Tickets will be available at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Park box office, by calling 303-53-HORSE, at the kiosks at any Colorado Dick’s Sporting Goods location or online at TicketHorse.com.

Single-game tickets start at $20.

Information on all ticket prices and single-game promotions can be found on the team’s official Web site.

RAPIDS PRESEASON ITINERARY: The Rapids have announced their full itinerary for preseason training, which includes trips to Phoenix and London. After four weeks of training at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the team will get its first taste of training outside of Colorado when it travels to the Casa Grande Performance Institute, just south of Phoenix, from February 21-27. The club’s Arizona excursion will be highlighted by several exhibition matches against other Major League Soccer clubs. Details of those matches will be announced at a later date. The Rapids will then conduct one week of practice sessions at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park upon returning from Arizona before heading back on the road for another eight days. For the third time in four years, the Rapids’ preseason plans will include a trip to London. The team will be hosted by Arsenal. The partnership between the Rapids and the Premiership club was formed in 2007 and allows the Rapids to practice at Arsenal’s facilities. The team’s England trip will be from March 7-14 and will also include several matches against English opponents, who will be announced at a later time. The trip to England will be followed by four days of training back at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, after which the team will host fellow Western Conference side Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer’s first-ever Charity Shield match on March 19. Proceeds from this match will be donated to UNICEF to aid relief efforts in Haiti.

RUGBY AT DICK’S: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park will serve as the home venue for the Denver Barbarians rugby club during the team’s spring 2010 USA Rugby Super League matches, the stadium announced today. The Barbarians will host league champion San Francisco Golden Gate on March 14, the Dallas Harlequins on March 27 and the Chicago Lions on April 17.

MLS COLLECTIVE BARGAINING EXTENDED: Major League Soccer and the Major League Soccer Players Union have agreed to continue to negotiate through February 25, as they work toward reaching a new collective bargaining agreement.

CHANGING THE LAYOUT: The Rapids have announced their plans for the creation of the new Supporters Terrace behind the north goal at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Using the stadium’s unique design, this new Supporters Terrace will become an adult-oriented area designed to allow for the exuberance of the Rapids’ most passionate fans. This move to create a new section of the stadium specifically to appeal to the Rapids’ adult demographic was conceived in conjunction with the Rapids’ existing supporters club leaders and will allow for their voices and energy to be felt in a whole new manner. Historically in soccer, the term terrace has referred to the traditional standing area behind the goals of a stadium, particularly in the United Kingdom, that offered a cheaper alternative to sitting in the stands and a more popular spectator area for members of the working classes. The Rapids’ Supporters Terrace will be the first true terrace area of its kind in Major League Soccer and will aim to expand upon the experience found in terraces overseas. Flags, banners, instruments, singing and other passionate support of the team at home games will all be encouraged, making the Supporters Terrance the place to be for Colorado’s most enthusiastic soccer fans.

Rapids striker Conor Casey is training with the U.S. men’s national team in preparation for friendlies against El Salvador on Feb. 24 in Tampa, Florida, and against the Netherlands on March 3 in Amsterdam. These are the team’s last matches before it names its roster for the World Cup. Good luck, Conor (and good luck to all the players). The El Salvador match will be broadcast at 5 p.m. (Mountain time) on ESPN Classic and Telefutura. The Netherlands match will be on ESPN2 and Galavision at 12:30 p.m. (Mountain time). Casey has 19 career caps with the national team and scored his first two international goals in the U.S.’s 2010 World Cup qualifying win against Honduras on October 10. He also has one assist in international play. He also played 30 minutes in a 3-1 loss against Honduras on January 23, the United States’ first match of 2010.

U.S. TRAINING CAMP ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS: Troy Perkins (D.C. United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)
DEFENDERS: Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Michael Orozco (Philadelphia Union), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS: Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)

The league released its 2010 schedule on Wednesday, and the Rapids won’t meet defending champion (gag, cough) Real Salt Lake until the final two months of the season. The Rapids travel to Utah for their first meeting, on September 25. After that match, there will be only four fixtures remaining (one of which is against RSL).

There’s no way to tell which team would benefit from such scheduling. If one or the other has fallen out of contention by that point, would the other be able to climb in the standings because of these two games? Or would the also-ran be able to successfully play the role of spoiler?

The only thing that’s certain is the history between these clubs is growing more bitter by the year. And the two late dates have the potential to be important in the standings and the playoff race, and that’s no doubt how MLS would like it. 2010 marks the fourth consecutive year that the teams have finished against each other.

The Rapids play a 30-game schedule, two games each (one home, one away) against 15 other clubs. The opener, as we already knew, is March 26 against Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The home opener is April 3 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park against Chicago.

We also knew the league would take a two week break, June 11-24, for the World Cup.

Here’s what we learned:

The Rapids got a Fourth of July match again, this one against the Red Bulls. The Fourth falls on a Sunday, so there’s no reason this one shouldn’t sell out (unless casual fans aren’t able to forget the fireworks fiasco of ’09).

The expansion Philadelphia Union (with former Rapids defender Jordan Harvey) will make its first visit to Colorado on July 21.

