The team has played five times during the month on five occasions. The best was a 4-1-0 record in September 1998. The worst was a 1-4-0 stretch the year before. The worst September came when the club lost both games that month in 2001.

All time, the team is 25-23-8 in September games. In 2009, the Rapids went 1-1-3 as the team swooned from playoff standing to watching on the sidelines.

The year before, the team came to life, winning three and drawing once in a four-game stretch.

A look at 14 previous Septembers:

2009: 1-1-3

2008: 3-0-1

2007: 0-3-1

2006: 2-3-1

2005: 3-2-0

2004: 2-2-0

2003: 2-0-1

2002: 2-0-1

2001: 0-2-0

2000: 1-1-0

1999: 3-2-0

1998: 4-1-0

1997: 1-4-0

1996: 1-2-0

Overall: 25-23-8

Colorado starts that 15th September at 7 p.m. Saturday against Chivas USA at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

This award, sponsored by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association, provides the opportunity to highlight the extraordinary achievements of its student-athletes. Butch Raymond, Division II CCA president and commissioner of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, said that the award showcases the academic and athletic talent at the NCAA Division II level.

“The CCA Scholar-Athlete Awards exemplify the balance between academics and athletics that is the cornerstone of Division II,” Raymond said.

The commissioners from the regions that comprise the Division II basketball alignment selected the regional winners. To be nominated for consideration, a student-athlete must have attained a 3.0 career cumulative grade point average and possess outstanding athletic credentials.

In 2009, Mitchell became the first women’s soccer player at Mines to earn All-American honors. Mitchell was named Daktronics First Team All-American and NSCAA Second Team All-American. Mitchell was selected as the 2009 Daktronics Central Region Player of the Year and the RMAC Player of the Year. A unanimous First Team All-RMAC pick, Mitchell led the RMAC in goals (30), points (69) and game-winning goals (14). Mitchell finished the season ranked seventh in Division II in goals per game (1.2) and points per game (2.76).

A Daktronics and NSCAA First Team All-Central Region pick, Mitchell recorded five hat tricks and established CSM single-game records for points (8) and goals (4). For her efforts in the classroom, Mitchell earned CoSIDA / ESPN the Magazine Second Team Academic All-American honors and was selected as the 2009 RMAC Women’s Soccer Academic Player of the Year. Mitchell also earned CoSIDA / ESPN the Magazine First Team Academic All-District and First Team Academic All-RMAC honors.

Mitchell finished her career ranked first in the RMAC in career shots (447), career game-winning goals (30), most game winning goals in a season (14) and is second in both career goals (76) and career points (170).

A male and female Division II Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be selected from the 16 regional winners, eight men and eight women. The national award winners will be announced in September.

The agreement with Bradley, who guided the U.S. team to numerous achievements including finishing in first place in their group at the 2010 FIFA World Cup for the first time in 80 years, will keep him at the helm through the end of 2014.

The 52-year-old Bradley has compiled a record of 38-21-8 in four years in charge of the U.S. team. After winning the 2007 Gold Cup, the regional championship of CONCACAF, he led the United States to their first final of a major FIFA tournament, reaching the championship match of the 2009 Confederations Cup after a 2-0 victory against No.-1 ranked and current World Cup champions Spain in the semifinal.

Prior to the team’s run in South Africa, Bradley marshaled the U.S. to a first place finish in CONCACAF qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup ahead of regional rivals Mexico.

Our Thoughts: Bradley has been a hardworking coach and has put determined, athletic teams on the field. It will be interesting to see what sort of talent he starts to bring into the fold to replace the warhorses of the past three World Cup campaigns.

But was he the best choice?

Jurgen Klinsmann again flirted with the job, and the German great would have increased the profile of the position. But could he have put a better team on the field now or in the next four years?

We’ll never know.

As a fan, I’m going to just have to hope that Bradley develops a squad that doesn’t give away early goals and can score from the forward line.

Your thoughts?

Since July 4, Montero has captured the Player of the Month award for July and has led his team to an unbeaten 5-0-2 record in league play. He has five goals and three assists in that stretch.

“It was a very big goal,” Montero said of the game-winning tally in second half stoppage time. “We have been dreaming about this situation and a goal so late in the game, giving us three points, got us closer to the playoffs.”

The 23-year-old, who now has two career Player of the Week honors to his credit, now has 10 goals and nine assists on the season and was the only Seattle player to register a shot on goal in the match against Chicago.

“Well, he got two goals,” Seattle manager Sigi Schmid said. “A lot of times, people just measure your game by goals. Certainly his motivation [Saturday night] was good and obviously his finishing was good. I was very pleased with that.”

CSN Vote: Montero was the second name on our ballot for the week. Conor Casey took the top spot by turning into creator for two goals on Saturday and then delivering a third for the coup de grace against the Houston Dynamo.

Casey’s performance for the Colorado Rapids earned our vote as he brought life to a moribund offense. When the top scorer can also turn in a two-assist game, something special is happening.

CU improved to 2-0 with a 2-0 victory over the Bears at Prentup Field. After a drab and scoreless first half (the two teams combined for eight shots in the first 45 minutes), the Buffs came to life.

CU’s Kym Lowry latched on to a header from Caroline Danneberg in the 61st minute and sent it just over the outstretched arms of Bears keeper Kirstin Salminen for the game’s first goal.

