RECORD 61,213 FANS WATCH CARRIERI LEAD RAPIDS TO COME-FROM-BEHIND VICTORY OVER CHICAGO

Second Hat Trick in Team History Caps Wild Independence Day Battle

DENVER - Colorado forward Chris Carrieri recorded a hat trick in the second half of Thursday's match, leading the Rapids to a 3-2 win over the visiting Chicago Fire at INVESCO Field. The wild July 4th match provided plenty of fireworks for 61,213 fans in attendance, as Carrieri sparked a wild rally with the Rapids' second hat trick in team history.

Chicago jumped to an early lead with an Ante Razov goal in the 7th minute of play. Defender C.J. Brown started the Fire rush with a midfield square pass to Jesse Marsch at midfield, who played the ball over the shoulder of a streaking Razov. Razov nodded the ball down to his feet on the run, ripping off a hard shot from eight yards out. Goalkeeper David Kramer could not turn the ball away, and the Fire took the lead.

The Rapids were reduced too ten men in the first half when scoring ace John Spencer was shown a red card in the 35th minute. The decision came after Spencer led with his elbows when challenging Brown for a 50-50 aerial ball.

The Fire's man-advantage did not last long, as Razov was issued a second yellow just before the half. Given a lofted pass to midfield, Razov used his hand to control the ball. With the second yellow of the evening, Razov was ejected from the game, further opening the field for the second half.

Second-half substitute Chris Carrieri evened the score at 1-1 in the 57th minute, capping off a give-and-go play with Mark Chung for his fourth tally of the 2002. Chung and Carrieri traded passes around the area to spring Carrieri, who sent a sharp shot past Zach Thornton to even the score.

The Fire took advantage of the extra space afforded by the two ejections, re-taking the lead in the 70th minute of play. Josh Wolff fed the ball over to former Rapid Jason Moore, who sent a one-time shot past Kramer for the Fire lead. The goal was Moore's first ever career goal, coming against his former club.

Carrieri took control of the game in the final minutes, scoring two in the final eight minutes of regulation. Hart fed Carrieri in the box in the 82nd minute, setting up a cross-goal shot that buried itself in the side netting. Six minutes later, Carrieri finished off the natural hat trick with another side-netting shot past Kramer.

Chicago (6-7-2, 13 points) will be without the services of both Razov and Brown against the Rapids on Sunday, as each player earned a decisive yellow card in tonight's match. The Fire will have to shuffle their already depleted lineup to challenge Colorado on Saturday, July 6th.

Colorado (8-7-1, 25 points) will have to face the Fire without Spencer up top, but the performance of Carrieri should alleviate many concerns. Carrieri's hat trick is only the second in Rapids team history, with the only other feat coming from Spencer in the 2001 Independence Day spectacular.

             		1     2     F
CHICAGO FIRE       	1     1     2
COLORADO RAPIDS    0     3     3

Scoring Summary:
CHI--Razov (Marsch, Brown) 7
COL--Carrieri (Chung) 57
CHI--Moore (Wolff) 69
COL--Carrieri (Hart, Valderrama) 82
COL--Carrieri (Chung, Palacios) 87

CHICAGO FIRE--Zach Thornton, C.J. Brown, Jim Curtin, Carlos Bocanegra, Kelly
Gray (Aleksey Korol 68), David Vaudreuil (Billy Walsh 89), Jesse Marsch,
Dema Kovalenko, Craig Capano (Jason Moore 45), Josh Wolff, Ante Razov

TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Marsch 2, Moore 2, Vaudreuil 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Wolff 1,
Moore 1, Razov 1); FOULS: 21 (Razov 4); OFFSIDE: 4; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES:
Thornton 9; CAUTIONS: Razov 33, Bocanegra 38, Razov 45, Vaudreuil 76, Brown
90; EJECTIONS: Razov 45; POSSESSION PERCENTAGE: 43%

COLORADO RAPIDS--David Kramer, Ritchie Kotschau (Zack Kingsley 74), Rick
Titus, Jeff Stewart (Chris Carrieri 45), Robin Fraser, Wes Hart, Mark Chung,
Chris Henderson, Kyle Beckerman (Raul Palacios 57), John Spencer, Carlos
Valderrama

TOTAL SHOTS: 20 (Henderson 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 12 (Carrieri 3, Henderson 3);
FOULS: 19 (Palacios 4); OFFSIDE: 0; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: Kramer 1;
CAUTIONS: Spencer 6; EJECTIONS: Spencer 35; POSSESSION PERCENTAGE: 57%

Referee: Noel Kenny; Assistant Referees: Greg Barkey, Chip Reed
Attendance: 61,213; Weather: Partly Cloudy, Partly Cloudy

Quotes:

Head Coach Tim Hankinson on Carrieri

"Carrieri's composure and placement on these shots tonight is something we usually don't see out of him. He should be able to look back at his performance tonight and use this as a measuring stick for himself as how he should handle himself in this league. He wasn't rushed, he was composed and picked his shots."

Chris Carrieri:

"It was a great team effort tonight. The defense kept us in it. We went down 1-0, then 2-1 but we kept our heads in it. I think our confidence level is up right now. Coming out in the second half, I just tried to make a lot of good runs and tried to get the guys up with a lot of energy. With Chung and Carlos playing behind me and feeding me balls, I got three goals - I can't ask for anything more."

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