Oddly, the Rapids will face the Red Bulls on September 11 in New York. That could be a surreal setting on the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

Colorado has no more than two consecutive road games and no more than two straight at home.

MLS runner-up Los Angeles will visit on May 5. Will David Beckham make his second appearance in uniform at Dick’s?

To see the full schedule, check out our Schedules/Results page, updated for 2010.

To see all the Rapids, W-League and college results from Colorado in 2009, go here.

Single-game 2010 Rapids tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. February 16 at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Park box office, at 303-53-HORSE or at ColoradoRapids.com. Rapids full-season ticket holders will have an opportunity for a special advance sale of single-game tickets, beginning at 10 a.m. February 8.

Other highlights of the MLS schedule:

- Seventy-five percent of all MLS games will be played on Saturdays; 85 percent of MLS games will be played on weekends.

- A two-week break in the MLS season aligns with the group phase of the FIFA World Cup. The last match before this break is D.C. United at Seattle Sounders FC at 10 p.m. ET (ESPN2).

- Red Bull Arena will host its first League match March 27, when the Red Bulls face Chicago.

- The first MLS game to be played on natural grass at BMO Field in Toronto will be April 15.

- On Sunday, June 27, Philadelphia Union will open the ninth stadium built specifically for an MLS club. The grand opening of the venue in Chester, Pa., will be a match against Seattle.

- The 2010 MLS All-Star Game will be at Reliant Stadium in Houston in late July or early August.

The match will be the team’s first Charity Shield fundraiser, patterned after similar games in England, where they are a longstanding tradition. Each season, the champions of the Premier League face the winners of the FA Cup, with all proceeds going to charity.

The Charity Shield is a change from the club’s preseason Burgundy & Blue Game. Last season, the Rapids hosted the men’s soccer team from Metropolitan State College in this exhibition at Dick’s.

Proceeds from this year’s Charity Shield will be donated to UNICEF to aid relief efforts in Haiti, which was devastated by a 7.0 earthquake on Jan. 12.

The Rapids Charity Shield is the first of its kind in Major League Soccer.

Tickets will cost $10 for general admission, $15 for club seats and $20 for field-side seats. Tickets will be distributed exclusively through Flash Seats, the team’s new paperless method of ticket delivery. This event will mark the debut of the Flash Seats technology at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Rapids Season Ticket Holders will be provided one free ticket per seat on their account for the match, which they will be able to access through the Flash Seats system.

The Rapids will open their 15th Major League Soccer season on March 28 on the road against Chivas USA.

The Rapids’ complete 2010 schedule and kickoff times will be released at a later date.

On Sept. 18, Rapids striker Conor Casey scored a second-half goal on a penalty kick at San Jose. The Earthquakes were upset at the referee’s decision to award the PK to Colorado. They were angry at the result, a tie.

In the Rapids’ next game, also against San Jose, Casey scored on a second-half penalty kick as the Rapids came away with another tie. The Quakes were frustrated at the outcome, once again not happy with the call.

On Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, it was New England’s turn.

Casey scored on a PK, his third in the past four matches, in the 58th minute as the Rapids tied the Revolution 1-1 in Commerce City. Emmanuel Osei’s foul on Omar Cummings in the penalty area set up Colorado’s tying score.

After the match, New England coach Steve Nicol was still shaking his head about referee Baldomero Toledo’s decision to award the penalty.

“The decision against us with the penalty was just wrong, wrong,” Nicol said. “We’ve come away thinking we should’ve won the game. … Disappointed to only get a point, even more disappointed that it was a bad decision.”

But if the Revs were upset about that call, the Rapids were not thrilled with another decision by Toledo, one that should’ve provided New England with an edge over the last 30 minutes of play.

At the hour mark, Rapids defender Julien Baudet was jostling with New England’s Kheli Dube, and Baudet was incited by some action on Dube’s part. Baudet made a large sweeping motion toward Dube with his arm, an attempt to put some distance between him and the Revolution forward.

Dube, though, fell to the ground. And the swing of the arm and the player on the pitch added up to a red card for Baudet.

“It’s been my experience that if you raise your arm, you might get yourself into trouble,” Baudet said. “But I’m pretty sure he did get a meal out of it.”

New England, though, couldn’t manage to possess the ball for any worthwhile period after the Rapids were forced to play with only 10 men on the field. And, in fact, it was the Rapids who had the best chance of the final half hour.

With about two minutes to play, Colorado defender Kosuke Kimura passed forward to Casey, who slipped around his marker and streaked toward goal. Casey spotted Omar making a run and passed to his forward partner. Omar got in tight enough to shoot with accuracy and power, but his shot smacked off the crossbar.

Nicol praised the Rapids for their work rate after Baudet’s ejection.

“I don’t think you could tell which team played a man down and which team didn’t,” he said.

Nicol’s squad got on the board first. Dube headed in a free kick from Kenny Mansally 30 minutes into the game.

The game was the Rapids’ fourth straight tie, and it extended the team’s scoring frustrations. Although Casey registered his 16th goal of the season, Colorado hasn’t scored a goal during the run of play since Sept. 12.

