From this mix of emotions comes my hopes and fears for the Colorado Rapids in 2010.

Hope: Conor Casey and Omar Cummings remain healthy. Yes, there will be nicks and scrapes, but the past season and a half have been a lesson in how good Casey can be when healthy. He is a beast in the air and fearless in front of goal. A little better service in ‘09 and he would have led the league in scoring. Cummings in lightning fast, works harder than almost anyone, and provides an ideal complement to Casey. Together, they are a great strike partnership. Healthy, and anything is possible.

Fear: One or both of the aforementioned forwards will spend time on the training table. Their continued good health is critical to the attack. The team is thin and/or untested behind these two attackers.

Hope: The defense remains solid. Injuries to midfielders produced some odd lineups late in the past campaign and placed additional pressure on the backline. While goalkeeping remains strong, keeping those shots from ever happening remains a priority.

Fear: The center of the midfield and defense proves to be too slow. Julien Baudet makes up for a lack of speed with game acumen. Ditto, most of the time, for Pablo Mastroeni. None of that, however, compensates for the loss of Ugo Ihemelu’s pace. There is no speed in the heart of the defense, a fact that often meant wing defenders were either stranded or racing out of position to cover a speedy attack in the middle.

Hope: A long Rapids run in the U.S. Open Cup. The trophy case needs some silverware. The Lamar Hunt cup would look great there. Again, the Rapids have the opportunity to make a run at this title, the nation’s oldest soccer trophy. Crashing out in qualifying is unacceptable.

Fear: An early exit for the Rapids. Colorado is not burdened with CONCACAF, SuperLiga or other outside tournaments during the season. It has only a couple of players (Mastroeni and Casey) likely to be called away for World Cup duty. The Rapids could field a strong side for each match. Still, it’s easier to play the subs and treat this trophy like it doesn’t matter. Trophies do matter, and 15 years is a long time to go without one. Fear of failure is likely to come true here, but that doesn’t make it any more satisfying.

Hope: Playoffs. The swoon in the final third of the season was a fluke.

Fear: No playoffs. The swoon was not a fluke.

That’s where I stand as the season starts. How about you?

This year the categories were limited to MVP, defender of the year, young player of the year, USSF humanitarian of the year and youth teams player of the year. Because I didn’t believe I’m qualified to vote on the latter two categories, that left only three for me: MVP, defender and young player.

Here are the winners:
YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Nick LaBrocca.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Matt Pickens
MVP: Omar Cummings
U.S. SOCCER FEDERATION RAPIDS HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR: Colin Clark
RAPIDS ACADEMY PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Brendan Roslund

To read more about Clark’s humanitarian efforts and the 2009 season of Roslund, a Denver Christian High School graduate, go here.

And here were my choices:

YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Because of the caveat that this award be reserved for players younger than 25, I had to break out my media guide and see who was eligible. Roughly, the field looked to consist of anyone born in 1985 or later. That would include Greg Dalby, Michael Holody, Nick LaBrocca, Ciaran O’Brien, Jacob Peterson, Ross Schunk, Steward Ceus and Rob Valentino. Did I miss somebody? If so, let me know. If not, this award boils down to Best Player Among These Eight Guys. Not the most inspiring category. Dalby played nearly a dozen games. Holody played less than half of that total. The only real choices here were Nick or Jake, and Jake missed the end of the year with a knee injury. But that injury showed just how important Peterson is to the Rapids. With Jamie Smith and Colin Clark out with injuries, the team was prepared to rely on Peterson out wide. Unfortunately, his knee had other ideas. LaBrocca is a mainstay in the starting lineup and seems soccer-wise for his years; the spirit of this award didn’t seem to fit. So I voted for Peterson because of the potential that is implied in this type of award. Hopefully we’ll see LaBrocca and Peterson on the field together for years to come. I would’ve liked to have been voting for newcomer of the year, where there’d be a real discussion between Scott Palguta or Julien Baudet. If we were choosing rookie of the year, Holody played a little but shows real promise. But that’s not what we had here.

DEFENDER OF THE YEAR: Had Ugo Ihemelu finished the season in Colorado, he probably would’ve been my choice. However, his baffling midseason trade makes that point moot. Is it just me or does anybody think there’s some connection to the Rapids going 1-3-4 after the Ihemelu trade? Anyway, let’s focus on who is still here. Jordan Harvey and Kosuke Kimura were tremendous in a season in which Harvey was a mainstay and Kimura moved in and out of the lineup and up to midfield and back to right back. The ability of these two players to move forward offensively was a godsend to a team that lost a lot of skill on the wings because of injuries. The goalkeepers? Burpo and Pickens split time throughout the season, and each played a valuable role. But those roles were limited. Then we have Baudet, who arrived midway through the year and made a big impact. He’s a leader. He’s smooth. He’s skilled. I look forward to watching him with the team for an entire season. But I voted for Scott Palguta. The big guy played with the Rochester Rhinos (under Rapids assistant Steve Guppy) from 2005 to 2008 and signed with Colorado in March. He committed 11 fouls in 23 games, including 19 starts, and only seven Rapids played more minutes than he did. He was a steady force in the middle in his first season in Major League Soccer. I had a real difficult time choosing between Harvey and Palguta.

MVP: Conor Casey. I laid out the reasons here, and some readers sounded off on why they would’ve chosen Cummings. Each player was deserving, and I have no problem with the choice of Cummings.

Pickens also was the Centennial Firm’s defensive player of the year, and Cummings was the Class VI player of the year.

I thought it was interesting that I was on the money for nearly all of my picks in the MLS Best XI balloting. But when it came to the Rapids, the team I saw play more than any other in 2009, none of my votes matched the eventual winners.

RSL knocked the Rapids out of the playoffs (and put itself in) in the final minute of the final game of 2008. And the league set up a similar showdown by pairing the two in the 2009 finale.

