RAPIDS COMEBACK TO TIE METROSTARS IN HOME OPENER

Balboa scores in 83rd minute of a heeled pass by Spencer to send the game into overtime

Denver (Saturday, April 14, 2001) - The Colorado Rapids came from behind to tie the New York/New Jersey MetroStars 1-1 in Saturday night's home opener with a Marcelo Balboa goal in the 83rd minute. Pedro Alvarez scored for the MetroStars in the 19th minute, the first goal of his Major League Soccer career.

"I was able to beat my man and called for Spenny (John Spencer) to heel it to me" said Marcelo Balboa. "I wasn't expecting it, but when he did I saw the far net open. It was just one of those 'right place, right time' kind of things."

The MetroStars pressed the game from the beginning, especially in the first half. And MetroStars' forward, and U.S. National Team member, Clint Mathis, was in the midst of the trouble.

In the 8th minute, Mathis ripped a shot from the right side, 12 yards out that Rapids' goalkeeper Adin Brown had to punch safely out of bounds. On the ensuing corner kick, Tab Ramos found Mark Chung on the left side, and Chung's shot bounced before being gobbled up by Brown.

The Rapids answered with an excellent chance only minutes later as Martinez lofted a pass from the midfield stripe that fell behind the MetroStars' defensive line. Junior Agogo overran the ball from the right side and his shot from 18 yards out rolled just wide left of the goal mouth.

Ten minutes later, the MetroStars struck. In the 19th minute, it was the MetroStars' midfielder from Columbia, Pedro Alvarez, playing in only his second game for the MetroStars, took the ball from the middle of the field to Mathis at the top of the box. Balboa came out to defend Mathis and partially deflected his pass, but it still fell to an onrushing Alvarez, who ran onto the rebound and from 15 yards out on the right side fired a shot that found the back of the net to the give the MetroStars the lead.

The half came to a close with both teams trading opportunities, but neither team capitalized on them.

The second half saw both teams come out physically, and in the 60th minute Mathis nearly notched another one for the MetroStars.

On a direct kick from 20 yards out, Mathis curled the ball over the Rapids' defensive wall that appeared headed for the upper right corner of the goal and drew a noticable gasp from the crowd, but the ball sailed just wide.

The Rapids came close eight minutes later when Ross Paule on the left side 25 yards out crossed to Spencer at the top of the 18. Spencer chested to control and passed to Rapids' midfielder Imad Baba on the far right of the box. Baba's shot was barely wide left.

The Rapids would continue to pressure the MetroStars, unwilling to see defeat in the team's first home game of the season -- and the work paid off.

In the 83rd minute, Balboa passed to Spencer on the on the right side about 17 yards out on the right edge of the box. Spencer drove into the box, drawing attention from a couple MetroStars defenders. Spencer back-heeled to Balboa who fired a rising shot into the back of the net to the knot the score at one. The goal was Balboa's first of the 2001 season and the 20th of his MLS career.

In the 90th minute Mark Chung played a through ball from midfield to Mathis who got by his defender and ripped a shot that forced Brown to make diving punch save to send the game to extra time.

Extra time saw the Rapids taking advantage of the momentum and in the 99th minute Paule, from the middle of the field, passed to a streaking Seth Trembly on the left side. Trembly crossed into the middle of the box for Paul Bravo whose header from 8 yards out was punched away by an acrobatic MetroStars netminder Tim Howard.

The game ended with the score tied 1-1.

UP NEXT: The Rapids travel to Los Angeles to face the Galaxy on Saturday, April 21. Kickoff is set for 8:00 pm (MT), at Pasadena's Rose Bowl. The Galaxy lost their game on Saturday 2-1 to Kansas City.

LINESCORE:

		1		2		OT 1	OT 2	F
MetroStars 	1		0		0	0	1	
Colorado	0		1		0	0	1


SCORING:
MET: Alvarez (Mathis) 19
COL: Balboa (Spencer) 83

Minute-By-Minute:

3rd minute: Chung from the left 30 yards out dribbles to the middle of the field and fires a shot on goal, Brown dives and smothers the ball.

5: Ramos' corner kick on the left to Mathis in the middle of the box, Mathis' header is high over the crossbar.

8: Mathis rips a shot from the right side 12 yards out that Brown has to punch safely out of bounds.

8: Ramos' corner kick on the left finds Chung on the left side, Chung shoots his shot that bounces before being gobbled up by Brown.

9: Martinez lofts a high pass from the midfield stripe that falls behind the MetroStars defensive line, Agogo runs onto on the right side and shoots just wide left of the goal mouth.

13: Agogo header from 15 yards out on the left side of the circle falls to Spencer whose blasting shot is saved by Howard.

14: Paule corner kick from the left caroms around the box before Gibson heads an attempted clearance, Balboa one-times a shot that is saved by Howard.

15: Paule corner kick from the left finds the head of Balboa whose shot is saved.

19: Alvarez from the middle of the field about 25 yards plays to Mathis whose pass is slightly deflected by Balboa. Alvarez runs on to the rebound and from 15 yards out on the right side fires a shot that finds the back of the net. RAPIDS 0 - METROSTARS 1.

26: Baba on the right side crosses far post to Moore, who heads back across to Gibson 8 yards out in the middle of the box whose one-timer is high over the crossbar.

29: Ramos yellow card for dissent.

29: Mathis yellow card for dissent.

41: Paule yellow card for a hard foul.

