Colorado Rapids Game Notes
July 23, 2004 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Colorado Rapids News Release
OPEN AND SHUT: The Rapids' dream of winning the 2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup came to an end on Tuesday night at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas as the Burn stormed past the Rapids 3-0 in their Fourth Round encounter. Eddie Johnson had two goals and an assist while Ronnie O'Brien was the most dangerous player on the field and scored the game-winner for Colorado's Western Conference rivals.
This was the fourth time in eight forays into the Open Cup that the Rapids have been dumped out of the competition in their first match, and the second time that they had been eliminated by the Dallas Burn. In the 2002 Quarterfinals, Ronnie O'Brien again grabbed the game-winning goal as the Burn prevailed over the Rapids at the Cotton Bowl with a goal in the 116th minute, giving his side a 1-0 victory and a berth into the Semifinals.
SPENCER STRUGGLING: Colorado captain forward John Spencer is currently embroiled in his longest run of games without a goal since coming to MLS prior to the start of the 2001 season. Spencer, who ranks second behind Paul Bravo on the Rapids' all-time goals scored list with 34, scored the Rapids' first goal of the season in the first half of a 1-1 draw in Dallas on April 3. Since that night, Spencer has failed to get his name onto the scoresheet in any of the 10 regular season games that he has played, including nine starts.
Prior to the start of this current ten-game scoreless run, Spencer had never gone more than six games without scoring. That run came during the 2002 season, during which Spencer missed 12 games because of injury, and saw Spencer start just four of those six games and play only 325 total minutes in those six games.
TREMBLY TALLIES: Last Saturday in San Jose, Rapids midfielder Seth Trembly tallied the second goal of his MLS career and his first this season with a 22-yard rocket that eluded Earthquakes keeper Pat Onstad, making the score 3-1 San Jose. Prior to the goal, Trembly's only other goal during an MLS game came in the ninth minute of a 4-1 win over the New England Revolution at INVESCO Field at Mile High on June 14, 2003.
The Littleton, Colorado native now has two goals and an assist for five points during his five year MLS career that has seen him play 42 games with 16 starts.
Of those 42 games, only one has come against the Crew as he played the full 90 minutes in the two sides' first meeting of this season, a game won by the Rapids 2-1 at Columbus Crew Stadium on June 26.
IRONMAN CANNON: Goalkeeper Joe Cannon is the only Rapids player to have played every minute in all 17 regular season games for Colorado this season. Cannon's previous personal records for games and minutes played occurred in 2000, when he started all 26 games that he appeared in for the San Jose Earthquakes and was on the field for 2,420 minutes.
Cannon has also set a new Rapids team record by starting 17 consecutive games in goal to open up a season. Both Marcus Hahnemann (in 1999) and Scott Garlick (in 2002) were in goal for each of the Rapids' first 13 games before being replaced by Ian Feuer and David Kramer respectively in those seasons. In 1998, Hahnemann set the Rapids record for the most games and minutes played in a single season by a goalkeeper, playing 2,520 minutes in 28 games, compiling a 16-12 record.
This season, Cannon has a 5-5-7 record and a 1.00 goals against average, good for second in the league to go along with his MLS-best 77 saves.
The only Rapids players ever to play every minute of every game in an entire season are defenders Steve Trittschuh, who is currently the Rapids' assistant coach, and former defender and Team Captain Peter Vermes.
In 1999, Vermes played all 2,880 minutes of the Rapids' 32 regular season matches, collecting two assists and five yellow cards. In the playoffs that year, Vermes was taken off for a substitute in the 60th minute of Game One of the Quarterfinals against Los Angeles. It was the first time all season that he had not been on the field for the club.
In 1996, Trittschuh played 2,880 regular season minutes for Colorado, tallying a career-high 12 points (5 goals, 2 assists) while leading the club in fouls committed with 51. Despite the 51 fouls, Trittschuh was booked just twice and never suspended.
RAPIDS KEEPING THE SHEETS CLEAN: The Rapids tied a team record ten days ago on July 14 by being shutout for the seventh time in 16 games this season. In the inaugural 1996 season, as well as the 1999 campaign, the Rapids were kept scoreless on seven occasions, but each of those years saw the Rapids play 32 games.
Just three days later, Colorado narrowly avoided its team record eighth shutout of the season when Seth Trembly fired a long range shot past san Jose keeper Pat Onstad, giving the Rapids a consolation goal in what would prove to be a 3-1 defeat at Spartan Stadium.
Wednesday night's 0-0 draw was also the Rapids' third scoreless draw of the season, tying them with a team record that they set last season. Prior to the advent of ties in MLS at the start of the 2000 season, the Rapids finished just five games at 0-0. On all five occasions, the Rapids went on to win the match by way of the shootout.
WHO IS THAT PEREZ GUY? Continuing a long-standing tradition, Alberto Delgado will wear his mother's maiden name 'Perez' on the back of his jersey. Delgado has worn Perez since the beginning of his soccer career and has elected to do so again in MLS.
Despite wearing the name Perez on his jersey, all second references to him should be made as either 'Alberto' or 'Delgado'.
HEY NOW, HE'S AN ALL-STAR: The Colorado Rapids will have one representative at the 2004 MLS All-Star Game in Washington D.C. with central defender Pablo Mastroeni being named as a starter for the Western Conference. This is Mastroeni's third All-Star Game start and his fourth appearance. He made his All-Star debut in 2000 as a member of the Miami Fusion, and then followed that up by earning starting roles in the 2001 and 2002 All-Star Games. Last year, the third-year Rapids defender was named as an alternate for the MLS squad which defeated Chivas 3-1 at The Home Depot Center, but was not named to the 18-man squad that played on that day. You can see Mastroeni and the rest of the MLS All-Stars at the ninth annual MLS All-Star Game which will be played on Saturday, July 31 at 2:00 p.m. (MT) and can be seen live on ABC.
