DALLAS (Saturday, March 21, 1998) -- The Dallas Burn defeated the Colorado Rapids Saturday night, 2-1, in a shoot-out following a 1-1 tie after regulation play. Dallas was able to score on two of their five attempts in the shoot-out in front of their home crowd, while Paul Bravo was the only one of five Rapids players to convert his shoot-out opportunity.

The Burn's Mark Santel, who knocked a ball into his own net for Colorado's only goal, scored the final shoot-out goal to redeem himself for his mistake, and perhaps help the Burn exact a bit of revenge on the Rapids, who swept Dallas in the 1997 Western Conference Finals.

The Rapids (0-1) lost despite having much of the possession in the first half, and playing the final 22 minutes up one man after the ejection of Dallas' Ted Eck for a hard foul on Marcelo Balboa.

Sporting the new attacking duo of Marquinho and Waldir Saenz, the Rapids created many chances in the first half. Marquinho was able to start many of those with his well-placed bending free-kicks, but it was a bit of a fluke that presented Colorado with their first goal. Twenty-seven minutes in, Paul Bravo collected the ball at the top of the penalty box and turned to shoot. His shot, clearly headed wide of the far post, was deflected by Dallas defender Mark Santel and into the net. Goalkeeper Garth Lagerwey, expecting the ball to go harmlessly wide, was caught off-guard and could only watch the ball drop into the open net.

Dallas did not have a solid scoring chance until the 37th minute, but was able to turn it into an equalizer. Jason Kreis, with the ball behind the midfield line, played a long, looping ball over the Rapids' defense, which forward Dante Washington ran onto and went in alone on Rapids goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann. As the ball bounced, Washington jumped in the air and flicked the ball with the outside of his right foot over an on-rushing Hahnemann and into the far corner of the net.

In the second half, Dallas had much of the run of play, and nearly took the lead when Leonel Alvarez teed up a drive from 25 yards out that beat Hahnemann, but rattled off the far post and away to safety.

In the 65th minute a Marquinho free-kick again wreaked havoc on the Dallas defense, as his bending ball headed right for a hard-charging Steve Trittschuh. The Rapids' captain was then apparently brought down in the box by Dallas defender Ted Eck, but no penalty shot was awarded.

Just three minutes later, Eck clipped out Marcelo Balboa's legs from behind and was immediately shown a red card, leaving Dallas to play short-handed for the remainder of the contest.

But Colorado was unable to finish off the Burn, missing a golden opportunity with just ten minutes left. Paul Bravo hit a through ball to Saenz, who deftly dribbled Lagerwey to the ground and left the ball for a streaking Paz, just ten yards away. But with the Dallas keeper on his back, Paz blasted the ball over the net, and the game would go to the shoot-out.

Of the first eight shooters, only Bravo and Dallas' Gerrell Elliott were able to score on the one-on-one chances. But after Chris Henderson was denied by Lagerwey, Dallas' Mark Santel, who had gifted Colorado its only goal, redeemed himself by dribbling around Hahnemann and slotting the ball home to secure the win.

4th minute: Marquinho dead ball from right finds Balboa, heads right on to Lagerwey.
9: Paz dead ball from right, Trittschuh flick to Balboa, who side volleys directly at Lagerwey.
15: Bravo sends C. Henderson wide to the left flank, Henderson fires ball across face of goal, Waldir can't reach the ball at the far post.
27: Bravo collects ball outside penalty area, crosses for Waldir on far post, Mark Santel trying to deny Waldir, hits ball directly into own net.
30: Marquinho dead ball from top of box bends around wall, but Lagerwey pulls in.
35: Bravo plays C. Henderson through, Lagerwey slides out to knock ball away from Henderson, breaking in alone on goal.
37: Kreis hits long ball over defense, Dante Washington runs past defense and jumps in the air and flicks outside right foot over Hahnemann into far corner of net.
47: Leonel Alvarez tees up low line drive that beats Hahnemann, but hits the far post and bounces away.
48: DiGiamarino picks off Dallas pass in attacking end, races down flank and crosses to Bravo, who fires a header directly on Lagerwey.
53: Washington attracts defense at the top of the penalty area and finds Eck in the box, who fires over the goal from ten yards out.
56: Washington dribbles past DiGiamarino, then Vermes, in alone on Hahnemann, shoots over the net on the break-away.
62: Haynes fires hard cross from left flank, ball hits Washington, at top of six-yard box, in the leg, bounces right to Hahnemann.
64: Paz collects 25 yards out, takes two dribbles and fires just over the net.
65: Marquinho dead ball from right, Trittschuh runs inside, pulled down by Ted Eck, no call.
66: Marquinho dead ball from 20 yards, hits wall, Balboa blasts volley of rebound over the net.
68: Ted Eck chops down Balboa, is ejected.
79: Paz plays Marquinho through, from tough angle, fires high at Lagerwey.
80: Bravo finds Waldir, beats Lagerwey, leaves for Paz to run on and drive, but Paz fires over empty net.
87: Waldir header just wide in closing minutes.