It makes sense: Nurture this rivalry by making the teams go head to head at the most crucial juncture. More than likely, some important playoff scenario would come down to the last game for at least one of the two. Why not let them bang heads to decide it?

And get their hate on in the process.

After Saturday’s loss 2-1 loss to FC Dallas, the Rapids have played right into the schedule makers’ hands. Saturday’s match in Texas could’ve ended up anywhere from a 2-2 tie (if Kosuke Kimura puts away his golden opportunity in the second half) to a 6-1 win for Dallas (if the Hoops put away any number of golden opportunities in either half of play).

The Rapids had so many breaks in this game that Altitude color commentator Marcelo Balboa predicted Colorado would come back and tie it 2-2. And you can’t blame him.

Jeff Cunningham was called offside on a play in which he wasn’t.

Referee Edvin Jurisevic was too busy passing out yellow cards to notice Pat Noonan play the ball with his arm in the Rapids’ penalty area.

Cunningham missed a sure goal wide right.

Cunningham missed a sure goal wide left.

Dax McCarty drove a hard shot just over the crossbar.

Cunningham served to David Ferreira, who missed a completely empty net wide after Cunningham drew Rapids goalkeeper Preston Burpo out of the penalty area.

And on and on. The Hoops had so many opportunities to put this one out of reach that it got comical. And it seemed as if the stars were aligning to allow the Rapids their fifth consecutive tie.

Nope. The second Rapids goal didn’t come, and Dallas’ two goals held up.

Dallas got on the board first in the fourth minute. Van den Bergh served a wicked free kick in front of the Rapids’ goal, and the towering George John slipped in front of Jordan Harvey and headed it in.

Balboa was right on the money in pointing out that John was aggressive on the play, attacking the ball, and Harvey was passive, waiting for the ball to come to him. That was the difference in the goal, and it was a rare mistake from Harvey this season. He has played consistently at a high level for Colorado all year, and this is a rare blemish on his 2009 record.

The Hoops made it a 2-0 lead when Ugo Ihemelu put the ball in the net in the second half after another Dallas free kick. Ihemelu swiped at the ball with his leg, sending it toward goal. Burpo made the initial save, but the rebound bounced into the net after hitting Burpo’s leg or foot. Whatever body part happened to be the culprit, it was a goal for Dallas.

Pat Noonan gave the Rapids some hope in the 71st minute. For some reason the goal was unassisted, but Nick LaBrocca set it up with some nice footwork along left edge of Dallas’ penalty area. Noonan showed some fancy moves of his own to keep the ball in front of him and away from former Rapids defender Ihemelu, then he fooled Dallas keeper Dario Sala with a shot to the near post. Sala was looking far post, and Noonan almost twisted him into the ground like a tent stake.

But that was it from the Rapids. Colorado beat Toronto 1-0 in Commerce City on Sept. 5 and hasn’t won a game since. The team has logged a 0-2-4 record in that stretch and has scored only six goals, three from the penalty spot.

Six matches. Four points.

It’s a bad time of the season to be hitting a wall. And the last chance to get over that wall is Saturday.

In Sandy, Utah.

RACE FOR THE GOLDEN BOOT: In a highly anticipated meeting between the top contenders for the MLS Golden Boot, Cunningham and Rapids striker Conor Casey came up empty. Cunningham couldn’t finish any of his numerous chances, and Casey’s teammates couldn’t put him in a position to score. So, instead, we got John’s first goal in MLS, Ihemelu’s first goal of the season and Noonan’s second goal with the Rapids.

ALTITUDE HIGH JINKS 1: The Kroenke entertainment and sports programming network missed the first four minutes of the match, opting to show the Colorado Avalanche on Altitude and Altitude 2 simultaneously. The first we saw was Cory Gibbs objecting to a foul outside of the box (which is what led to van den Bergh’s fateful free kick). I’m not sure everybody had that problem in the metro area, but that’s what we got in Greeley on Comcast.

ALTITUDE HIGH JINKS 2: When will they stop superimposing images of the announcing team in front of the road stadium? It’s bush league. Just show them in the studio. It’s obvious Cory Lopez and Balboa aren’t at the stadium (Balboa even talked about driving to the game on Saturday), and trying to give the impression that they are on location is deceitful. Fox Soccer Channel often has its announcers in the studio (and not at the match site), and it never feels the need to lie to its viewers. They don’t make a point of hiding the fact that they’re not at the stadium; they just don’t try to show viewers that they are.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Dave van den Bergh’s service on the first Dallas goal was sublime, a low, curling rope of a kick. The Dallas offense was firing bullets that the Rapids couldn’t stop, only dodge, and van den Bergh was pulling the trigger. In the first 20 minutes of the second half, Dallas attacked in waves, with van den Bergh leading the charge. I thought Ihemelu matched up well with Omar Cummings and was making a case to be man of the match. And when Ugo scored his goal, the case got stronger. But there was a fire in Dallas’ bellies on Saturday, and van den Bergh threw fuel on the fire with his offense.

MISSING: The Rapids were without defender Julien Baudet and midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy because of disciplinary suspensions.

YOUNG AT THE BACK: When Rapids coach Gary Smith took Cory Gibbs out of the game in the 63rd minute, I thought it was a strong vote of confidence in defender Scott Palguta. Then, when Smith took out Palguta for striker Ross Schunk in the 87th, I thought it was a strong vote of confidence in rookie defender Michael Holody.

MAN WITH TWO FIRST NAMES: George John has a name that’s odd because it’s difficult not to think of either name as a first name. George. John. John. George.Then that got me thinking. George, er, John wasn’t the only player on the pitch with two first names, too. What about Jordan Harvey? And Conor Casey? But is Conor a first name or a last name more often. And, to be fair, if you consider how many folks have named their precious little boy Tanner in the past 20 years, I’m rocking two first names as well.

RAPIDS STARTERS: Preston Burpo, Drew Moor, Cory Gibbs, Scott Palguta, Kosuke Kimura, Nick LaBrocca, Pablo Mastroeni, Pat Noonan, Jordan Harvey, Conor Casey, Omar Cummings.

