DC, Colorado split points in tie
For United, much of the offensive flair in the opening stanza came from forward Jaime Moreno, who got the start after missing two matches due to injury. He clicked well with strike-mate Ronald Cerritos, who had a good opportunity to open the scoring just before the half-hour mark.
As Cerritos closed on Joe Cannon's net, the Rapids' 'keeper charged from his goal in an attempt to cut the angle on the shot. Cerritos was able to fire an attempt just before taking a tough hit from Cannon, but the ball rolled slightly wide of the far post.
Only minutes later midfielder Earnie Stewart should have put the home side up, but his shot from the top of the box flew well over the crossbar. United continued to pressure throughout the first half, accumulating 10 corner kicks, but they were unable to take advantage of their opportunities.
Colorado's best chance of the half came in stoppage time. Antonio de la Torre whipped in a dangerous ball from a corner kick, which Chris Henderson flicked on. Colorado was able to redirect the ball towards Troy Perkins' goal, but United's rookie 'keeper was up to the challenge and made a spectacular save to keep the game scoreless going into the locker room.
United continued to push forward throughout the second half. Colorado seemed content to absorb pressure and try to counter with fast breaks. D.C. United rookie forward Freddy Adu entered the match near the 60-minute mark and made several enterprising runs into the attacking third.
Another D.C. rookie nearly settled the issue with 10 minutes remaining, but Josh Gros' shot was saved by Cannon. The two rookies combined again with five minutes remaining when Gros fed Adu inside the box. However, after a touch to set up the shot, Adu didn't have a lot of goal to look at and Cannon easily made the save.
United tried everything to get a late winner, but the deadlock was not to be broken and the sides split the points. United will take the field at RFK Stadium again next Saturday as they welcome the Columbus Crew, who haven't lost in their last seven matches. That match is scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. ET. Colorado returns home to face their Western Conference rivals, the Dallas Burn, next Saturday at 9 p.m. ET.
MLSnet.com Man of the Match: Josh Gros (D.C. United)
Colorado Rapids (2-3-5) vs. D.C. United (3-5-4)
June 12, 2004 -- RFK Stadium
Scoring Summary:
None
Colorado Rapids -- Joe Cannon, Antonio de la Torre, Ritchie Kotschau, Gary Sullivan (Rey Angel Martinez 55), Matt Crawford, Seth Trembly, Kyle Beckerman, Daryl Powell, Chris Henderson, Zizi Roberts, John Spencer.
Substitutes Not Used: Adrian Cann, Jordan Cila, Michael Erush, Scott Vallow.
TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (John Spencer 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Kyle Beckerman 1, Gary Sullivan 1); FOULS: 13 (5 tied with 2); OFFSIDES: 1 (John Spencer 1); CORNER KICKS: 3 (Antonio de la Torre 2); SAVES: 8 (Joe Cannon 8)
D.C. United -- Troy Perkins, Brandon Prideaux, Ryan Nelsen (David Stokes 46), Mike Petke, Earnie Stewart, Brian Carroll, Dema Kovalenko, Ben Olsen, Joshua Gros, Ronald Cerritos (Freddy Adu 64), Jaime Moreno.
Substitutes Not Used: Kevin Ara, Alecko Eskandarian, Bryan Namoff, Eliseo Quintanilla, Nick Rimando, Doug Warren.
TOTAL SHOTS: 21 (Ben Olsen 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Ben Olsen 3); FOULS: 13 (Brian Carroll 3, Mike Petke 3); OFFSIDES: 3 (Freddy Adu 2); CORNER KICKS: 13 (Ben Olsen 9); SAVES: 2 (Troy Perkins 2)
Misconduct Summary:
COL -- Matt Crawford (caution; Reckless Foul) 7
DC -- Ben Olsen (caution; Dissent) 43
DC -- Ronald Cerritos (caution; Reckless Foul) 58
DC -- David Stokes (caution; Reckless Foul) 63
DC -- Brian Carroll (caution; Reckless Foul) 74
COL -- Kyle Beckerman (caution; Reckless Foul) 92+
Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Referee's Assistants: -George Vergara; Kenneth Kaplan
4th Official: Mark Geiger
Attendance: 21,742
Time of Game: 1:51
Weather: Sunny-and-75-degrees
All Statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial.