And the team hasn’t won since Sept. 5. Perhaps there’s some connection.

SEEN AT THE STADIUM: Former U.S. national teamer Mike Burns, who is now the Revolution’s vice president in charge of player personnel.

SCARY MOMENTS: On a corner kick just seconds before the end of first-half stoppage time, Shalrie Joseph came flying in from the left side. He missed the ball, but his momentum carried him down and into the back of Omar Cummings’ legs. Cummings and Joseph both lay on the turf long after all the players returned to the locker room. Omar got up after a few minutes and shook it off, but Joseph didn’t get up until less than 10 minutes before the second half began. Joseph started the second half and appeared fine. Official word was that he suffered a neck sprain.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS: Not a bad crowd on Saturday. It’s NFL season. It’s college football season. It’s still baseball season. High school sports of all kinds are in full swing. But Dick’s Sporting Goods Park was proudly well-attended. The south stands were packed, as was the west side of the stadium. There were so many fans on the east side it was difficult to read the COLORADO spelled out with white seats. Not a bad turnout for October. Official count: 16,535.

WEATHER MATTERS: It was cloudy and 59 degrees when the match began, at 7 p.m.

YELLOW CARD FOR BEING SHALLOW AND PEDANTIC: Toledo could’ve received a yellow card of his own for making such a ticky-tack decision when he showed a yellow to Mehdi Ballouchy in the third minute. Ballouchy was cautioned for delaying a restart. A whistle? Certainly. A yellow card? Petty.

SAME PLAYER, DIFFERENT SHADE OF BLUE: Former Rapids midfielder Nico Colaluca, traded to the Revs in midseason, had played in only three games and started none before Saturday. Ain’t it funny how things have a way of coming full circle? There he was in the Revs’ starting lineup at Dick’s. And Colaluca wanted to prove something. When he made Burpo dive to his right on a long shot in the 44th minute, he slapped his hands together strongly to show his displeasure at not scoring.

OVERHEARD: Rapids defender Rob Valentino, who was acquired in the trade for Colaluca, was getting the business from his former teammates in the hallway between the teams’ locker room: “So that’s what passes for game-day attire now?”

REVS STARTERS: Matt Reis, Kevin Alston, Darrius Barnes, Emmanuel Osei, Sainey Nyassi, Nico Colaluca, Shalrie Joseph, Pat Phelan, Amaechi Igwe, Kheli Dube, Kenny Mansally.

RAPIDS STARTERS: Preston Burpo, Drew Moor, Julien Baudet, Scott Palguta, Jordan Harvey, Kosuke Kimura, Nick LaBrocca, Pablo Mastroeni, Mehdi Ballouchy, Conor Casey, Omar Cummings.

SHORT SLEEVES: Baudet, Moor, Harvey, Kimura, Noonan, Casey, LaBrocca, Pablo.

LONG SLEEVES: Ballouchy, Cummings. I don’t really have a point here; I just think it’s interesting.

George Tanner is a former writer and editor for the Rocky Mountain News; the Greeley Tribune; The Daily Independent of Ridgecrest, Calif.; the Durango Herald; and the Boulder Daily Camera. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado and an affiliate professor at Metropolitan State College of Denver. E-mail him at ColoradoSoccerNow@gmail.com.

To advertise on Colorado Soccer Now, e-mail George at ColoradoSoccerNow@gmail.com.

Find some more room on the mantle, Martha. Players from all over Colorado received awards for their play last weekend. Let’s take a look, starting in Boulder. … University of Colorado soccer players Kara Linder and Quinn Krier have been honored by the Big 12, the conference announced.

Linder was named defensive player of the week for the second time this season.

Linder notched her third consecutive shutout in Big 12 play with 1-0 victories over Nebraska and Iowa State. She recorded six saves during the weekend, with five against Nebraska, holding the high-scoring Huskers scoreless for the first time this season. Linder has earned six wins this season, including four shutouts. She has 10 career shutouts, third on the program’s all-time list.

Krier received the first weekly award of her young career. She was named the league’s newcomer of the week.

In her first collegiate starts, Krier played all but five minutes in CU’s two matches. She assisted the Colorado defense as it kept the Husker offense scoreless on 21 shots, with just five on goal.

The Buffaloes are 3-0 in conference play and will face Oklahoma and Baylor this weekend. The Sooners visit Boulder at 4 p.m. Friday. CU will travel to Waco, Texas, to take on Baylor on Sunday.

SUN BELT PLAYER OF THE WEEK: University of Denver freshman forward Kaitlin Bast has been named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season. Additionally, she was named to the Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week. Bast scored five goals and added two assists in a pair of wins. Denver opened Sun Belt Conference action with a 6-0 victory against Louisiana-Monroe on Friday and a 6-1 win against Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday.

SCAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Colorado College’s Matt Fechter, who struck for three goals and added an assist in two games last weekend, was named offensive player of the week by the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Fechter recorded the first two multipoint games of his career while leading the Tigers to a pair of non-conference victories and the 2009 Bill Boddington Memorial Tournament title. The freshman forward had the first multi-goal game of his young career when he scored twice in a span of 4:59 during CC’s 4-1 victory over the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Friday. The following day, Fechter tallied a goal and set up another as the Tigers defeated the University of Dallas 4-0. Fechter leads the Tigers with four goals and 10 points, and is tied for second with a pair of assists.

CONFERENCE USA HONOR: Junior forward Tiffany Brown of Colorado College was named the Conference USA offensive player of the week, which included a five-point performance against Southern Methodist. Brown is the Conference USA scoring leader in league play and overall. She has 23 goals and 57 points at CC.

MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEK: University of Denver junior goalkeeper Joe Willis has been named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week. Willis was named to the Big West Challenge All-Tournament Team after leading the Pioneers to within one goal of the tournament championship. Willis had 10 saves in a shutout, his second in as many games, against No. 24 Cal State-Northridge on Friday and held Cal State-Fullerton to a single goal in Denver’s 2-1 victory on Sunday. The Pioneers and Coastal Carolina ended the Big West Challenge with identical records, but the Chanticleers won the tournament with one more goal scored.

RMAC WOMEN’S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Metro State’s Becca Mays and Becca Maloney were named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively. Mays, a senior forward from San Antonio, scored five goals in three games last week. Her most impressive performance came on Friday; she scored three goals, her second hat trick of the season and third of her career, in a 5-1 win at Colorado-Colorado Springs. Maloney, a senior goalkeeper from Colorado Springs, earned the victory in all three games last week, allowing just one goal in 248 minutes. The Roadrunners, ranked No. 6 in the nation host Adams State on Friday and Nebraska-Kearney on Sunday.

RMAC MEN’S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Ted Decker and Philip Wilson of the Colorado School of Mines were named RMAC defensive and offensive players of the week, respectively. Decker, a senior defender from Butte, Mont., helped Mines earn shutout victories over Colorado Christian and Colorado-Colorado Springs. Decker scored a goal in each game to bring his season total to three. Decker and the CSM defense have allowed just seven goals through 10 games this season and have shut out six opponents. Wilson, a sophomore midfielder from Mansfield, Texas, scored two game-winning goals and added one assist. Wilson is tied for fourth in the RMAC in points (11), goals (four) and assists (three). The Orediggers will play Friday at Regis University then will host Metro State on Sunday.

CHRIS SHARPE HEADED TO D.C.: MLS pool goalkeeper Chris Sharpe will be headed to the nation’s capital for the weekend as D.C. United’s Josh Wicks is out four to six weeks with a dislocated shoulder and a sprained knee. Wicks was hurt in a 2-1 loss Sunday to San Jose. Milos Kocic is expected to be the starter, and Sharpe, who lives in Denver and trains with the Colorado Rapids, will be on hand as a backup.

CUE THE AUDIO: And here is the American Soccer Minute for week 29. Click this link and listen to the predictions. The Rapids host New England on Saturday night in Colorado’s final regular-season match at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

RALSTON INJURED: New England Revolution captain Steve Ralston will miss the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, the team said. Ralston was injured in the 19th minute of a 2-1 win over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday. New England will mark the third consecutive opponent the Rapids have faced who lost a key player before their match (Danny Dichio, Toronto; Darren Huckerby, San Jose).

BLANCO IN LONG SLEEVES: The Colorado Rapids will open their 15th Major League Soccer season in 2010 on the road against Chivas USA on March 28 and will host Cuauhtemoc Blanco and the Chicago Fire in their home opener at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on April 3. The complete 2010 schedule will be released later. Single-game tickets for Opening Day will go on sale in early February.

RAPIDS CREATE TIES WITH COLORADO FUSION: The Colorado Rapids today announced that the Colorado Fusion Soccer Club has joined the club’s Rapids adidas Alliance. The Colorado Fusion joins the three other charter Colorado youth soccer clubs in the alliance: the Boulder County Force Soccer Club, the Denver-based Colorado Storm Soccer Association and the Pride Soccer Club, which is from Colorado Springs. The Rapids adidas Alliance was established to create a working relationship between existing clubs that benefits soccer development through shared resources and encouraging players to stay in their home clubs in the U11-U14 age groups. Those players have direct access to the Rapids U16-U18 Development Academy teams through visible scouting and direct coaching and curriculum ties.

ALL MISTY ABOUT THE NASL: Orren Schwarz of Chicago’s Daily Herald writes about a tribute the Chicago Fire recently gave to the Chicago Sting of the North American Soccer League. I try not to miss an opportunity to put NASL news on the Web site. Read Schwarz’s story here.