However, after suffering a left quad injury in training last Friday, Mastroeni is likely going to miss the MLS All-Star Game and will be replaced on Sigi Schmid's Western Conference squad. If Schmid replaces Mastroeni with a player from a team other than the Rapids, they will be the only MLS team not to be represented at this year's festivities.
Shortly after being named a starter for the All-Star Game, Mastroeni left Colorado to join up with the U.S. National Team in Chicago for its match against Poland at Soldier Field on July 11. Mastroeni was in Bruce Arena's starting XI for that match as a defensive midfielder, earning his 31st cap, and played 76 minutes before being replaced by Clint Mathis. The U.S. earned a 1-1 draw with Poland in the match thanks to a late Carlos Bocanegra goal to extend the Americans' unbeaten streak to six games, dating back to a 1-0 loss to Holland in Amsterdam in February.
AGAINST THE ODDS: John Spencer's 87th minute miss from the penalty spot against the Galaxy on July 10 was just the second in his four year MLS career after converting nine of his previous ten regular season spot kicks. However, Spencer had made the first nine PK's of his career, two in 2001, three in 2002 and four last year; before missing the tenth on September 6, 2003. Despite seeing Dallas Burn keeper D.J. Countess block Spencer's spot kick for one of his six saves on the night, the Rapids were able to pull out a 2-1 win behind a three-point night from Chris Henderson.
The spot kick was the first of the season for the Rapids, leaving D.C. United as the only MLS club not to have won a PK so far this season. This was also the first time in their nine-year history that the Rapids have failed to convert on their first spot kick of the season.
FAMILIAR FACES WITH THE CREW: A series of familiar faces will return to Denver for the first time as members of the Crew after leaving the Rapids last season. Defenders Robin Fraser and Steven Herdsman, who were both born in Kingston, Jamaica, each spent a portion of their career in Colorado before moving to Columbus prior to the start of the 2004 season, while midfielder Ross Paule has also found a home in Ohio after spending the first four and a half years of his career with the Rapids.
Fraser came to Colorado prior to the start of the 2001 season and spent three years marshalling in the Rapids' backline. In those three years, Fraser appeared in 74 games and tallied four of his five career assists, including his only postseason point on an assist in Game Two of the 2002 MLS Quarterfinals against Dallas. Fraser was traded to the Crew on the day of the 2004 MLS SuperDraft, in exchange for the No. 16 overall pick, which the Rapids used to select Adrian Cann.
Also joining the Rapids at the same time as Fraser was Herdsman, who was drafted by Colorado in the second round of the 2001 MLS SuperDraft. Herdsman announced his retirement from the sport after playing just three games for Colorado a year ago, but he returned to the game after having his rights traded to Columbus for the No. 25 overall pick.
The third former member of the Rapids to be plying his trade with the Crew is midfielder Ross Paule. Paule was drafted by the Rapids out of Creighton University and made an immediate impact with the club, scoring seven points in 19 appearances as a rookie. He would go on to achieve even more success with the Rapids, totaling 65 points (good for 6th in team history) in 111 games (4th in Rapids history) before being dealt to the MetroStars late in the 2001 season.
But the ties between the Rapids and Crew do not end there. Thornton native Clint Baumstark, who is one of the MLS emergency goalkeepers, and typically trains with the Rapids, will once again be on the Crew bench serving as the backup to Jon Busch. He is with the Crew because of an injury to their first choice backup, Aurora native Matt Jordan. Baumstark will likely be joined on the bench by Jake Traeger, who was born in Denver and calls Littleton home. The 24-year old second year player was selected by the Crew in the sixth round of the 2003 MLS SuperDraft, and made two appearances for the club. Both of Traeger's appearances for the Crew have been in a reserve role, and both have come against the Chicago Fire. On July 3, Traeger replaced Chris Wingert in the 87th minute of a 2-0 Crew win. He made his MLS debut on October 26, 2003, coming off the bench and registering two assists in 12 minutes of play in the season-ending 6-2 win over Chicago. Traeger's sister Katie Traeger is also a Colorado Rapids Community Care Foundation Board Member.
CREW SIGN UP SZETELA: On Thursday afternoon, the Rapids' opponents on Saturday, the Columbus Crew, received a bit of good news by winning the MLS lottery for U.S. U-17 National Team midfielder Danny Szetela. The Crew had the second best odds to nab the New Jersey native going into the weighted lottery draft, but came up victorious in acquiring the player who turned down English clubs Everton and Manchester City to sign with MLS. The Crew had the second highest percentage chance (21.1%) of obtaining Szetela in the weighted lottery with 211 out of the 1,000 balls available. Only Dallas with 262 balls and a 26.2 percent chance had better odds of winning the rights to Szetela.
Major League Soccer Stories from July 23, 2004
- Wizards Host Dallas Burn August 4th in U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals - Sporting Kansas City
- Pre-Game Report: MetroStars vs. Chicago Fire - New York Red Bulls
- Galaxy try to protect lead on the road - LA Galaxy
- Colorado Rapids Game Notes - Colorado Rapids
- Burn Trades Forward Jason Thompson To DC United - FC Dallas
- D.C. United Signs F Jason Thompson - D.C. United
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