44: Moore streaks on the left side finds Paule wide on the left side, Paule controls and crosses with his right to Gibson in the middle of the box who traps it with his chest and struggles to fire a shot wide left.

47: Villegas corner from the right side carries long and is headed out by Key.

50: Agogo on the mid right top of the 18 finds Balboa in a sneaky offensive move wide right, Balboa's low cross finds Gibson far post but he is called for a foul.

58: Bravo substitutes for Gibson.

59: Key yellow card for a hard foul on Mathis.

60: Mathis on a direct kick from 20 yards out curls the ball over the Rapids wall and is just wide right.

64: Agogo on the left side rips a shot from 12 yards out that is smothered by Howard.

66: Paule on the right side crosses to the middle of the box. Spencer runs on and collides with Howard fouling him.

66: Spencer yellow card for a hard foul.

67: Faria substitutes for Valencia.

68: Paule on the left side 25 yards out finds Spencer at the top of the 18, Spencer chests to control and finds Baba on the far right side. Baba one times a shot that is barely wide left.

70: Faria on the right side 6 yards out fires a shot that is saved by Brown, Brown is knocked down after taking the ball to his face and collides with Key.

78: Alvarez yellow card for a hard tackle on Spencer.

82: Trembly substitutes for Moore.

83: Balboa find Spencer on the on the right side 17 yards out on the right edge of the box. Spencer backheels to Balboa who fires a rising shot into the back of the net. RAPIDS 1 - METROSTARS 1.

90: Chung from midfield plays a through ball to Mathis who gets by his defender and rips a shot that forces Brown to make diving punch to save.

93: Trembly yellow card for a hard foul.

96: Martinez collects a rebound off a Spencer shot on the left side 8 yards out. Howard saves.

99: Paule from the middle of the field finds Trembly streaking on the left side, Trambly crosses into the middle of the box for Bravo whose header from 8 yards out is punched away from an aerial acrobatic Howard.

Lineups (Players are listed right-to-left in starting formation by
position):
COL (4-4-2) -- GK - Adin Brown; D - Steve Herdsman, Marcelo Balboa, Chris
Martinez, Lance Key; M - Imad Baba, Jason Moore (Seth Trembly 82), Ross
Paule, John Spencer ; F - Junior Agogo, Neathan Gibson (Paul Bravo 57).

MET (4-4-2) -- GK - Tim Howard; D - Mike Petke, Daniel Hernandez (Orlando
Perez 86), Steve Jolley; M - Petter Villegas, Pedro Alvarez, Richie
Williams, Tab Ramos, Mark Chung; F - Clint Mathis, Adolfo Valencia (Rodrigo
Faria 67).

STATS		MET	COL
Total Shots	23	19
Shots on Goal	7	7
Saves		6	6
Fouls		18	23
Offside		8	3
Corner Kicks	8	5

Cautions:  	MET:	Mathis (dissent) 29
		Ramos (dissent) 29
		Alvarez (foul tackle) 78
	COL: 	Paule (foul tackle) 41
		Key (foul tackle) 59
		Spencer (foul tackle) 66
		Trembly (foul tackle) 93
Ejections:  	MET: 	None
		COL: 	None

Referee:  Kevin Stott
Asst: Roger Itaya
Asst: Steven Davidson
4th Official: Elias Bazakos
Attendance: 18, 495


GOALS:
MET:	Alvarez (Mathis) 19
COL:  	Balboa (Spencer) 83

RAPIDS COACH TIM HANKINSON:

If someone bought a ticket just for the fireworks tonight, we made a soccer fan out of them.

It was a wide-open match. On any given night, five goals could have been scored by either team. It was very important to our team to come from behind. It was inspirational for Marcelo Balboa, who we hadn't planned to play for more than 45 minutes. ... What you have to understand about Celo is that he's had two surgeries this year. He hasn't played any preseason game with us. And we threw him in for 10 minutes at the end of the game in Miami thinking that it might create some problems in a last ditch effort. ... It was inspirational to see him play through his physical concerns and make it a very emotional game.

RAPIDS MARCELO BALBOA:

I was able to beat my guy, and I was telling Spenny (Spencer) to heel it to me, but I wasn't expecting him to do it. When he did, I had two choices: I could have played it off to Braves (Bravo), but I saw the far net open, so I just put it to the far post. I was just one of those right places, right time. Spenny laid a great ball off. And it was just nice to be able to finish - It's been a long time.

I'm sore - real sore. I was supposed to play for 45 minutes. At halftime, Tim (Hankinson) looked at me and I said, 'I'm good - 10 more minutes.' Ten minutes came along, and I saw someone warming up. The next thing I know it's 70 minutes. After I scored the goal, there was no way I was coming out - no way!

METROSTARS HEAD COACH OCTAVIO ZAMBRANO:

This was the second game in a row where we scored the first goal and we had the opportunity to ice the game, but we didn't do it. It was an up-and-down game. They wanted to play, and we came to play too. The fans enjoyed it. But I think we should have come out of here with three points.

RAPIDS TRAINING SCHEDULE

Day		Date		Time 	Location
Sunday		April 15	Off	
Monday		April 16	10 a.m.	Westminster
Tuesday		April 17	10 a.m.	Westminster
Wednesday	April 18	10 a.m.	Westminster
Thursday	April 19	10 a.m.	Westminster
Friday		April 20	10 a.m.	Team leaves for L.A.
Saturday	April 21	8 p.m.	Game vs. LA
Sunday		April 22	Off	Team returns to Denver

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