RAPIDS' DEFENSE SHUTS MUTINY DOWN 2-1.

SPENCER'S TWO PENALTY KICKS LIFT THE RAPIDS OVER TAMPA BAY

DENVER (Saturday, May 12, 2001) - After Wednesday's 4-4 offensive display between Tampa Bay and the LA Galaxy, the Rapids had reason to be wary of Mamadou Diallo and the Mutiny. Against LA, Diallo scored all four of the Mutiny's goals and could have easily scored a fifth one on a shot that hit the crossbar. Colorado's answer to the Tampa Bay's high-octane offense? Aggressive defense on the part of sweeper Robin Fraser, and defenders Lance Key, Steven Herdsman, and Chris Martinez. There were a handful of defensive breakdowns in the first half, but Adin Brown saved a few shots. However the biggest defensive stop was by Fraser in the 43rd minute.

Ali Curtis had control of the ball in the left side of the Rapids' six-yard box. His shot was initially blocked by Brown, but the rebound off Curtis' shot looked like it was going to roll past Brown's sprawled-out body. But Robin Fraser stepped in and took control of the ball and the game.

Colorado's two golden opportunities came in the 22nd and 43rd minutes. In the 22nd minute, Rapids defender Chris Martinez had an open look at the goal and let loose with a cannon of a shot, but Tampa goalie Scott Garlick was in perfect position and smothered the shot. Later in the first half, Lance Key took the ball down the left side of the field on a solo run. Instead of shooting, he crossed back to Spencer, who chested the pass, turned and fired, but the ball sailed over the goal.

If the first half was uneventful in terms of scoring, the second half delivered all the firepower a penalty-kick fan could want. This game was only the fourth game in MLS history in which three penalty kicks were taken. Interestingly enough, the Mutiny was involved in two of the previous three games.

All three penalty kicks in this game resulted in goals. Fortunately for the Rapids, they had the advantage.

The scoring started in the 69th minute when John Spencer received a pass from Imad Baba from the right side of the field. Spencer was fouled from behind by Joseph Addo inside the penalty box. Spencer lined up against Garlick and put the ball in the bottom right-hand corner of the net. The Rapids went up 1-0.

The advantage didn't last long. In the 74 minute, Mamadou Diallo got tangled with Rapids' defender Chris Martinez just on top of the six-yard box. The two tangled on a high pass that Diallo was trying to either bicycle kick or kick over his shoulder. When they went down, the referee awarded a penalty kick to Diallo, who quickly stuck the ball in the upper left-hand corner of the net beyond the outstretched arms of Colorado goalie Adin Brown.

With the score knotted at 1-1, Diallo took another great shot on goal. This time, Brown was in the right place at the right time and blocked the shot. The Rapids took to the offensive. In the 76th minute, Spencer took a cross from Jason Moore, but the shot was wide left. In the 78th minute, Balboa passed to Spencer in the middle of the field. Instead of shooting a shot at what would have been a fair look at the net, Spencer passed to Junior Agogo, but Agogo's. shot was blocked by Garlick.

The deciding penalty kick of the game came after Tampa Bay defender Craig Demmin was called for a hand ball inside the penalty box following a Colorado corner kick. Spencer lined up against Garlick again, second verse-same as the first. Spencer sent the ball past Garlick again, and that score held for the rest of the match.

The Rapids next travel to face the MetroStars on Wednesday, May 16. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. (MT), at Giants Stadium, and is being televised on FOX Sports Net.

LINESCORE:
		1		2		F
Tampa Bay 	0		1		1
Colorado	0		2		2

SCORING:
TB: 	Diallo (penalty kick) 74
COL: 	Spencer (penalty kick) 69
	Spencer (penalty kick) 80

Minute-By-Minute:

5th Minute: Spencer's cross is intercepted by goalkeeper Scott Garlick

12th: Colorado free kick (Paule) leads to corner

17th: Herdsman shot on goal-Garlick save.

17th: Herdsman cross Garlick catch

20th: Herdsman's cross caught by Garlick

20th: Mamadou cross caught by Garlick

21st Kotschau yellow card for hard tackle

22: Colorado corner

22: Martinez shot, save by Garlick. Spencer offsides

23: Moore crosses to Bravo for the header; just misses.

24: Tampa corner by Ralston created by defensive save by Martinez

25: Tampa shot by Keller, save by Brown

28: Herdsman cross caught by Garlick

29: Shot by Diallo, deflected by Fraser.