SIZE MATTERS: The official dimensions of the pitch at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park are 120 yards long by 80 yards wide. In contrast, the fields surrounding Dick’s are 110 by 70. The Kansas City Wizards’ media guide suggests that Community America Ballpark is 110 by 70, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were narrower than that. Whatever the size, it’s smaller than the Rapids’ home turf. And the Wizards play to the size of the field, attacking the ball religiously. The Rapids do that on the larger field, which might be more difficult. So when you throw the two teams together on a smaller field, the results are predictable: very tight matching and very little magic.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Davy Arnaud had a few flashes of excitement in him, including nearly ending the game in the third minute of extra time. Kai Kamara centered he ball from the left wing. But although Arnaud got inside of Rapids defender Julien Baudet, he couldn’t put his boot on the bouncing ball, which was all he would’ve had to do. In the 54th minute, Arnaud nearly scored on a snap header that went wide left. Less than five minutes later, his shot sailed just over the crossbar. Arnaud also was part of the most creative play in the game. In the 82nd minute, Claudio Lopez pushed the ball forward to Arnaud, who centered the ball from the left wing to Zoltan Hercegfalvi. The Hungarian, though, poked it just wide of goal. Consideration for man of the match also would go to Rapids goalkeeper Preston Burpo, K.C. goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and Kansas City left back Michael Harrington, who might be my second choice. But Arnaud was the player most likely to decide the game. Fortunately for the Rapids, he didn’t.

DESPITE WHAT YOU MAY HAVE HEARD, PART 1: Arnaud broke into the starting lineup for the Wizards as a rookie in 2003 and has been there ever since.

THERE WERE A COUPLE OF OTHER CLOSE CALLS: Jimmy Conrad off the post in the 79th minute. Kosuke Kimura, attending to one of the posts on a corner kick, stopping a shot with the family jewels. It takes a tremendous amount of courage not to cover the jewels with your hands, which is a risky proposition on the road in the enemy’s penalty area. Nice work, Kosuke.

SAVE OF THE MATCH: A tie between Hartman’s save on Omar Cummings in the 24th minute and

BJORN BORG CALLED AND WANTS HIS STYLE BACK: What’s up with Jimmy Conrad’s headband? If he wore it any lower, it’d be a blindfold.

SATURDAY, BLOODY SATURDAY: At the hour mark, Kansas City striker Josh Wolff made a huge fuss about not getting a call after receiving a bloody nose from a Rapids player. The ref didn’t see the contact, and neither did the television audience, at least not live. But some good work by the camera crew in Kansas City showed what happened: Wolff was behind Scott Palguta, who was running toward his own goal. Palguta’s arm smacked Wolff in the nose during Palguta’s normal running motion. No foul. However, the replay also showed that just before Wolff recoiled from the blow, he gave Palguta a little one-handed shove in the back. Nothing like a little disingenuous outrage for the ref, when you can get away with it.

TWO WRONGS? On the third of three consecutive Wizards corner kicks in the second half, Burpo easily rushed forward and hauled in the ball. But Conrad put both hands on Baudet and spun him to the ground. No whistle. Conrad then gave Baudet an elbow gesture, rationalizing or justifying his opportunity to commit a foul, perhaps.

WITH APOLOGIES TO DAVID LETTERMAN: Kimura, Kamara. Kamara, Kimura.

MISSING: The Rapids announced that Jacob Peterson and Jamie Smith are out for the season with knee injuries. Pickens also missed Saturday’s games.

DESPITE WHAT YOU MAY HAVE HEARD, PART 2: Smith had one assist and no goals in the four games he played for the Rapids in 2009.

RAPIDS STARTERS: Burpo, Moor, Baudet, Palguta, Harvey, Mastroeni, LaBrocca, Kimura, Ballouchy, Casey, Cummings. Significantly different lineup and formation. Three in the back, five in the middle. Harvey and Kimura on the wings in the midfield. Pablo and LaBrocca sharing the holding role. Coach Gary Smith used no subs.

DESPITE WHAT YOU MAY HAVE HEARD, PART 3: The last time the Rapids chose to use a three-man back line (intentionally, not out of necessity) was in the Tim Hankinson years. Hank regularly used a defense of Rick Titus, Robin Fraser and Ritchie Kotschau in 2002, especially toward the end of the season.

WIZARDS STARTERS: Hartman, Leathers, Conrad, Besler, Harrington, Arnaud, Hirsig, Jewsbury, Lopez, Kamara, Wolff.

You’ve got to be kidding. For the second time in less than a week, Conor Casey scored on a penalty kick deep into extra time as the Colorado Rapids tied the San Jose Earthquakes 1-1. Casey scored his 15th goal of the season, a Rapids record, about a minute before the end of Wednesday’s match at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Jason Hernandez tripped Omar Cummings in the box in extra time, and referee Ricardo Salazar had little choice but to blow the whistle.

Quakes keeper Joe Cannon dived to his left, and Casey, the leading goal scorer in Major League Soccer, went down the middle for his 15th of the year.

Salazar called the foul on Hernandez just moments after he ignored a collision between San Jose’s Bobby Convey and Casey in the Quakes box. Convey came in from behind as Casey was in the air attempting a header and knocked Casey down. No whistle. The fans in Commerce City were furious.

But the mood changed a few minutes later when Casey scored.

