RAPIDS CONCEDE THREE GOALS, GIVING DALLAS THREE POINTS AT COTTON BOWL

Two Morrow Goals, Three Martinez Assists Enough for Burn

DALLAS (Saturday, May 18, 2002) - The Dallas Burn got the second home win of the season, downing the Colorado Rapids 3-1 Saturday afternoon at the Cotton Bowl. Defender Steve Morrow netted a pair of goals in the contest, his first tallies in MLS play, and midfielder Antonio Martinez took advantage of a rare start to register three assists on the night.

A foul on Ronald Cerritos by Rick Titus in the 9th minute set up Dallas' first good scoring chance, and the Burn took full advantage of the opportunity. Given a free kick just wide of the 18-yard box, Antonio Martinez curled his service into the middle of the goal area, and defender Steve Morrow was able to slip just inside goalkeeper Scott Garlick and head the ball home.

The Rapids nearly equalized in the 17th minute through Mark Chung. From inside the penalty area, John Spencer opted to switch the ball across the box rather than shoot, and his crisp pass landed at the feet of the wide-open Chung. Chung wasted no time in unloading his shot, but his effort was cleared off the line by midfielder Oscar Pareja.

Colorado spent much of the next few minutes in total control of the ball, stringing several passes together with each foray into the Dallas area. Again, in the 23rd minute, Chung nearly tied the score. From a corner kick, his initial shot was blocked, and as the rebound fell to his feet again, he saw his second shot soar over the crossbar.

Dallas came close to doubling its lead in the 29th minute after a giveaway in midfield by the Rapids. Pareja controlled the ball and used his speed to turn past Rick Titus, and worked to the endline before delivering a cross to Jason Kreis. With little room on the far post, Kreis bounced his header just wide of the left post.

Most of the dangerous Burn chances in the first half came off the counterattack, and that was again the case in the 31st minute. Working quickly into the Colorado defensive third after winning a ball in the midfield, defender Paul Broome saw his low blast saved by Garlick at the near post.

In the 31st minute, as the action swung back in favor of the Rapids, the visitors were denied by Dallas goalkeeper Matt Jordan. Carlos Valderrama controlled a looping clearance and found Chris Henderson inside the right half of the penalty area. Henderson ripped a low shot that Jordan slowed but could not contain, and the goalkeeper was able to slap the trickling ball away before it could cross the line.

Near the end of the half the Rapids had another pair of chances to even the score, but again the Dallas defense held. In the 37th minute Chung capped off a long run through the midfield with a shot that sailed wide. A minute later newcomer Raul Palacios took advantage of some free space and unleashed a ferocious shot from long range that missed the left post by inches.

The action in the second half picked right where the end-to-end action of the first half left off, and it was Dallas who had the first chance to score in the second stanza. Just two minutes into the half, forward Cerritos calmly knocked a shot from 20 yards that bounced off the right post.

In the 54th minute Kreis scored his team-leading 6th goal of the season to give the Burn a two-goal advantage. Once again it was Martinez who started the Burn scoring play, this time feeding Joselito Vaca with a diagonal pass. Vaca gained possession of the ball on the right edge of the penalty area and finessed a pass between the Rapids defenders and Garlick across the box to Kreis, who had no trouble slotting the ball home.

Just six minutes later, after the Rapids had made a pair of substitutions in an effort to re-energize the offense, Dallas struck for a third goal. Again it was Morrow, and again he found the back of the net with a header off a set piece.

Colorado forward John Spencer gave hope to the Rapids after he converted a penalty kick in the 64th minute. Spencer's goal, his third in three games, was the result of a handball in the box called after Chris Carrieri shot hit the hand of defender Tenywa Bonseu.

Cerritos almost put the game completely out of reach in the 74th minute when Chad Deering's long pass hit the forward in mid stride near midfield. Cerritos advanced into the penalty area and eluded defenders Robin Fraser and Titus, but his low shot bounced wide of the right post.

In the 80th minute the Rapids had yet another chance, but were denied by the woodwork. Alone on the edge of the 18-yard box, Spencer ripped a low shot that beat Jordan but bounced off the post and back into play.