DALLAS STARTERS: Dario Sala, Heath Pearce, Ugo Ihemelu, George John, Jair Benitez, Atiba Harris, Daniel Hernandez, Dax McCarty, Dave van den Bergh, Jeff Cunningham, David Ferreira.

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.

PLEA FOR ASSISTANCE: Regis University men’s soccer coach Tony McCall and his wife, Jennifer, have an 8-month-old daughter named Kenleigh who has Down syndrome. The McCalls are asking folks for financial support for “Kenleigh’s Kause,” helping find a cure for Down syndrome. The family will participate in the Step Up for Down Syndrome walk at 9 a.m. Sept. 27 at City Park in Denver, or you can go directly to the Kenleigh’s Kause team page to make a donation. Here’s the link to the Step Up for Down Syndrome page, and here’s a link to Kenleigh’s Kause. Down syndrome is a condition in which extra genetic material causes delays in the way a child develops mentally and physically. It affects about one in every 800 babies.

REGIS VS. RAPIDS: Facundo Diz scored twice as the Rapids reserves topped Regis University 4-0 Tuesday afternoon at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Ross Schunk and guest player Luke Williams also scored for the Rapids. Both of Diz’s goals came in the second half. The reserve team’s lineup consisted of Preston Burpo, Rob Valentino, Ty Harden, Mike Holody, Ross Smith, Greg Dalby, Pat Noonan, Eric Denton, Williams, Diz and Schunk. Read more about the exhibition here.

CONOR CASEY’S TEETH: ESPN reports that Rapids striker Conor Casey had not joined the U.S. camp in Utah as of Wednesday evening because he had his wisdom teeth removed Monday in Denver. ESPN’s Steve Davis writes that although Casey’s “hold-up play in the same stadium as an MLS All-Star was a highlight a month back against Everton,” he probably won’t be much more than insurance as the Nats take on El Salvador in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium. Read Davis’ whole story about the U.S. lineup here.

MY VOTES FOR MLS PLAYER OF THE MONTH: I voted for Columbus defender Chad Marshall, and Crew goalkeeper Will Hesmer was my second choice. In August, Marshall helped the Crew to a 3-1-0 record while playing the full 90 minutes in each match. Each of his two goals in the month were game-winners, including a free kick strike against the Rapids on Aug. 1, and he had one assist. Hesmer went on to win the monthly award, voted on by the North American Soccer Reporters. New England’s Shalrie Joseph was the runner-up, and Rapids striker Omar Cummings was third.

GARY SMITH ON THE IHEMELU-MOOR TRADE: Rapids Head Coach Gary Smith spoke to MLSNet.com’s Owen Perkins about the trade that sent Ugo Ihemelu to Dallas for Drew Moor, a draft pick and allocation money.  “In Ugo you’ve got a pristine athlete with lots of pace, and a terrific kid at that as well. But I think with Drew you’ve got maybe a little bit more of a cultured defender. A little bit more capable on the ball. And hopefully as versatile at right back and at center back.” Smith said the Rapids’ late second-half collapse against Chicago had something to do with the deal. “That’s not to say that the move that was made with Ugo was solely based on that, but it did play a part in it. … ” Read Perkins’ whole story here.

SUPER CLASSICO REVIEW: Henry Schultz, an occasional contributor to ColoradoSoccerNow.com and our departed friend FC Rocky, had this to say about last weekend’s Chivas USA-Galaxy match: “It was just awful. Errant passes, big, bouncy first touches resulting in loss of possession, etc. There were a couple of flashes from Beckham, like when he reached behind for an unexpected bounce and hooked a perfect pass forward with the back of his heel. Overall, a dull exhibition, however much the commentators tried to hype the ‘rivalry’ between the teams.” Hank is working on a book review for us that we’ll publish in the coming months.

OREDIGGERS IN THE RANKINGS: The Colorado School of Mines women’s soccer team is tied for fourth in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America rankings for the central tegion. The women posted victories last week at home against  Washburn University and Nebraska-Omaha. The Mines men are ranked third in the central region. The men beat Northwest Nazarene 5-1 on Aug. 27 and the University of Mary 3-0 on Monday.

REMEMBER WHEN CELTIC WAS IN TOWN? ESPN reports that Hull City has signed Dutch striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, who was released by Celtic at the end of the Scottish Premier League season, on a two-year deal. Vennegoor of Hesselink was a member of the Celtic team that met the MLS All-Star Team in 2007 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Read the whole story here.

CU AWARD: University of Colorado senior Nikki Marshall was named CU’s Athlete of the Week for Aug. 24-30. She has won the award seven times, more than any other Buffalo. Marshall scored the first two goals Sunday in Colorado’s 8-1 win over St. Mary’s in record fashion. Marshall scored her first goal 23 seconds into the game, setting a school record for the fastest goal in program history. Just two minutes later, she scored the winning goal.

The Colorado Rapids have traded defender Ugo Ihemelu to Dallas for Drew Moor, the club announced Monday.

Along with Moor, the Rapids receive Dallas’ second-round pick in the 2010 draft plus money.

Moor was the sixth overall pick in the 2005 draft. He appeared in 123 games, with 111 starts, for Dallas, recording eight goals and two assists. This season, he has started in 21 games for the Hoops and has scored a career-high three goals.

A college teammate of Rapids midfielder Jacob Peterson at Indiana, Moor won NCAA championships with the Hoosiers in 2003 and 2004. On the international level, Moor has earned five caps with the U.S. nen’s national team.

Ihemelu leaves Colorado having played in 63 games with the Rapids, scoring one goal and registering two assists. He was acquired by the Rapids in a trade with the Los Angeles Galaxy on Dec. 1, 2006.

The Rapids host Toronto at 8 p.m. Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

A little more than a month ago, Rapids defender Julien Baudet was lying on the field at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, his wrist and hand pointing one way, his forearm pointing another.

