuauhtemoc Blanco. Blanco was a favorite for the heavily pro-Hispanic crowd that cheered him on most of the night.

But the Wizards came on strong in the second half. In the 54th minute, they scored for the first time in three games when a hard cross from Burciaga found Victorine inside the six-yard box in front of the Fire goal. Victorine's shot was touched by keeper Jon Busch, but the ball deflected into the top of the net.

Fifteen minutes later, the Wizards took their first lead when Burciaga sent another curling pass into the middle of the box to Sealy. Sealy hopped over fallen defender Logan Pause and knocked in his second goal of the season.

Burciaga got in on the scoring in the 82nd minute when Eddie Johnson deftly flicked Ryan Raybould's pass to Burciaga near the left post. Burciaga scored easily to give the Wizards a 3-1 lead.

The Fire made things close with a goal by Dasan Robinson in the 83rd minute.

The visitors played the final 24 minutes a man down after Gonzalo Segares was given a second yellow card followed by a red-card ejection.

Burciaga also received a yellow card and will have to sit out Saturday's rematch at Toyota Park because of a one-game suspension for yellow-card accumulation.