It was a carbon copy of the end of Friday’s game. Casey and the Rapids ended the match nearly the same way. Casey scored on a PK late in stoppage time after Drew Moor was pulled down from behind in the penalty area at San Jose. The Quakes were angry then, and the mood in the locker room was no better after Wednesday’s match.

“Deja vu, y’know? Groundhog Day for us,” Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop said. “Maybe it might’ve been a foul on Casey on the header. I’ll need to see it again. I sort of saw the replay quickly, Bobby Convey over the back.

“I just said to our guys I feel for them. The ball slips away from Bobby Burling, and then Jason’s got to come over late. Cummings is crafty, right? He’s gonna shoot, so he’s thinking, ‘I’ve got to block this.’ ”

So the Quakes, who were within minutes of collecting the full six points against the Rapids, had to settle for two. After finishing two matches in that fashion, there were smiles all around in the Colorado locker room, right?

“I don’t know about smiling. I don’t think anyone is smiling, to be honest,” Rapids goalkeeper Preston Burpo said. “In the first game we snuck out with a point. Tonight we’ll take the point and keep clawing away at it and head to Kansas City (on Saturday).

Chris Wondolowski scored San Jose’s goal in the 67th minute on a penalty kick. Salazar awarded the PK for a handball in the box on a free kick by Simon Elliott.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Ryan Johnson may be the most underrated striker in the league. He’s strong, fast, big. … He holds the ball well and distributes with ease with his back to goal. … He’s got a great shot, finishes well and is capable of creating space for himself. But how many folks around the league know this? I’m not sure. The folks at Dick’s on Wednesday should know now. In the 82nd minute, he had his second excellent chance at a goal in the late stages that could’ve made the score 2-0 at the time. Frank Yallop knows. “I thought Ryan Johnson was excellent. I feel for him because I think he should’ve got that second goal that he deserved.” He was physical on Wednesday. He worked hard. And he created chances. He was in the mix more than anyone. He was the man of the match.

MORE INJURIES: Jacob Peterson left the game in the 12th minute with an injury to his right knee. He was on crutches after the game. Burpo collided with Wondolowski in the first half and came away with a bright red strawberry under his left eye. He said he was fine.

RAPIDS SCORING RECORD: Casey had been tied with John Spencer for the team record for goals in a season. Spenny scored 14 in 2001 and 2003. Yay, Spenny!

VISIBLE PANTY LINES: Some folks were incensed at the football lines on the field at Dick’s. Gridiron football. And odd football lines at that. Apparently the Denver Dream of the Lingerie Football League played its first game Friday night at “home” while the Rapids were in California. The Dream’s field is about 35 yards wide and 50 yards long plus two end zones. It runs from east to west on the north side of the stadium. And even though the game was six days ago, the lines on the field lingerie on, er, linger on.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS: Painfully small crowd on Wednesday: 6,234. Apparently the threat of rain matters. The temperature matters. The midweek matters. Perhaps even the lack of a sexy opponent matters. But when Casey scored the PK, 6,234 people never sounded so loud.

YALLOP FINED: The Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee announced a fine for Yallop. He was fined $750 for confronting the officiating crew following the Earthquakes’ match against the Rapids on Friday.

EARTHQUAKES STARTERS: Joe Cannon, Chris Leitch, Jason Hernandez, Brandon McDonald, Bobby Burling, Andre Luiz, Ramiro Corrales, Ramon Sanchez, Bobby Convey, Ryan Johnson, Chris Wondolowski.

FEW CHANGES FROM FRIDAY: The only starters on Friday who were not on the pitch when Wednesday’s game started were Shea Salinas and Cornell Glen.

RAPIDS STARTERS: Preston Burpo, Kosuke Kimura, Julien Baudet, Drew Moor, Jordan Harvey, Mehdi Ballouchy, Nick LaBrocca, Pablo Mastroeni, Jacob Peterson, Conor Casey, Omar Cummings.

ONE CHANGE FROM FRIDAY: With Mastroeni’s suspension over, he started the game. The player who made room for him from Friday’s starting lineup was defender Scott Palguta.

STYLE MATTERS: Despite the cold night (it was 48 degrees at kickoff), Pablo, LaBrocca, Harvey, Moor, Kimura and Baudet started the game with short-sleeve jerseys.

George Tanner is a former writer and editor for the Rocky Mountain News; the Greeley Tribune; The Daily Independent of Ridgecrest, Calif.; the Durango Herald; and the Boulder Daily Camera. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado and an affiliate professor at Metropolitan State College of Denver. E-mail him at ColoradoSoccerNow@gmail.com.

To advertise on Colorado Soccer Now, e-mail George at ColoradoSoccerNow@gmail.com.

Colorado striker Conor Casey wasn’t supposed to be at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night. He wasn’t supposed to score the winning goal for the Rapids in a crucial 1-0 victory against Toronto FC.

He was supposed to be one state away, playing for the U.S. men’s national team in its World Cup qualifier against El Salvador in Sandy, Utah.

But Casey had surgery to remove his wisdom teeth on Monday. The Rapids said his surgeon advised him not to travel for a few days, and by Wednesday he still hadn’t joined the Nats in Utah.

