Teal Bunbury Nets First Goal, Game Winner For KC Wizards

Teal Bunbury, KC Wizards by DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A scoreless drought, a long winless streak against Columbus and a three-game losing streak all ended when rookie Teal Bunbury scored in the first half and goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen made it stand with seven saves as the Wizards beat the Crew, 1-0, on Wednesday.

Nielsen made six saves in the second half, including a right-toe stop of Guillermo Barros Schelotto in the 70th minute, a left arm stop of Emilio Renteria eight minutes later and a Steven Lenhart header in stoppage time. The Crew outshot the Wizards 15-4 after the break and 19-8 for the match but did not convert any of their eight corners.

Bunbury returned to Ohio where he played last season for the University of Akron and scored his first MLS goal in the 14th minute to end KC’s 339-minute scoreless streak.

The Wizards (4-8-3, 15 points) beat Columbus for the first time since posting a 0-5-1 mark over the past meetings.

Check out the analysis on Down The Byline as well.