Road wins and Pablo Mastroeni goals, once rare occurences for the Rapids, are suddenly coming into vogue.
The team captain, who went more than four years between goals before scoring in ’09, delivered a 73rd minute dagger Saturday that propelled Colorado to a 2-1 victory over the New England Revolution. Mastroeni’s goal came eight months after he scored against Chivas USA on Aug. 8, 2009.
With the road win, the Rapids moved to 3-1-1 (10 points) and second place in the West. New England fell to 2-3-0 (6 points).
In three road games …

Colorado worked from behind Tuesday night to beat the Kansas City Wizards 2-1 in a play-in game for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Wells Thompson scored both goals for the Rapids, first equalizing the score in the 24th minute and then knocking in the winner in the 80th.
The midfielder’s first goal erased a fourth minute strike from rookie forward Teal Bunbury that gave the Wizards the lead on the University of Missouri-Kansas City field. 
With the win, the Rapids will now face either Philadelphia Union, New York Red Bulls or New …

Omar Cummings delivered a historic goal as the Rapids won an opening game on the road for the first time in club history. Prior to beating Chivas USA 1-0 on Friday night, the Rapids were a dismal 2-10-2 in season openers.

Jordan Harvey, Scott Palguta and Preston Burpo (above, from left) are among the Rapids players available to be selected by the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday in the Major League Soccer expansion draft. Other Rapids left unprotected included Mehdi Ballouchy and Jacob Peterson. (photos, from left, by Tom Auclair/ColoradoSoccerNow.com, Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com, Prost Amerika Soccer, Seattle)

Real Salt Lake retained possession of the Rocky Mountain Cup with a 3-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. Robbie Findley scored two first-half goals, Yura Movsisyan again stuck the dagger in Colorado’s side late in the match, and the Rapids had no punch. Inside, we break down the game using a few keen comments from the Fox Soccer Channel crew. …

After Saturday’s loss 2-1 road loss to FC Dallas, the Rapids have put all of their playoff hopes into one match … against Real Salt Lake on Saturday in Utah.

Conor Casey scored on a penalty, his third in the past four matches, as the Colorado Rapids tied the New England Revolution 1-1 on Saturday night in Commerce City. Emmanuel Osei’s foul on Omar Cummings in the penalty area set up Colorado’s tying score. Above, New England goalkeeper Matt Reis keeps an eye on Rapids midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy. (photo by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Random notes from the Colorado Rapids’ third draw in nine days …

For the second time in less than a week, Conor Casey scored on a penalty kick in extra time as the Colorado Rapids tied the Earthquakes 1-1. Casey scored his 15th goal of the season about a minute before the end of Wednesday’s match. Jason Hernandez tripped Omar Cummings in the box in extra time, and referee Ricardo Salazar had little choice but to blow the whistle.
(photo by Tom Auclair/ ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Imagine the array of emotions for Ryan Johnson on Friday night. The San Jose Earthquakes striker scored his team’s only goal in the eighth minute of a 1-1 tie against the Colorado Rapids. Then the 24-year-old committed the foul deep into extra time that produced a penalty kick for Colorado and the Rapids’ only goal.