The third-annual "Meet the Rapids Day" is set for this Sunday from 3-5 p.m. at Mile High Stadium. The event, open to the media, is a chance for Rapids fans to meet the 1998 team in the stadium, as well as take part in games and skills contests.

NEXT UP: The Rapids travel to San Jose next Saturday for a match-up against Eric Wynalda and the Clash at Stanford Stadium. The game will also be carried live on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain.

HOME OPENER: Colorado opens its 16-game home schedule on Saturday, April 4, at 7:00 p.m. against the Los Angeles Galaxy. The home opener will also be "CSYSA Day" at Mile High Stadium, where the Rapids will honor the youth soccer teams in Colorado.

			1		2		F
Colorado		1		0		1  (1)
Dallas			1		0		2  (2)

COL --  Own Goal 27
DAL --  Dante Washington (Jason Kreis, Alain Sutter) 37

COL -- Marcus Hahnemann, Joey DiGiamarino, Peter Vermes, Steve Trittschuh, Sean Henderson (Marquis White 85), Chris Henderson, Marcelo Balboa, Marquinho, Adrian Paz, Waldir Saenz, Paul Bravo.

DAL -- Garth Lagerwey, Mark Santel, Tom Soehn, Jorge Rodriguez, Brandon Pollard, Leonel Alvarez, Ted Eck, Jason Kreis (Darren Sawatzky 88), Alain Sutter, Brian Haynes (Jorge Flores 75), Dante Washington (Gerell Elliott 80).

STATS			DAL	COL
Total shots		12	16
Shots on goal		4	8	
Saves			8	2

Fouls			14	6
Offside			3	3
Corner kicks		4	0	

Cautions:  	DAL: Soehn (obstruction) 29, 
		     Sutter (dangerous play) 39,
		     Pollard (handball) 59 
		COL: S. Henderson (dangerous play) 33,
		     Paz (dissent) 60

Ejections:	DAL:	Ted Eck (serious foul play) 68
		COL:	None

Referee:	Kevin Stott
Asst:		Tom Bobadilla
Asst:		Paul Scott
4th Official:	Richard Triche

"On their goal, we just lost Dante. Once he gets behind the defense, you're not going to catch him. Up front, they may be the fastest team in the league."

"Our finishing obviously could've been better. But when you have new players and a new look, going to goal is the part of the game that comes along the slowest. With the players we have, we'll be fine in that area, there's no cause for alarm."

"You play well on the road, create a lot of chances, are knocking on the door at the end of the game ... it's not all bad. But if you only score one out of five in a shoot-out, you're not going to win."

(ON SAENZ): "I was a bit concerned about his lack of involvement, but that's not uncommon with a new player. He had some good chances, and he'll be just fine."

(ON MARQUINHO): "He did okay, he'll need to adjust to getting closed down faster in this league. I was very happy with the number of touches he had, he'll only get better."

"I can tell this will be a very competitive season and our team will be very strong. While we can play better, we did not deserve to lose today. I thought we played very well."

"It took me about a half to really get in the tempo of the game, but after half-time I felt a lot more in the rhythm. I needed to see how the game was played, and I think I adjusted in the second half. The more I play, the better it will be, obviously."

"It will take some time to adapt to MLS, but I was happy with my first game. We made some good chances, and I think this team will score a lot of goals."

"Honestly, I thought the game was going to be a little bit tougher. As we go along and play together more and more, it will only get easier for us because we have a strong group in place."