CARRIERI GOAL HELPS RAPIDS BATTLE BACK FOR LATE 1-1 DRAW WITH COLUMBUS CREW

Colorado Meets New England Wednesday as Road Trip Concludes

COLUMBUS, OH (Saturday, July 20, 2002) - Chris Carrieri scored an 88th minute goal for the Colorado Rapids against the Columbus Crew on Saturday night to give the visitors a come-from-behind point in an entertaining match in front of 21,432 at Crew Stadium.

A tense first few minutes of the match saw the ball almost entirely in front of the Colorado goal, with Columbus attacking largely through Brian West and Eric Denton from the flanks. The Crew managed two quick shots in the opening minute, both from midfielder John Wilmer Perez, though neither seriously threatened the net or forced a save.

Columbus had another good scoring chance nullified by the Colorado defense in the 12th minute. West was again the setup man from the right side, this time curling a ball in to the top of the 18-yard box to a pair of waiting attackers. Brian McBride ducked under the ball and allowed it to bounce to Denton, but the tightly-guarded midfielder, under pressure from Rick Titus and Robin Fraser, could only fire the ball over the net.

End-to-end action dominated the first twenty minutes of the match, with each team making long runs into the opponent's end. The Rapids traded off long balls to the twin targets of Carrieri and Chris Henderson, and slow buildups through the five-man midfield, but it was Wes Hart, a defender, who put the first Colorado shot on goal in the 25th minute. Hart found the ball at his feet thanks to Carlos Valderrama, but his attempt was partially deflected and bounced into the arms of goalkeeper Jon Busch.

Columbus finally broke through in the 28th minute and took the lead on a goal by Dante Washington. Midfielder Perez bent a corner into a crowded penalty area, where it landed on the head of McBride. McBride's shot on goal was stopped by a diving Scott Garlick and rebounded to Brian Dunseth. Dunseth's close-range shot was cleared off the line by Henderson, but Washington was quick to the rebound and tucked a low shot inside the right post.

Garlick kept the Columbus lead at one goal with an acrobatic sliding stop in the 40th minute. Perez split the defense with a long pass through the heart of the penalty area to Washington, who took the pass in stride and tapped a single touch toward goal before Garlick leapt off his line and smothered the ball.

The Rapids were unable to take advantage of an excellent passing sequence in the 44th minute. Pablo Mastroeni and Valderrama combined to zig-zag the ball through the defense to Henderson, who was making a long diagonal run across midfield and into the penalty area. Henderson managed a low shot across his body with his left foot that Busch easily scooped up and saved.

Colorado wasted no time starting the attack as the second half began and forced a save from Busch in the 48th minute. Carrieri, with his back to the goal, quickly received a pass in the penalty area and dealt it back to the charging Zach Kingsley. Kingsley, making his first start in MLS action, blasted a low shot that skipped into the arms of Busch.

The speed of Carrieri helped set up a dangerous corner kick opportunity in the 54th minute when the forward out-paced Brian Dunseth into the 18-yard box before the defender was able to poke the ball over the endline. Crew goalkeeper Busch was equal to the task, though, and easily grabbed the ensuing corner kick.

In the 68th minute the Rapids again threatened the goal, and again it was Carrieri and Kingsley who created the chance. After building the possession through the midfield, Kingsley played a quick one-two from the right sideline with Carrieri and darted around his defender and into space before smashing a line drive to the near post that Busch did well to hold.

Just moments later the Rapids forced another save by Busch. Following a short corner kick, Colorado strung consecutive passes together on the edges of the penalty area before Valderrama floated a ball in to Carrieri, who turned a header on goal.

In the waning moments of the match Columbus appeared ready to put the game away when forward Jeff Cunningham and Perez broke in alone on the Rapids net. With Garlick committed to stopping his shot, Cunningham slotted a rolling pass across the mouth of the goal to Perez. With an open net ahead of him the sliding Colombian flubbed a slow rolling shot that was cleared off the line by a recovering Garlick.

The error would prove costly just seconds later as a long pass from Mastroeni launched a counterattack through Henderson down the left sideline. Henderson's floating pass was met at the far post by Carrieri, whose volley attempt deflected of Dunseth and bounced wildly over the helpless Busch and into the net for the 88th minute equalizer. The goal was Carrieri's seventh of the campaign.

Although the Rapids owned the better of the possession in the overtime period they were unable to score in the ten minute tie-breaker and held on for the well deserved point.

The Rapids will wind up their current three-game, ten-day road trip on Wednesday, July 24, when they travel to CMGI Field in Foxboro to meet the New England Revolution at 5:30 p.m. MT. That match, the third of four against the Revolution this year, can be seen live on Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain.

             		1     	2      OT	F
COLUMBUS CREW      1     	0    	0	1
COLORADO RAPIDS    0     	1     	0	1

Scoring Summary:
CLB--Washington (unassisted) 28
COL--Carrieri (Henderson, Mastroeni) 88

COLORADO RAPIDS--Scott Garlick, Robin Fraser, Steven Herdsman (Raul Palacios
71), Wes Hart (Ritchie Kotschau 91), Rick Titus, Chris Henderson, Pablo
Mastroeni, Zach Kingsley, Mark Chung, Chris Carrieri, Carlos Valderrama

TOTAL SHOTS: 16 (Carrieri 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Carrieri 2, Kingsley 2);
FOULS: 19 (Herdsman 4); OFFSIDE: 3; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: Garlick 5;
CAUTIONS: Mastroeni 78, Hart 83; EJECTIONS: none

COLUMBUS CREW--Jon Busch, Chris Leitch, Mike Clark, Brian Dunseth, Daniel
Torres, Brian Maisonneuve, Brian West (Kyle Martino 71), John Wilmar Perez,
Eric Denton, Dante Washington (Duncan Oughton 56), Brian McBride (Jeff
Cunningham 84)

TOTAL SHOTS: 15 (Perez 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Leitch 2); FOULS: 19 (West 3,
Clark 3, Maisonneuve 3); OFFSIDE: 2; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: Busch 6;
CAUTIONS:
Clark 8, Dunseth 30; EJECTIONS: none


Referee: Ricardo Salazar; Assistant Referees: Craig Lowry, Bill Dittmar
Attendance: 21,432; Weather: Sunny, Warm, Clear

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