A few days after breaking two bones in his left forearm, Baudet was undergoing surgery to repair the injury.

On Sunday afternoon against the league-leading Houston Dynamo, Baudet was on the field. Not only did he play, but he scored the only goal in Colorado’s 1-0 victory at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

“It was just a matter of getting match fit, which I wasn’t,” Baudet said. “(Coach) Gary (Smith) rang me and said, ‘I think we can use your experience today,’ and he made a good decision.’ ”

Smith’s call paid off because the Rapids lost central defender Cory Gibbs to a leg injury in the first dozen minutes of Sunday’s match. The situation prompted the return of Baudet about a week sooner than coach or player had planned.

Smith said he planned to use Baudet in a reserve-team scrimmage against Regis University at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the training pitch at Dick’s. Then, he said, he would evaluate Baudet’s conditioning to see if would be ready to play Saturday at home against Toronto.

And Baudet was not alone in the role of unlikely hero against the Dynamo.

Mehdi Ballouchy also entered the game because of an injury, and the midfielder served the corner kick that led to Baudet’s winning goal in the 55th minute. Ballouchy sent the ball right to the top of the goal box, and Baudet headed it in from six yards out for his first goal with the Rapids.

A couple minutes later, the Rapids won another corner, and Ballouchy again looked for Baudet.

“Yeah, it worked once. Why not twice?” Baudet said. “The delivery’s got to be right. You go and attack a space. And if the ball’s there, it’s a 50-50 with your marker and who’s going to want to want it more. And on (the first) occasion, no one.”

Ballouchy was in place because winger Jamie Smith went down about 30 minutes into the game and appeared to be grabbing his left knee. He resumed playing but had to leave in the 34th minute.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Baudet.

SAVE OF THE GAME: Rapids goalkeeper Matt Pickens was credited with only one save in the official stats, and it was a beauty against Kei Kamara in the 49th minute. The Houston striker got behind the Rapids’ defense and was alone with Pickens. Kamara could’ve shot up, down, left or right, and he chose to stay low. Pickens got down quickly and smothered the shot.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME BAUDET SCORED A WINNING GOAL? “Probably five years ago,” Baudet said. “I think it was even more than that. I think it was a free kick in the FA Cup against Bristol City.”

GARY SMITH’S OPTIONS ON DEFENSE: When Gibbs left the pitch, the Rapids’ head coach had these options: Baudet; Rob Valentino, who looked very good in a recent training match against the Colorado School of Mines; and Michael Holody, whose loan to Real Maryland ended this week. Scott Palguta was not among the players available on the bench because he tweaked his right calf in the first half Sunday against Chicago.

ANOTHER LOAN ENDED: Goalkeeper Steward Ceus is expected to return to the team this week after being on loan to the Charlotte Eagles of the United Soccer Leagues’ Second Division.

GIBBS HURT: The Rapids said Gibbs may have hurt a muscle in his thigh. He limped to the locker room at halftime, and he was still limping when he left the locker room after the game.

SMITH HURT: Jamie Smith said he felt his leg pinned under a Houston player during a collision and felt something in his left knee. He said he wasn’t sure of the extent of his injury.

OMAR APPARENTLY NOT HURT BADLY: Pat Noonan replaced striker Omar Cummings for the final 20 minutes. The Rapids said Omar had been bothered by a slight hip strain during the week. 

GALLERY OF HONOR: Former Rapids striker and current Dynamo assistant coach John Spencer was inducted into the Rapids’ Gallery of Honor at halftime. He was welcomed to the club by members Marcelo Balboa and Paul Bravo and by Rapids alumni Rafael Amaya, Chris Martinez, Ritchie Kotschau, Seth Trembly, Eric Denton and Wes Hart.

IT WON’T SHOW UP IN THE BOX SCORE, BUT … Kosuke Kimura had a beautiful little nudge on Luis Angel Landin in the 68th minute that allowed Pickens enough time to smother a dangerous pass into the box.

AND HEADED BACK THE OTHER WAY … Almost immediately after Kimura’s deft play, Houston defender Geoff Camerion knew exactly how much shoulder to use to force Cummings off the ball in the Dynomo’s penalty area to prevent a scoring chance.

BUSY WEEKEND: The fourth official on the field, Ben Chouaf, also was the fourth official at the Colorado-Illinois and Denver-St. Mary’s matches on Friday at the University of Denver.

DYNAMO STARTERS: Onstad, Hainault, Boswell, Cameron, Barrett, Mullan, Clark, Holden, Davis, Ching, Kamara.

RAPIDS STARTERS: Pickens, Kimura, Gibbs, Ihemelu, Harvey, Smith, LaBrocca, Mastroeni, Peterson, Casey, Cummings.

When defensive midfielder Pablo Mastroeni scores, the Colorado Rapids need to make it count.

And did they ever against Chivas USA.

Mastroeni scored in the first minute of Saturday’s match at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, and Conor Casey followed with three more first-half goals as the Rapids blew out the Goats 4-0.

Pablo hadn’t scored since April 2005. His goal on Saturday came 26 seconds into the contest, the second-fastest in the history of the Rapids franchise and the sixth-fasted in Major League Soccer history.

Omar Cummings was advancing into the Chivas penalty box when he ran out of room. He checked the ball back to Mastroeni, who had plenty of room. He looked around to find an offensive option. But when he had none, the green light went off inside his head, and he teed up his shot.

His 30-yard missile was headed toward goalkeeper Lance Parker, but the ball tailed away from him as he dove to his left, both arms outstretched.

Pablo’s teammates swarmed around him in delight, and the goal lit a fire that Chivas could not put out.

About three minutes later, Casey used a subtle touch to chip Parker for the Rapids second goal.