Lowry then turned provider in the 86th minute as she took the ball down the right sideline and crossed to Amanda Foulk, who was near the top left of the goal box. Salminen rushed out to defent the shot, and Foulk sent the shot under her and into the net.

 Buffs freshman keeper Annie Brunner stopped three Bears shots and picked up her second win and second shutout of the season. With the victory, Colorado improved to 2-0, its best mark since 2002. The Bears dropped to 2-2 with the loss.

Dayton scored the first goal of the match in the 23rd minute. Colleen Williams took a pass from the right corner from Alli Giner and headed the ball in for the goal.

The Flyers made it 2-0 in the 80th minute on a goal by Giner. Alysha Mallon took a shot from the top right corner, which Falcon keeper Kelly Stambaugh made a diving stop by punching the ball away. The ball went right to Giner, who cleaned up to the right corner from 10 yards for the score.

The Falcons had several scoring opportunities throughout the game, but could not find the back of the net.

The Falcons return to action Friday hosting the Air Force Fall Classic. Game one pits Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Northern Colorado at 2 p.m. , followed by Air Force taking on the Citadel at 4:30 p.m.

Colorado College, which plays its next four matches on the road, dropped to 1-1 with the loss despite out-shooting the Broncos by a 22-14 margin. CC’s only goal came on a penalty kick by senior Tiffany Brown with 9:31 left to play after BSU had built a 3-0 lead on tallies by Gabby Garcia, Tylyn Hughes and Katy Oehring. 

The defeat snapped an eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1) at home for Colorado College, dating back to Sept. 20, 2009.

BSU keeper Lix Ruiz finished with 13 saves including nine in the second half when the Tigers tested her on 10 occasions. Freshmen Lauren DiGregorio and Lynn Froetscher, who teamed up to produce the game-winning goal in Friday’s 1-0 overtime victory against the University of Dayton, both soloed in alone from the right side before Brown finally averted a shutout at 80:29. But Ruiz effectively cut down the angle both times to preserve a 3-0 lead.

Sophomore Kevin Durr scored both Air Force goals, including the game-winner with just 1:25 remaining, to give the Falcons a 2-1 upset victory over 13th-ranked Stanford Saturday night in a Division I men’s soccer exhibition game at Cadet Soccer Stadium.
 
Durr put a shot past Cardinal back-up goalie Drew Hutchins from just in front of the net after receiving a header from junior John Tilton. Sophomore Zane Dydasco also notched an assist on the play after sending a corner kick to Tilton.
 
Durr gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute off an indirect free kick from six yards out after Stanford was called for a back pass to the goalie in the box. Junior John Melcher touched the ball back to Durr, who fired a rocket into the upper left corner past Cardinal starting keeper Jason Dodson.
 
The Cardinal evened the score at 1-1 in the 63rd minute when Adam Jahn knocked in a rebound into an empty net after AFA goalie Matt Underwood mishandled a free kick from Ryan Thomas.
 
Air Force opens its 2010 regular season at 7 p.m. Friday against Houston Baptist at Cadet Soccer Stadium.

Conor Casey celebrates scoring the third goal of the evening against the Houston Dynamo, Saturday, Aug. 28, at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The Rapids won 3-0. (Photograph by Jessica Taves/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Conor Casey delivered a tour de force Saturday night, as the Rapids forward setup two goals and then scored the third in Colorado’s 3-0 rout of the Houston Dynamo.

Casey turned creator for a team that has struggled to score. He sprung midfielder Jamie Smith with a pass that led to Smith’s first goal of the season in the second minute of the game. Casey then delivered a ball through the 6-yard box from the right side that Omar Cummings tapped in for his sixth goal of the year in the 16th minute of the game.

Casey rounded out his night and the scoring when he nodded in a deflected shot in the 23rd minute for his eight goal of the season and all the Rapids needed on a night against woeful Houston.

Colorado improved to 8-6-7 (31 points) with the win and moved up to seventh in the playoff race. Houston dropped to 6-11-5 (23 points).

The win was only the Rapids second since June 5, but it marked a positive start to the final third of the season. Colorado has five home games in the remaining nine, including a meeting with Chivas USA next Saturday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Recordsetter: Pablo Mastroeni took over the all time record for starts with the Rapids as the captian took the field in the starting 11 for the 171st time on Saturday. To mark the occasion, Mastroeni picked up an assist and a yellow card on the night. Mastroeni had tied the mark of 170 with Chris Henderson with his start a week ago against the Columbus Crew.

Hamstrung: Other than being snakebit in front of the goal in the second half, the only disappointment for the Rapids came in watching Marvell Wynne walk off injured. Dannie Earls came on in the 43rd minute, after Wynne walked off mouthing “hamstring.”

Casey’s Night: Casey couldn’t have played much better. The only thing his night lacked was a second goal. Keeper Pat Onstad pulled off a sharp foot save to deny Casey in the 53rd minute, and the forward just missed wide of the far post on a left-footed shot in the 83rd minute.

Big win: The three-goal margin of victory was the highest for the Rapids this season. The biggest victory came a week after the team suffered its worst loss of 2010, a 3-1 loss to the Crew.

Re-Joyce: The only notable change in the lineup for the Rapids was in goal. Ian Joyce earned the shutout starting in place of Matt Pickens.