That play started a flurry of scoring opportunities for the Rapids, who spent the next few minutes feverishly buzzing around the Burn penalty area. Marvin Quijano, Spencer and Carrieri each had good looks at the net, but to no avail as the score stood 3-1 in favor of Dallas at St. Silva's final whistle.

Colorado drops to 4-3-1 (3-2-1 in Western Conference play) while Dallas (3-2-3, 12 points) inches closer to Colorado in the Western Conference standings, trailing the Rapids by only one point.

Linescore:
	1	2	F
Rapids	0	1	1	
Burn	1	2	3	

Scoring Summary:
Team	Time	Player (#)	Assists
Dallas	  10	Steve Morrow (1)	Antonio Martinez	
Dallas 	            54	     Jason Kreis (6)		 Joselito Vaca,
Antonio Martinez
Dallas		60	     Steve Morrow (2)		 Antonio Martinez,
Chad Deering
Colorado	65	     John Spencer (4)		 Penalty Kick

Lineups:
Rapids - Scott Garlick; Ritchie Kotschau, Robin Fraser, Rick Titus, Jeff
Stewart; Chris Henderson (Chris Carrieri, 59), Raul Palacios, Imad Baba (Wes
Hart, 59) Mark Chung (Marvin Quijano, 62); Carlos Valderrama, John Spencer
(captain).
Subs not used: David Kramer, Kyle Beckerman.

Burn - Matt Jordan; Ryan Suarez, Paul Broome, Tenywa Bonseu, Steve Morrow;
Chad Deering, Joselito Vaca, Oscar Pareja (captain), Antonio Martinez
(Richard Farrer, 67); Ronald Cerritos, Jason Kreis.
Subs not used: D.J. Countess, Lee Morrison, Jorge Rodriguez, Carl Bussey,
Hamisi Amani-Dove, Bobby Rhine.

Statistics:
Rapids - Shots: 24 (Spencer, Chung 7); Shots on Goal: 4 (four players with
1); Saves: 6 (Garlick); Fouls: 13 (Palacios 3); Offsides: 1; Corner kicks: 8

Burn - Shots: 14 (Cerritos 4); Shots on Goal: 9 (Cerritos, Morrow 2); Saves:
2 (Jordan); Fouls: 15 (Pareja 4); Offsides: 4; Corner kicks: 7

Cautions/Ejections:
Team	Time	Player	Type		Reason
Dallas	4	Kreis	Caution		Tackle from behind
Colorado	13	Stewart	Caution		Reckless foul
Colorado	34	Palacios	Caution		Tactical foul
Colorado	34	Spencer	Caution		Reckless foul
Dallas 		89	  Pareja			Caution
Ungentlemanly conduct

Referee: Gus St. Silva 
Assistant Referees: Thomas Supple, Greg Watson
Fourth Official: Terry Vaughn

Attendance: 10,592 
Weather: Sunny, 67 degrees, 82% humidity, clear

Miscellaneous notes:
...Colorado midfielder Raul Palacios made his first MLS start in the match.
... Dallas snaps four-game Colorado win streak at the Cotton Bowl, dating 
back to May 16, 1998. 
... Colorado drops to 1-2-1 on the road this season. 
... Colorado is now 0-3-0 in games in which the opponent has scored first
and has led at the half.

Post Game Quotes:

Head Coach Tim Hankinson

"I'm angry about the way that we played. Our possession was poor from the start. We defended poorly in the box and created a ton of great chances but didn't bother to finish any of them. All of the elements that you need to play by in order to be successful, we didn't bring to the park today. "

Forward John Spencer

"Our movement, especially in the first sixty minutes was not as good as Dallas' and we got punished. Basically they deserved the win. The last fifteen minutes of the game was the only positive thing for us. You can't give three goals away and expect to get back in the game. Basically they kicked us around today."

Next Up For the Rapids: The Rapids return to action on Wednesday night, May 22, at INVESCO Field at Mile High, when they will take on the New England Revolution in the first of four meetings between the two teams this season. Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. For ticket information, contact the Rapids at 303-599-1599.

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