Defender Kosuke Kimura threw in the ball to Cummings along the right sideline. Cummings, who was facing Kimura, flicked it backward to Casey, who took off toward Parker and the Chivas goal. With one touch that looked more like a Hacky Sack move than a strike from the leading scorer in MLS, Casey tapped his shot over Parker. His picturesque leap was not enough. The ball sailed just beyond his reach, kissed the underside of the crossbar and bounced into the goal.

Chivas USA coach Preki was more disappointed with his team’s inability to stop the Rapids than he was impressed with the quality of Mastroeni’s and Casey’s opening goals.

“We just gave them two goals in the first five minutes. We handed them two goals,” he said.

But if he didn’t like those goals, he probably wasn’t happy with the next two, either.

In the 23rd minute, Kimura again was looking for Cummings, and the Jamaican again was along the right side of the field. Kimura’s long pass gave Cummings room to move forward, and Cummings laced a pinpoint pass from right to left that found Casey. Boom. 3-0. Cummings’ pass was so precise that Chivas’ Shavar Thomas, Jonathan Bornstein, Gerson Mayen and Parker couldn’t touch it, but the ball found its way directly to Casey’s boot.

The dagger came in first-half extra time. On a long Matt Pickens goal kick, Thomas brought down Cummings in the Chivas penalty box. It looked like the initial contact came inches outside the the box, but by the time Cummings was on the ground, both players were a few yards inside.

Thomas got a red card, and the Rapids got a penalty kick.

Casey pretended to blast the PK at Parker but instead floated the ball softly into the net, just off center.

Thomas’ ejection meant the Goats would be without one more player in a midseason that has become a nightmare.

Chivas was missing forward Justin Braun (concussion), goalkeeper Dan Kennedy (knee surger), striker Ante Razov (ankle surgery); defender Claudio Suarez (calf strain), defender Lawson Vaughn (ankle surgery) midfielder Cesar Zamora (hamstring strain), defender Jim Curtin (hamstring strain), goalkeeeper Zach Thornton (quad strain), defensive midfielder Paulo Nagamura (caution accumulation) and Carey Talley (caution accumulation).

Chivas hadn’t played a game since July 19 and had hoped the time off would help. It didn’t.

The team hasn’t won a game since June 6. The Goats are 0-8-1 in all competitions during that stretch, and they have gone 291 minutes without scoring a goal.

“We’re not panicking, but we know we’re in somewhat of a slump,” Preki said. “Our destiny’s in our hand. Hopefully we’ll learn from this game. We’ll go home and talk about it … and we’ll go from there.”

MAN OF THE MATCH: I’ll go with Cummings. He had three assists in the match, and he set up Casey’s PK with his run onto the Pickens goal kick in extra time. That’s as good as four assists. Also, in the 49th minute, Omar hit the crossbar after a beautiful pass from Casey. The big bald guy had three goals, but the smaller bald guy had a full 90 of top-quality play. Cummings now leads the league with 10 assists. Cuauhtemoc Blanco is in second place with seven.

BACK ON TOP: With his three goals, Casey climbed back into the league lead in goal scoring. Guillermo Barros Schelotto is second, with 10. It was the third hat trick of Casey’s career.

THE HEIRARCHY OF CAPTAINS: After Mastroeni left the game in the 69th minute, Cory Gibbs wore the captain’s armband. But that lasted all of about eight minutes. Gibbs was replaced by Ty Harden in the 77th minute, then the armband went to Pickens.

RAPIDS MISSING: The Rapids were missing Julien Baudet, who broke his forearm, and Ugo Ihemelu, who was suspended because of two yellow cards he received Aug. 1.

HOMEGROWN GOAT: Monument, Colo.’s own Bobby Burling started the game on the bench for Chivas. Burling graduated in 2003 from Lewis-Palmer High School. He started the second half, after the result was out of reach. He played well, too. He more or less held Cummings in check, including two hard fouls that weren’t whistled. “He did OK,” Preki said. “A good 45 minutes. No goals. That’s important.”

CHIVAS STARTERS: Parker, Mayen, Bornstein, Thomas, Jazic, Kljestan, Marsch, Saragosa, Victorine, Galindo, Lillingston.

RAPIDS STARTERS: Pickens, Kimura, Gibbs, Palguta, Harvey, Jamie Smith, LaBrocca, Mastroeni, Clark, 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 associate 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.

Call it yellow-and-black magic.

Or, if you’re Omar Cummings and the Colorado Rapids, maybe Saturday’s 1-0 home loss to the Columbus Crew had a slightly more pessimistic tint.

“Black magic.”

That’s the best explanation Cummings could find for losing a game in which the Rapids outshot Columbus 16-5, a match in which the visitors put only two shots on goal.

It might help clarify how the Crew could win without Guillermo Barros Schelotto or Frankie Hejduk in the lineup, without significant offensive contributions from midfielders Eddie Gaven and Robbie Rogers or strikers Jason Garey or Steven Lenhart.

Rogers’ primary contribution was tapping an indirect free kick to defender Chad Marshall in the 39th minute. Marshall buried his shot into the right of the Rapids’ goal, and the Crew did just enough to keep the Rapids off the scoreboard.

“It was very frustrating. They basically had the free kick, and that was it,” Cummings said. “Not converting our chances and seeing the game go further and further was just very frustrating. … You know the longer the game goes on with them being up a goal, they’re going to make it difficult for us, start dropping back, not giving us much space. They’re not going to open up as much. You know the game is going to be more difficult the longer it goes on.”

If the Crew did anything magical on Saturday, it was denying Cummings.

The Jamaican was a handful all night for Marshall, one of the league’s best central defenders. Cummings beat him to the outside in the first 10 minutes. Cummings gave him fits with speed and stepovers in the 18th minute. Cummings freed himself to put a header on goal during a 55th-minute corner kick, and he sliced a shot inches wide after a give-and-go with Pat Noonan later in the second half.

But Rapids coach Gary Smith agreed with Cummings that the striker’s best chance came in the 34th minute on a long ball from defender Jordan Harvey.