So U.S. coach Bob Bradley and Casey came to an agreement. Call it a bit of wisdom. They reasoned that without the training with the rest of the team, Casey was unlikely to play against El Salvador. So they decided he would stay in Colorado.

Good thing he did.

Casey’s goal in the 52nd minute was the difference, as the Rapids gained the upper hand against Toronto in the fight for a playoff spot. Before the game, the Rapids had only a two-point edge over TFC. Afterward, the Canadian team was still sitting at 31 points in the standings while the Rapids shot up to 36. The teams meet again Saturday afternoon at BMO Field.

The strike came of Casey’s fabulous forehead on a cross from Jacob Peterson. Omar Cummings was making a run up the right wing, but he ran out of room. He tapped back to Peterson, who had plenty of time to pick out Casey in front of the Toronto goal. Peterson’s cross was true, and Casey’s header was unstoppable.

“Omar has been attracting so many defenders, he’s been so dangerous this season every game,” Peterson said. “And when you’ve got a player like that who attracts attention, he attracted two guys down to him, leaving me wide open. It’s my job to put that ball in in a good spot for Conor. And if I don’t then I let the team down. Conor had a great finish.”

The Rapids held the lead for about 25 minutes before Toronto’s Amadou Sanyang earned his second yellow of the night and was ejected, leaving the visitors with 10 players on the field. And less than 10 minutes after that, Adrian Serioux, who entered the game at halftime, left in the 84th for a serious foul on Cummings.

After a long punt by Rapids goalkeeper Matt Pickens, Serioux and Cummings were rushing to get control of the ball. Serioux threw an elbow and followed through with his shoulder, knocking Cummings down about three yards outside the Toronto penalty area.

The Rapids couldn’t convert the ensuing free kick, but they had so much possession in the waning minutes that the crowd at times began to count the number of consecutive passes the team strung together.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Casey was announced as man of the match at the stadium, but this was a close call. Sure he scored the goal, but he also missed a penatly kick in the first half that gave life to Toronto, which came out of the locker room fired up at the intermission. Cummings had another tremendous game, adding his league-leading 11th assist. Julien Baudet showed great skill and heart at center back, playing through injury and using the misdirection of a wily veteran to move a couple balls up the field that a defender with less experience might just boot out of touch. Pickens had another shutout, his seventh, as the Rapids maintained their dominance at home (the team has allowed only eight goals in 13 games at Commerce City, losing only twice). Jordan Harvey, Mehdi Ballouchy, Nick LaBrocca, Peterson, Kosuke Kimura … the list goes on. But I’ll have to agree and take Casey. On target or off, he was the story on Saturday night, scoring his league-leading 12th goal of 2009.

MLS DEBUT: Defender Michael Holody made his Major League Soccer debut, replacing Pat Noonan in the 74th minute. Noonan left the game, Kimura pushed up into the right midfield spot, and Holody stepped in at right back, providing a larger, stay-at-home presence on D. And Holody also got his first yellow card of his MLS career. On a throw-in at the 84-minute mark, Holody kept creeping up the line looking for someone to throw to. Referee Terry Vaughn interpreted his actions as stalling and cautioned the rookie.

THE SEEN: A big thanks to Nick Thomas of WeWantRapidman for pointing out to me that the Toronto FC director of media and public relations is Michelle Lissel, formerly of the “Fox Sports World Report.” Take a look at the pictures, and maybe you’ll see why I didn’t recognize her. On the left is how she appeared on “FSWR,” and the picture on the right is how she looks today.

WAS THAT NEW? A sideline advertising board at the north end of the stadium was promoting gousabid.com.

GONE: Jamie Smith (knee strain), Cory Gibbs (thigh strain) and Scott Palguta (calf strain) were unavailable for the Rapids. Captain Pablo Mastroeni was serving the first game of a three-game suspension for dangerous play in last week’s game against Houston. Toronto was missing Amado Guevara, who scored for Honduras in a 4-1 victory in a World Cup qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday.

TORONTO STARTERS: Frei, Attakora, Brennan, Garcia, Gomez, Wynne, Sanyang, Vitti, Cronin, Barrett and D-Ro! (Sorry, ColoradoSoccerNow.com loves D-Ro.)

RAPIDS STARTERS: Pickens, Kimura, Baudet, Moor, Harvey, Noonan, Ballouchy, LaBrocca, Peterson, Casey, Cummings.

George Tanner is a former writer and editor for the Rocky Mountain News; the Greeley Tribune; The Daily Independent of Ridgecrest, Calif.; the Durango Herald; and the Boulder Daily Camera. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado and an affiliate professor at Metropolitan State College of Denver. E-mail him at ColoradoSoccerNow@gmail.com.

To advertise on Colorado Soccer Now, e-mail George at ColoradoSoccerNow@gmail.com.

