CHUNG GOAL GIVES RAPIDS DRAMATIC SERIES CLINCHING WIN OVER DALLAS AT COTTON BOWL

Colorado Opens Semifinal Series Saturday in Los Angeles

DALLAS (Wednesday, October 2, 2002) - Mark Chung scored a series tie-breaking goal in the first minute of the sudden death overtime series tiebreaker to give the Colorado Rapids a come-from-behind win over the Dallas Burn on Wednesday, helping the team advance to the semifinal round of the MLS Playoffs. The Rapids, making their first appearance in the final four since 1997, will meet the Los Angeles Galaxy in the semifinals beginning Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

The Rapids began the game much in the same fashion as they ended the previous encounter at INVESCO Field, applying heavy and immediate pressure on the ball from the start.

But it was Dallas who dented the scoreboard first, scoring on their first dangerous shot on goal after a Chris Henderson foul on Paul Broome set up a Burn free kick near the Colorado bench in the sixth minute. Chad Deering took the free kick for Dallas and curled a driven ball into the six-yard box to Bobby Rhine, who out jumped his mark and headed the ball home.

Colorado continued to press the issue in the first twenty minutes, but found scoring chances difficult to come by. Chris Carrieri and Johns Spencer made several probing runs into the Dallas penalty area in search of the equalizer, but the Dallas defense, led by center backs Tenywa Bonseu and Steve Morrow, held their ground.

Colorado evened the score in the 22nd minute when Spencer finished off a fantastic passing sequence started by Carlos Valderrama. Valderrama intercepted a Bonseu clearance and headed a bouncing ball over a defender to Mark Chung, who backheeled the pass into traffic to Carrieri. Carrieri one-timed the ball with a backheel pass of his own to Spencer, who stutter-stepped toward the goal and took a single touch before delivering a low shot inside the right post as he was dragged down to the ground.

The teams continued to trade runs back and forth into the opposing offensive zones, but the physical play and heavy pressure on the ball severely limited their ability to capitalize on the quick tempo of the half. Colorado goalkeeper David Kramer needed to make only two saves in the half, while his counterpart from Dallas, Matt Jordan, made one.

The second half opened with the Rapids possessing far more of the ball, again thanks the tenacious work of midfielder Pablo Mastroeni and the solid effort of the four-man defensive corps made up of Robin Fraser and Steven Herdsman in the middle and Wes Hart and Ritchie Kotschau out wide.

Dallas saw a good scoring chance wasted in the 63rd minute when an un-marked Ronnie O'Brien volleyed a one-time shot across the back across goalmouth and just wide of the left post after Antonio Martinez found him with a cross-field pass.

O'Brien had another chance to help the Burn regain the lead moments later, in the 67th minute, when his fancy footwork helped him elude Ritchie Kotschau and turn the corner in the penalty area toward the goal. Alone in the 18-yard box but seeing no angle to shoot, O'Brien tried to center the ball to a pair of teammates in front of the goal, but a quick move by Fraser cut the ball off and ended the chance.

Colorado head coach Tim Hankinson went to his substitutes bench for the first time in the 86th minute, inserting Rookie of the Year candidate Zach Kingsley in place of captain John Spencer, and the move nearly paid immediate dividends. Kingsley kept a wide ball in play, raced down the touchline and turned a defender before delivering a centering pass to Chris Carrieri, but the forward was bumped off the ball before he could take a shot.

Then, just two minutes later, Kingsley was at the center of the action again, blasting a long-range shot that deflected off a Dallas defender and skipped just wide of the left post. Regulation ended shortly after, and the teams took to the sidelines to prepare for the 10-minute golden goal overtime period.

Kramer came up big for the Rapids in the overtime period, making a sprawling stop after Kreis led a charging Deering into the six-yard box. Deering and Kramer arrived for the ball at almost the same instant, but the goalkeeper was able to block the ball and then hold it before any Burn players could make a play.

The game remained tied after 100 minutes, forcing the 20-minute sudden death series tiebreaker. But the Rapids would need just more than a minute of the extra period before Chung ended the game with his winning goal.

Seth Trembly, who entered the game as a substitute for Carrieri before the series tiebreaker began, collected his first career point on the play when he led Henderson into the near corner with a well-placed pass. Henderson wasted no time turning the ball back into play, placing a perfect ball into the six-yard box for Chung to power home with a header.

Scoring Summary:
DAL--Rhine (Deering) 6
COL--Spencer (Carrieri, Chung) 22

SERIES OVERTIME
COL--Chung (Henderson, Trembly) 1

COLORADO RAPIDS--David Kramer, Ritchie Kotschau, Robin Fraser, Steven
Herdsman, Wes Hart, Pablo Mastroeni, Chris Henderson, Mark Chung, Carlos
Valderrama, Chris Carrieri (Seth Trembly 101+), John Spencer (Zach Kingsley
86)
TOTAL SHOTS: 15 (Spencer 4, Carrieri 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (four players with
1); FOULS: 20 (Henderson 5); OFFSIDE: 1; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: Kramer 3;
CAUTIONS: Carrieri 39, Spencer 57; EJECTIONS: none

DALLAS BURN--Matt Jordan, Ryan Suarez, Paul Broome, Tenywa Bonseu, Steve
Morrow, Chad Deering, Ronnie O'Brien, Oscar Pareja (Jorge Rodriguez 52),
Antonio Martinez (Joselito Vaca 68), Jason Kreis, Bobby Rhine (Edward
Johnson 91)
TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Kreis 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Kreis 2); FOULS: 12 (Deering 3);
OFFSIDE: 1; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: Jordan 2; CAUTIONS: Kreis 7, Deering 51,
Bonseu 65; EJECTIONS: none

Referee: Terry Vaughn; Assistant Referees: Jose Andrade, Kermit Quisenberry
Attendance: 8,008; Weather: Humid, 86 dgrs;85 hmdty, Clear

Post-Game Quotes:

Mark Chung: "I was glad to get that over with. Our legs were falling off out there, and we definitely didn't want it to go to penalty kicks. Especially in this heat and humidity it's tough on guys, but we hung in there well. Seth (Trembly) came in and did well to work a 1-2 with Henderson. I drifted outside and took O'Brien with me before I got back in and got free for the header. We struggled all year in Dallas, so it's great that we took the playoff series after they held us down during the regular season."

Tim Hankinson: "We pressed harder in game 2 in Denver, and we tried to replicate that tonight. We had to keep them from having as many opportunities as they had in the previous games here, and we did that. We told the guys before the game that the rules of probability were in our favor and that we'd win down here eventually."

John Spencer: "You have to bounce back from adversity. We are paid to turn up for every game, so there was no quit in us. We showed a lot of character tonight, and I think we proved that we were the better team over a three-game series."

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