“It was a diagonal ball played by Jordan,” Smith said. “Chad Marshall stumbled, and Omar got in behind him and had just the goalkeeper to beat. If he gets a good connection, he can do a lot of things. Omar just rushed it a little bit. We can’t be too critical of that finish when you see the amount of problems he’s given.”

But Cummings was hard on himself after the game. Despite taking seven shots (more than all of the Crew’s players combined), Cummings said he didn’t think he had a strong game.

“I think we created chances, but we were just below par tonight with our finishing,” he said. “If we need to work on finishing, that’s something we need to work on. There’s no one guarantee. We put the effort in tonight, but unfortunately we didn’t get the win.”

Saturday’s match was eerily similar to the Crew’s previous visit to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. In 2008, Columbus beat the Rapids 2-0 in Commerce City despite being outshot 23-3. The Rapids took 17 corner kicks in that game, and the Crew had none.

“Hopefully we’ll have one of these games where we come out victorious,” he said.

And if they do, they’ll have to chalk it up to burgundy-and-blue magic.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Marshall. In addition to the goal, he did what he needed to do to keep Cummings from scoring.

SAVE OF THE MATCH: On Cummings’ header in the 55th minute, Columbus goalkeeper William Hesmer lunged to his left to halt the progress of the shot. Then, falling to the turf, he stopped the ball directly on the goal line.

PLAYOFF HUNT: The Rapids began the evening with 27 points, tied for the eighth-best total in the league. The top two teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs, and the next four teams with the most points qualify, regardless of conference. So the Rapids held one of the playoff spots before and after Saturday’s loss. But, with a win, Colorado could’ve vaulted past Chivas USA, Los Angeles and Seattle and into second place in the Western Conference.

CELEBRITY LOOK-ALIKE OF THE MATCH: Steven “Behind Blue Eyes” Lenhart. I don’t actually know what color his eyes are, but that curly blond hair makes me think of The Who’s Roger Daltrey every time I look at him.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS: The official attendance was 10,851, a poor showing when the defending MLS champions were in town.

MLS DEBUT: Jamie Smith made his Major League Soccer debut, relieving Colin Clark in the 71st minute. “I was pleased to get on the pitch. It was good to get involved,” Jamie Smith said. “Obviously the result was really disappointing. Over the 90 minutes I think we deserved more of the game. The boys worked harder than them. But they’re a good side. They’re organized. They sat deep for most of the game. The didn’t really come out and attack us too often. Unluckily for us, they get the goal, which was unfortunate. It was disappointing because of the amount of effort the boys put in. And to come out with nothing at the end was less than we expected.”

MISSING IN ACTION: Ugo Ihemelu picked up his second yellow card of the game in the 84th minute and was ejected. He will miss Saturday’s match against Chivas USA at Commerce City.

MISSING, OUT OF ACTION: Rapids striker Conor Casey missed the game because of a sore groin. Julien Baudet was in street clothes and a cast; Gary Smith said Baudet broke two bones in his forearm when the central defender collided with New York’s Sinisa Ubiparipovic last week.

GALLERY OF HONOR: The Rapids announced Friday that ColoradoSoccerNow.com favorite John Spencer will be added to the club’s Gallery of Honor during halftime of the Aug. 30 match against Houston. Spenny is a Dynamo assisstant coach. He will join Marcelo Balboa, Paul Bravo and Chris Henderson in the gallery, along the north wall inside Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

COLUMBUS STARTERS: Hesmer, Brunner, Marshall, Padula, Gaven, Carroll, O’Rourke, Zayner, Rogers, Garey, Lenhart.

RAPIDS STARTERS: Pickens, Ihemelu, Gibbs, Palguta, Harvey, LaBrocca, Ballouchy, Pablo, Clark, Omar, Noonan.

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 associate 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.

Four players scored as the Colorado Rapids poured water on a drowning team, dousing the New York Red Bulls 4-0 on Saturday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Jacob Peterson, Pat Noonan, Nick LaBrocca and Mehdi Ballouchy registered goals in the Rapids’ biggest victory of the season, a washout of the last-place Red Bulls.

How bad is it for the Red Bulls this year?

Since winning the first conference championship in franchise history in 2008, they’ve fallen to 2-15-4 in 2009. They haven’t won in more than two months. They’ve lost 12 consecutive Major League Soccer matches. They’ve lost 24 straight on the road (an MLS record). They’ve allowed a league-worst 37 goals. They’ve given up 21 more goals than they’ve scored (the worst goal differential in the league). They are in danger of setting a new mark for fewest goals in a single campaign. And they have a chance to set the bar for the worst season in MLS history.

In 2001, the Tampa Bay Mutiny finished 4-21-4. With nine games remaining, the Red Bulls have charted a course for monumental ineptitude.

Things started to go bad two minutes into Saturday’s game for the Red Bulls. Rapids defender Ugo Ihemelu sent a ball over the top to striker Omar Cummings, who held off his mark then separated quickly. In a perfect position to shoot, Cummings opted to center the ball to Jacob Peterson. He banged the ball past former Rapids goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul, putting New York in a hole from the get-go.

But, despite all the adversity, New York played a tough first half. Juan Pablo Angel shaved the top corner of the Rapids goal in the 10th minute. Macoumba Kandji forced Rapids keeper Matt Pickens into a big save in the 19th minute. The Red Bulls also hit the post in the first half and tested Pickens on other occasions, too.

“They might be struggling, but they’ve got a lot of fight on their team,” Rapids striker Pat Noonan said. “We got the early goal, which allowed us to open the game up and set the tone, but they kept battling.”

Sinisa Ubiparipovic’s ejection in first-half stoppage time, however, took a lot of fight out of the team. Referee Jasen Anno showed Ubiparipovic the red card for his tackle on Scott Palguta, who was making a clearance in the Rapids’ defensive third. Ubiparipovic came in from behind with studs up.

