Just over six weeks ago, the Kansas City Wizards were struggling mightily and appeared out of the playoff picture.
An impressive run, however, suddenly has them just outside the top eight.
The Wizards look to continue their playoff push and win three straight games for the first time in nearly two years Saturday against a Philadelphia Union team coming off its first victory in more than a month.
After winning just three of its first 14 matches, Kansas City (7-9-5) improved to 4-1-2 in its last seven with last Saturday's 2-0 win over Western Conference-leading Los Angeles. The Wizards won consecutive games for the first time since the season's first two matches and are within three points of the final playoff spot with nine games to play.
"We see what we can do when everybody's on the same page and everybody's working hard for each other," captain Davy Arnaud said.
Arnaud scored in the 12th minute and assisted on Jimmy Conrad's first goal of the season in the 70th minute. Jimmy Nielsen made three saves for his eighth shutout.
Nielsen has started every game for the Wizards this season, and has three shutouts while stopping 19 of 23 shots over the last seven matches. Kansas City, which is outscoring opponents 10-4 during its seven-game surge, last won three in a row to close out the 2008 season.
"It is all just coming to a head that the players have a sense that they have the ability to do certain things on the field in regards to whether we are down, tied or up," coach Peter Vermes said.
Despite Kansas City's early struggles, it still managed to defeat Philadelphia 2-0 on June 10. Kei Kamara, the team leader with eight goals, and Graham Zusi scored and Nielsen made two saves.
That was just one of several early losses for the expansion Union (5-11-5), who ended a six-game winless streak with last Saturday's 2-1 comeback victory in New England.
Reserve midfielder Justin Mapp set up Jack McInerney for the tying score in the 82nd minute and added the winner in stoppage time. It was the first points in seven MLS games for Mapp.
"I'm happy and trying to do my job," Mapp told the Union's official website. "Good win, good atmosphere and big game Saturday."
Philadelphia, which hadn't won since July 17, is nine points out of the final playoff spot, but isn't losing hope. The Union play six of their final nine games at PPL Park, where they're 1-1-3 in the last five.
"We definitely are looking to win," said Danny Mwanga, who is second on the team with seven goals. "We did a pretty good job against New England and we're going to look to continue that. If we can keep doing what we're doing we think we can get a good result against Kansas City."
