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reprint of COLORADO RAPIDS NEWS RELEASE -- byline Andy Engel
NEWS RELEASE
DENVER (Monday, April 29, 2002) - Facing the league's leading scorer and an undefeated team, the Colorado Rapids earned an overtime victory on John Spencer's goal in the 94th minute against the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Rose Bowl on Saturday afternoon.
Despite being forced to shuffle the lineup because of an injury to Mark Chung, the Rapids started out strong, taking early control of midfield play with a physical brand of soccer that limited the Galaxy's ability to effectively work the ball upfield.
The Rapids appeared to have scored in the 14th minute when rookie defender Jeff Stewart powered a corner kick at the goal, but his header slipped just wide of the post and landed in the side netting.
Twenty-eight minutes into the first half, Ruiz showed the form that has made him MLS Player of the Week on two occasions already this season. Challenging for a ball in the air with Kotschau, Ruiz conceded the header but took control of the ball as it bounced to the corner flag. Spinning away from his defender, Ruiz managed a tough-angle shot from near the endline that rolled inches wide of the far post. The clubs battled back and forth for the remainder of the half, before heading into the intermission deadlocked at 0-0.
In the second-half, Pablo Mastroeni, playing his last game before leaving to represent the United States in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, did well to break up a long run by Sasha Victorine, who had cut a path through the midfield with the ball and entered the 18-yard box in the 61st minute.
Colorado head coach Tim Hankinson went to his bench in the 73rd minute in an attempt to break the deadlock, inserting attacking players Chris Carrieri and Kyle Beckerman into the game for Wes Hart and Baba.
With the game tied at the end of regulation, it was late substitute Marvin Quijano, playing in only his second game for the Rapids and the first against his former club, that set up the victory. In the fourth minute of overtime, Quijano played a give-and-go with Valderrama near the center of the field, finally slotting the ball to Spencer in front of the penalty arc. Given rare space by defender Danny Califf, Spencer ripped a low, hard shot that bounced out of the reach of Hartman and into the net for the goal.
On Tuesday, April 30, the Rapids will hop on the bus and head south on I-25 to the campus of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs where they will take on the Falcons at 5:30 p.m. at the Cadet Soccer Stadium for the sixth straight year. The exhibition will serve as a mid-week sharpener for the squad before having the weekend off from MLS action. The Rapids will be back in action on Saturday, May 11 at INVESCO Field as they face Western Conference rival Kansas City Wizards on Jersey Night.
The Colorado Rapids Community Care Foundation (CRCCF) and Colorado University running back Marcus Houston are teaming up to relay to metro-area elementary school students the importance of education through "I Go to College Day," - a part of Houston's Just Say Know Foundation, Inc. The "I Go to College" program was started by Marcus Houston, president of Just Say Know, Inc., a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, to seed the idea of going to college as an educational foundation for elementary school students. The program goal is to expose students to a college environment in attempts to enhance educational awareness, open new doors and familiarize a new generation of students to the attainable frontier of college. Third grade students are bussed to universities to interact with professors, student mentors and student athletes. Four Rapids players will be a part of the program this week, appearing through the following schedule:
* Wednesday, May 1 - Steve Shak and Danny Jackson will join thirty-two third grade students from Gilpin Elementary School (Denver) as they travel to CU Boulder to participate.
* Friday, May 3 - Jeff Stewart and Kyle Beckerman will join twenty-five students from Stedman Elementary School (Denver) as they travel to DU in Denver.
In September 2001, the CRCCF committed a $2,000 grant to Mr. Houston's project and will continue to work with the Just Say Know Foundation, Inc. in the future.
Tuesday Media Luncheon Moved to Thursday, May 2 at Westminster Training Facility As a result of tomorrow's exhibition match with the Air Force Academy soccer team, the Rapids' usual Tuesday media luncheon has been moved to Thursday at 12 noon at the Westminster training facility, located at 105th and Sheridan Blvd. in Westminster. For more information, call the Rapids media relations department at (303) 299-1487 or (303) 299-1590.
Injury Report: Mark Chung - Right Hamstring - Probable Training Schedule: Tuesday, April 30 - 5:30 p.m. Exhibition vs. U.S. Air Force Academy at the Cadet Soccer Stadium Wednesday, May 1 - 11:00 a.m. at Westminster Training Facility Thursday, May 2 - 10:00 a.m. at Westminster Training Facility Friday, May 3 - 10:00 a.m. at Westminster Training Facility Saturday, May 4 - Off Western Conference TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA STREAKS LAST 10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- San Jose Earthquakes 6 3 2 1 10 7 5 Tied 1 3-2-1 Colorado Rapids 6 3 2 1 10 6 5 Won 1 3-2-1 Los Angeles Galaxy 5 2 1 2 8 6 5 Lost 1 2-1-2 Dallas Burn 5 1 1 3 6 5 6 Tied 3 1-1-3 Kansas City Wizards 4 1 1 2 5 5 4 Tied 1 1-1-2 Overall Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA STREAKS LAST 10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MetroStars 6 3 2 1 10 8 7 Tied 1 3-2-1 San Jose Earthquakes 6 3 2 1 10 7 5 Tied 1 3-2-1 Colorado Rapids 6 3 2 1 10 6 5 Won 1 3-2-1 Los Angeles Galaxy 5 2 1 2 8 6 5 Lost 1 2-1-2 Chicago Fire 5 2 2 1 7 7 6 Tied 1 2-2-1 Dallas Burn 5 1 1 3 6 5 6 Tied 3 1-1-3 D.C. United 6 2 4 0 6 6 8 Lost 1 2-4-0 Columbus Crew 5 2 3 0 6 3 6 Won 1 2-3-0 Kansas City Wizards 4 1 1 2 5 5 4 Tied 1 1-1-2 N.E. Revolution 4 1 2 1 4 6 7 Tied 1 1-2-1
"It was a nice run by Marvin. I dropped a little bit deep off the center half and the defenders and I saw the far corner. My legs were a little tired and the thought was just to drive it through the defender's legs and luckily enough it was in the back of the net. It's always a delight to receive points so it was special. Winning a conference game against a team of L.A.'s stature is good since we haven't won here (Rose Bowl) in about 14 games and this sends us to the top of the conference." - Rapids Captain John Spencer after Saturday's 1-0 OT win over the Galaxy at the Rose Bowl
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