John Spencer was made the fourth member of Colorado Rapids’ Gallery of Honor on Sunday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The 38-year-old assistant coach for the Houston Dynamo was in town for a fixture between the two teams, and the Rapids honored him at halftime. He took some time to talk to ColoradoSoccerNow.com during halftime of an exhibition between the University of Denver and Stanford on Saturday at the practice pitch at Dick’s. While Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear, also a former Rapids player, was attending to team business, Spencer and some of the Dynamo assistants were watching the friendly. Spencer sat in the grass on the east sideline with Rapids technical director Paul Bravo.

Are you actually out here scouting DU and Stanford?
We actually just arrived about 25 minutes before kickoff, and we knew the game was on. So we just thought we’d come along. … It’s always good to keep your eye in and see the players. We’ve actually got a couple of young kids from Houston out here playing from Denver. It’s always good to keep your eye on them.

Do you see anyone you like?
I can’t tell you. I don’t want Bravo stealing them for the Rapids.

It looks like you and he are doing some catching up. …
Me and Paul were roommates when we played together here in Colorado, so there’s a long history between him and myself. We played together on the Rapids team up front a few times. I’ve known him for a long time, so it was nice to catch up with an old friend.

Do you maintain a strong connection with the Rapids?
I’ve got a lot of friends who still live in this area. Paul works in Colorado. Dave Kramer is the goalie coach that I played with. I look at this time, the time I spent here in Colorado as a player, as on par with Chelsea when I played there for the five, six years that I was there, as enjoyment. I really, really enjoyed my football here. I didn’t have a good spell at Motherwell in Scotland before I came to Colorado, but after being here two or three weeks, the fans were so … It was a great atmosphere in the old Mile High to play. I got my love and my passion for the game back, and the rest is history. I love this place, and I always say that when I’m going to retire this will be the place I retire for the rest of my days.

How big is this honor for you?
Speaking to family and friends, it’s probably the nicest thing that anybody’s done for my in my whole career. I feel very, very honored to be up on the wall with some good players. It’s an individual award, but when you get individual awards you only get them because the people around you helped you achieved the, teammates, family, friends and the fans. The biggest thank-you is always going to the fans for me because, as I said, they gave me that love and that passion back. I’m very, very honored to receive it. It will be nice to come back and see my name up on that wall.

What is your commitment to Major League Soccer?
As a player I was here, and I worked hard. I didn’t play well every week. But I think people who had seen me will walk away and say, “At least he tried hard.” Coming back here, as a coach, I’ve always been loyal to the Houston Dynamo; they’ve showed me great loyalty, as well. And Dominic has been fantastic, great coach to work under. So they’ve been great to me. I think my commitment to Major League Soccer is undeniable. Am I looking to go anywhere else, to coach in another country? Not at the moment, not for the foreseeable future. I’m very, very happy where I am.

How far do you want to go in this league?
I think it’s like anything: If you’re going to do it, you’re going to do it properly. You want to be the best. I’m no different from anybody else, any other assistant or head coach in the league. You want to be the best coach in American soccer. But it takes time. You’ve got to get the opportunity, and when the right opportunity comes, no doubt, I’ll have a look at it. And if it’s the right move for myself and my family, I’ll go for it.

What types of things have you learned as a coach in Houston?
I think the first thing that was so apparent to me when I walked through the door was, after a week of practice, the intensity level on the practice field. It never ever wavers or changes. It never changes from the Monday to the game on the Saturday. We practice at the same level, the same intensity that we play with. And I think it shows in the results, the consistent results. Touch wood, you look back at my three and a half years at Houston, and I don’t think we’ve ever been really involved in one blowout game where we’ve been beat four or five. We’ve been beat a couple times 2-nil or 3-1, but we’ve always been in the game. Players never let their heads get down because they’re so honest. And that obviously comes from the foundations that Frank Yallop installed down to Dominic. And it continues. It’s a continuation.

And I would expect that from a team that you helped coach.
Yeah, for sure, I think that’s why myself and Dominic got on so well. We have the same philosophies, same mentality to working hard. Maybe it’s because we came from a similar type upbringing. His father was Scottish. Dominic was born in Glasgow and moved to California when he was 2. So I don’t imagine his household would be any different an upbringing from what I grew up in in Glasglow, Scotland. So I think we have the same philosophies. And he has the championship rings as a head coach, and I wouldn’t mind getting a couple of them myself.

Are you ready to be a head coach?
I think time will tell. I can stand here and stay, “Yeah, I’m the best assistant coach in the world.” It’s up to someone who pays the checks and pays the wages and decides this guy may be good enough to run my franchise. I’m not in a massive rush. We’re just over halfway through this season, and I really feel we can go on and win another championship in Houston. I think it would be really unfair to look at other avenues until the end of the season.

Do you have ambitions beyond MLS?
Not at the moment, no. I’m very happy here in the country. I broke my neck to try and get back. Mark Chung put in a recommendation to Dominic, former Rapid, to get me this assistant’s job, and I took it. I wouldn’t have wanted to come back so bad just to jump over the pond and do something else. I don’t feel that it’s so much better over there, to coach there. You know, I’ve got a lot of respect for the league. I think the players here are fantastic. There are a lot of fantastic young American players coming through in the game. And I’m happy to be a part of this path of Major League Soccer for a long time to come.