“It was unfortunate that that decision changed the whole game,” New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. “The idea was not to concede an early goal, but it’s very difficult to play with 10 on this big field.”

The red card meant the Red Bulls would have to chase the game with only 10 men. And, once again, it took only a couple of minutes at the beginning of the half for things to deteriorate.

Rapids captain Pablo Mastroeni pierced the heart of the Red Bulls’ defense with a saucy vertical pass that drew Noonan behind the New York back line. There, Noonan slotted the ball past Coundoul.

“Once they got the red card, we got the early goal and we kind of put the game away,” striker Pat Noonan said. “You can’t expect that the game’s going to be given to you even if you’re up a goal or they’re down a man. They kept battling, but we put them away when we needed to.”

LaBrocca’s goal shortly after the hour mark erased any doubt of the outcome. Coundoul made a big save on a shot by Ballouchy, but the Senegalese international left a big, sloppy rebound, which LaBrocca cleaned up nicely.

Then a little more than five minutes later, Noonan drew a foul outside the New York penalty area. Ballouchy took the free kick on the left side of the field, hit it over the wall, past Coundoul’s outstretched arms and into the netting on the right side of the goal.

So Saturday’s loss leaves the SS NYRB listing badly and taking on water. If the team doesn’t right the ship soon, they may be in line for a Mutiny.

BAUDET INJURED: The Rapids lost Julien Baudet in the 33rd minute. He jumped high to play a bounding ball entering the penalty area and collided in midair with Ubiparipovic. When Baudet came down, he put out his left arm to land and appeared to break his forearm or wrist. It looked nasty on the scoreboard replay, like Redskins quarterback Joe Thiesmann’s broken leg in 1985.

MAN OF THE MATCH: It’s a difficult decision because of strong contributions from all quarters of the Rapids’ lineup. I’ll go with Noonan, who seemed to find his legs after joining the Rapids in mid-June. He admitted after his first game that he wasn’t ready for the altitude. But on Saturday he worked hard and looked good in 78 minutes of play. “Feeling better, lungs getting comfortable,” Noonan said.

SAVE OF THE MATCH: In the 41st minute, Coundoul mishandled a cross. The ball dropped for Ballouchy, who fired it in under Coundoul’s left arm. But former Rapids defender Mike Petke headed the ball away and saved a goal.

AZUL SHOE DIARIES: Juan Pablo Angel and Khano Smith got the “blue boots” memo.

WITH APOLOGIES TO DR. EVIL: There really is nothing like a shorn Kosuke Kimura. … It’s breathtaking – I highly suggest you try it. Yes, the Rapids defender went under the razor (as diid WeWantRapidman’s Nick, by the way).

NEW STRIKER DEBUTS: Argentine Facundo Diz replaced Pat Noonan in the 78th minute. Diz wears his shorts long and his socks high. What’s he hidin’?

WEATHER MATTERS: It rained on the way to the game. It rained on the way home. But despite a sky full of clouds when the match began, it rained only a few minutes in the first half.

THE BEST 25TH OF JULY FIREWORKS SHOW EVER: Now THAT was a fireworks show. A total of 16,816 folks inside the stadium gave the Rapids a mulligan after the July 4 fireworks sputtered because of technical problems. Saturday’s rescheduled display was beautiful against the backdrop of low, stormy clouds. And the Dick’s crowd weren’t the only ones to enjoy. Commerce City residents were out in force, all along Quebec Street. And that finale was impressive!

MISSING, NOT IN ACTION: Rapids striker Conor Casey missed the game because of yellow-card accumulation. That means he’ll be all rested up for Wednesday’s All-Star Game in Utah! The Rapids had lost Ugo Ihemelu and Cory Gibbs to caution suspension recently, but they were both in the lineup on Saturday. Midfielder Colin Clark was still with the U.S. national team at the Gold Cup.

RAPIDS STARTERS: Pickens; Ihemelu, Baudet, Gibbs, Harvey; Peterson, Ballouchy, Mastroeni, LaBrocca; Cummings, Noonan

RED BULLS STARTERS: Coundoul, Pacheco, Petke, Krupnick, Hall, Sassano, Rojas, Ubiparipovic, Kandji, Richards, Angel

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 associate 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.

Kosuke Kimura celebrates his winning goal with striker Conor Casey on Saturday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. (photo by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

When Colorado Rapids defender Kosuke Kimura arrived at his locker after Saturday night’s game, nearly every member of the media at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park was there waiting — microphone, camera or pen in hand.

And Kimura was beaming.

Who could blame him? Only a few minutes had gone by since his goal late in the second half lifted the Rapids to a 1-0 victory over FC Dallas. The win was the team’s first since June 20, and many of the Rapids still had thoughts of two consecutive losses in the past two weeks on their minds.

Then there were the memories of playing Dallas in Commerce City less than three weeks ago, when Colorado searched for more than an hour to find a tying goal in a frustrating 1-1 draw.

But Kimura’s winning goal on Saturday lifted spirits throughout the training room.

“If somebody had given odds on Kosuke scoring, not only a goal but a winning goal, I’m not sure too many people in the stands will have taken it,” Rapids coach Gary Smith said. “If he didn’t get man of the match, I will be absolutely flabbergasted. He was absolutely fantastic: the energy, the determination that he showed and the goal. … It was a terrific goal. He could’ve been forgiven for being a fullback, and a young fullback at that, for panicking a little bit. But he hit the target and with some serious power in a very, very important game.”

Kimura brought the ball up the right wing in the 79th minute and saw Mehdi Ballouchy near the edge of Dallas’ penalty box. He sent a crisp pass forward to the midfielder’s feet.

During a scoreless game, many players in Ballouchy’s position would turn and shoot, but Ballouchy is not wired like that. Instead, he saw Kimura continuing to rush forward. Ballouchy flicked a pass through the legs of one defender and drew Kimura in behind the Dallas defense, in a perfect position to strike.

Kimura hit the ball high and hard over Hoops goalkeeper Ray Burse.

