Just when it looked like the Rapids would be able to create a 1-0 lead and squeeze out an opponent slowly, lightning struck.

Twice.

Paulo Nagamura scored two goals in a five-minute span in the second half Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., as Chivas USA defeated the Colorado Rapids 2-1 in the season opener for both clubs.

Nagamura’s first goal came against the run of the first 54 minutes of play.

Omar Cummings had given Colorado the lead late in the 30th minute, and the Rapids, playing solidly, appeared in control during the first half.

But in the 55th minute, on a quick transition from the Rapids’ end, Nagamura found himself at the top of the Rapids’ box. His long shot skipped along the turf, and Colorado’s Matt Pickens, diving low to his right, could not find the handle.

It was abrupt and deflating. The Rapids, who had appeared comfortable with a 1-0 lead, suddenly lost their focus at 1-1.

And within five minutes, disaster struck.

Kosuke Kimura headed a ball right to the foot of Nagamura, who buried this one in the back of a net for a 2-1 lead.

It was a frustrating turn of events for a Rapids team that worked hard at both ends of the field in the opening 45 minutes, and that frustration hindered the club’s play in the final 30 minutes.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Nagamura.

RAPIDS MAN OF THE MATCH: Conor Casey, who was the unfortunate mirror image of Nagamura. Whereas the Chivas midfielder affected the Goats’ offense very little (outside of scoring two goals), Casey was the lifeblood of the Rapids’ attack. He was impressive with his feet, his head, in the air, on the ground, shooting, passing, crossing, chasing down opponents. … He just didn’t finish. It was the exact opposite of Nagamura’s night.

MISS OF THE MATCH: In the 10th minute, Mehdi Ballouchy made an outstanding defensive play by sticking out his leg and deflecting a poor Chivas pass. The ball bounced up the right wing, and Casey ran onto it, carrying it forward with room to maneuver. He decided to stay wide and cross the ball back to Ballouchy, who made his run toward the goal. Casey’s cross was nothing short of perfection, but Ballouchy failed to act. At all. I’ve watched the replay on the DVR a dozen times. Ballouchy speeds up as Casey’s service approaches. But when it arrives, he backs off. I can’t explain it. Hindsight is 20-20, obviously; watching replays can’t explain what is going on on the field or in the player’s head. But I am at a loss about why Ballouchy didn’t make an effort, at all, to score what should have been the first goal of the game. This was a gimme. 

SAVE OF THE MATCH: In the 12th minute, Kimura crossed the ball to Cummings from the right wing. Cummings flicked the ball backward with his head, forcing Chivas goalkeeper Zach Thornton to make a very difficult save. The ball was sailing over Thornton’s head, and he had to back up blindly, dive slightly backward and slap the ball away from the net.

MISS OF THE MATCH, PART II: After Thornton slapped that ball away, it went right to Casey, whose reflexes kicked in. He got a knee on the ball but was unlucky to hit the post. With any kind of a finish from Ballouchy and a little luck off of Casey’s knee, the Rapids could’ve had a 2-0 lead in the first 12 minutes.

MISS OF THE NIGHT, PART III: In the 91st minute, Pickens hit Colin Clark completely in stride deep along the Chivas left wing. Clark masterfully tapped the ball forward with his head to position himself alone behind the Chivas defense. With only Thornton to beat, however, Clark chopped the ball backward into the box, delivering a ball that second-half substitute Jacob Peterson found too difficult to corral. Clark’s situation was eerily similar to one last season in which he scored. I’m sure he’s wondering today what might have been had he chosen to shoot instead of pass.

WOULDA, SHOULDA, COULDA: All right, all right. Don’t the Goats deserve some credit in this game? Isn’t it time to deliver a little praise for the team that won, rather than devoting a lot of digital ink to the things that didn’t happen? No. I was much more impressed with the Rapids in this game than with Chivas. Despite giving up two goals, Pickens made at least two strong saves and delivered the ball uncannily well. The defense, with the exception of Kimura’s gaffe, held together. The midfield was drab at times, but it moved the ball forward with determination. And strikers Casey and Cummings were perhaps the two brightest spots on the team. Colorado was the catalyst Saturday night. And the five-minute period during which Chivas USA scored two goals says more about the Rapids than it does the host team. The 2008 Rapids were stung by these frustrating lapses time and again. Now the club has been bitten by the same bug at the start of 2009.

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