06/21/2009

Associated Press

The Kansas City Wizards and FC Atlas of Guadalajara, Mexico, played to a scoreless draw in the opening round of the SuperLiga Tournament on Sunday.

The Wizards outshot Atlas 12-9 and held a territorial advantage throughout most of the contest.

Claudio Lopez, Jack Jewsbury and Abe Thompson had scoring opportunities for the Wizards. Atlas midfielder Edgar Pacheco fired just wide of the left post on a breakaway in the 81st minute.

Atlas keeper Jose Francisco Canales made five saves. Kevin Hartman posted the shutout for Kansas City with two stops.

"The difference in the game is that we had a couple clear chances and we didn't finish them," said Wizards coach Curt Onalfo.

The temperature at the start of the match was 93 degrees with an excessive heat warning in effect.

Atlas coach Ricardo La Volpe was given a red-card ejection in the 41st minute for arguing with the referees. Kansas City midfielder Roger Espinoza was ejected in second-half stoppage time.

The top MLS teams from last year's regular season who weren't in the CONCACAF Champions League were invited to the SuperLiga along with the top four Mexican clubs who weren't in the region's top club tournament.