“I just kept my head down and smashed it,” Kimura said. “I knew that (Ballouchy) was going to pass it. He’s a great player on the ball. I trust him. I just kept running. The ball came, and I took a touch.”

Kimura said the insightful one-two between him and Ballouchy was not a play that the team rehearses. He said the key was eye contact.

“He looked at me,” he said. “Right after he got the ball, I looked up. He saw me running, and I saw him, too.”

The goal was the second of Kimura’s career in Major League Soccer. The native of Japan scored May 2 in a 2-0 victory over Real Salt Lake, also at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. But that night, Kimura’s parents were at the game and he made a quick exit from the locker room to be with them afterward, leaving all the journalists empty-handed.

So the media was very interested in catching up with Kimura on Saturday. And he did not disappoint.

“Against an opponent that has proved over the last six weeks that their form has turned ’round, it was never going to be a runaway victory,” Smith said. “But, somehow, we just had to find a goal from somewhere, and fortunately we did.”

MAN OF THE MATCH: Kimura, obviously. But before he scored, he had done enough to earn the honor. He helped create the best scoring chance of the first half: He squirted through two defenders on the right wing and sent a pass toward the middle of the field. Conor Casey ran to the ball and tapped to Jacob Peterson, who shot over two sliding defenders but right at Burse. In the 89th minute, Kimura made a strong tackle on Blake Wagner in the Rapids’ penalty area, and he aggressively muscled Wagner off the ball in extra time, again inside the Rapids’ box. But one thing that makes Kimura special is his work rate. At one point in the second half, he was pushing forward, fighting for possession near the Dallas end line. The ball crossed the line for a Burse goal kick, and Kimura sprinted back to his position. Most players trot or even walk back to their station, but Kimura sprints. He’s the Charlie Hustle of Major League Soccer, without the greenies, the gambling and the haircut.

THE FANS’ MAN OF THE MATCH: The Rapids conduct a poll for man of the match via text messaging. In the 75th minute, before Kimura scored, he was one of three choices on the scoreboard whom fans could vote for. Even then, Kimura was the clear choice.

MAN OF THE MATCH, HONORABLE MENTION: The Rapids ran a 4-3-3, and the midfield triangle of captain Pablo Mastroeni, Nick LaBrocca and Ballouchy was sharp. Crisp passing. Strong challenges. Dogged pursuit. The three did everything they could to keep Dallas off balance.

THE HOOPS’ BEST CHANCE TO SCORE: In the 70th minute, the ball skipped over mass of defenders and attackers at the top of the Rapids’ penalty box and sailed through to Eric Avila, who had been in a wide position. He corralled the ball and fired it toward the far post, where striker Jeff Cunningham slid and just missed making contact.

BEST INDIVIDUAL MOVES: This was a tie, and both came in the first half. Kimura did a quick one-two around Dax McCarty that left the normally sure-footed holding midfielder stabbing helplessly at a ball that wasn’t there anymore. Later, Casey produced a sexy little stepover that ended in a nutmeg of defender George John. Both moves brought gasps from the crowd.

GOLD CUP IN MIAMI: Rapids striker Omar Cummings scored the winning goal for Jamaica in the 70th minute against El Salvador on Friday in the pool stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The 1-0 Jamaica victory clinched a berth in the final eight for Costa Rica and left Jamaica third in the group with the possibility of advancing. Jamaica will have to wait for the rest of this weekend’s results. Read the whole story here.

MORE GOLD CUP: And former Rapids striker Fabrice Noel scored for Haiti in a midweek 2-0 victory over Grenada. Check out this story about Fabrice in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

GOLD CUP’S EFFECT: Dallas’ Kenny Cooper and the Rapids’ Colin Clark missed Saturday’s MLS fixture because they were with the U.S. national team. The Nats tied Haiti 2-2 in Foxborough, Mass. Cummings’ participation at the Gold Cup meant Omar missed the Rapids’ Jamaican Heritage Night celebration because he was representing the Reggae Boyz in international play. Ironic, ain’t it?

ALSO MISSING: Rapids central defender Cory Gibbs was suspended for Saturday’s match because of yellow-card accumulation. Ugo Ihemelu will miss the next MLS match (Saturday at D.C.) because of a caution he picked up early against Dallas.

ATTENDANCE ISSUES: The official attendance was 8,128, but that looked like a generous estimate. There were no weather issues to blame it on, but some other factors dimmed the enthusiam: The Gold Cup removed some of the talent. It was the second time in three weeks that the Rapids have hosted Dallas. And the game after the Fourth of July is typically a poor seller. However, this year’s July 4 debacle may have had the biggest impact on crowd size. It will be interesting to see how many people turn out for the rescheduled fireworks show on July 25.

UGO IHEMELU, TRACK STAR?: I’ve never seen Ugo beaten in a foot race. Last week, he and Patrick Nyarko were in two sprints to long passes that were played forward by Nyarko’s Chicago teammates. Both times Nyarko wound up with the ball, but both times Ihemelu had more ground to cover. Ihemelu was faster. On Saturday, Ugo and Jeff Cunningham raced to a ball played deep into the corner of the field, and both arrived at the same time. But in the 74th, Cunningham looked to be in a position for an unobstructed break-in on goalkeeper Matt Pickens. This time, in an impressive show of speed, Ugo chased him down from behind and broke up the play. After the game, new teammate Julien Baudet was joking with Ihemelu about all the running he had to do.

ALL-STAR TEAM ANNOUNCED MONDAY: Expect Casey to be in the starting 11. Something’s seriously wrong if he’s not.

RAPIDS STARTERS: Pickens, Kimura, Ihemelu, Palguta, Harvey, Cooke, Mastroeni, Peterson, Ballouchy, Casey, LaBrocca.

HOOPS STARTERS: Burse, Moor, Davies, Ricchetti, John, Shea, McCarty, Rocha, van den Bergh, Cunningham, Ferreira.

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 associate 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.