30: Ralston's cross goes wide

32: Ali Curtis shot inside the 6-yard box blocked by Brown, save by Fraser in the goal mouth.

36: Quill down on the field, continues to play on

37: Quill's shot is blocked by Ross Paule-leads to corner kick

38: Moore's cross is for not, as there is no Rapid player near it to receive the pass

39: Balboa to Spencer on the right side. Spencer's shot is caught by Garlick.

41: Tampa corner kick by Ralston.

43: Spencer's shot off Key's pass is high over the goal.

44: Tampa yellow card to Keller for a hard tackle on Bravo

45: Tampa corner kick: Quill

45+: Ralston cross clears Brown's hands but rolls wide right.

Halftime

50: Paule to Balboa. Balboa to Bravo. Bravo to Spencer. Shot saved by Garlick

51: Spencer to Paule to Bravo. Shot caught by Garlick.

54: Balboa to Paule. Paule's shot hits the right corner of the framework.

55: Balboa free kick to Martinez. Martinez shot deflected.

56: Colorado corner - header by Balboa goes wide right.

57: Tampa corner.

58: Barclay for Curtis, Agogo for Bravo, Imad Baba replace Herdsman

60: Colorado corner by Baba. Baba to Moore's cross caught by Scott Garlick.

64: Yellow card Tampa Bay for hard tackle Joe Addo on Moore. :

68: Addo foul on Spencer on a Baba cross - penalty kick by Spencer - GOAL Unassisted Penalty kick!!!! (69)

73: Tampa shot Keller deflected by Balboa

74: Penalty kick for Diallo Penalty on Martinez (questionable penalty because Diallo fell down all by himself ). Goal !!! Diallo Mamadou

75: Diallo shot blocked by Brown

76: Spencer's shot is wide left off of a cross by Jason Moore.

78: Balboa to Spencer. Spencer to Jr. Jr. shot blocked by Garlick.

78: Corner for Colorado.

79: Foul in the box for handball on 25 Demmin.

79: Penalty yellow card Garlick

80: Spencer PK Goal.

81: Colorado corner Baba.

82: Junior to Paule. Paule cross for Jr. misses the header.

86: Junior pass to Baba shot wide and high.

88 Tampa Bay substitutes Anselmo Ribeiro (Jair) for Joseph Addo.

90 Referee allocates 3 minutes of extra time.

Lineups (Players are listed back-to-front, right-to-left in starting
formation by position):
COL (4-4-2) -- GK - Adin Brown; D - Chris Martinez, Lance Key, Robin Fraser,
Steve Herdsman,(Imad Baba 58); M - Marcelo Balboa, Jason Moore, Chris Dawes,
Ross Paule; F - Paul Bravo, (Junior Agogo 58) John Spencer.

TAMPA BAY (3-5-2) -- GK - Scott Garlick; D - Graig Demmin, John Maessner,
Ritchie Kotschau; M - Eric Quill, Josh Keller, Joseph Addo (Anselmo Ribeiro
88), Steve Ralston, Carlos Valderrama; F -Mamadou Diallo, Ali Curtis, (Devin
Barclay 58).

STATS	TAMPA BAY	COLORADO
Total Shots	9	14
Shots on Goal	6	7
Saves	5	3
Fouls	19	19
Offside	6	4
Corner Kicks	6	9

Cautions:  	TB:	Kotschau (hard tackle) 21
		Keller (hard tackle) 44
		Addo (hard tackle) 64
COL: 	None
				
Ejections:  	TB: 	None
		COL: 	None

Referee: Richard Heron (Phoenix, IL)
Asst: Greg Barkley
Asst: Chris Strickland
4th Official: Ben Chouaf
Attendance: 13,052

GOALS:
TB:	Diallo (penalty kick) 74
COL:	Spencer (penalty kick) 69
	Spencer (penalty kick) 80

RAPIDS COACH TIM HANKINSON:

I'm pleased to see that our opportunities were put away by Spencer-that really takes some great confidence. Certainly, I think that from the first half to the second we came out and played a little too much to their tempo.

They came in after a Wednesday game and tried to slow the game down, and it seemed we were satisfied to play at that tempo, so at halftime we talked about stepping the tempo up to see what kind of legs they've got. We made a couple of changes just to put fresh legs in. Herdsman and Bravo were playing well, but we weren't showing a change in tempo. In getting some fresh players in there, especially Junior who always plays at a high tempo, always helps out. One adjustment at halftime was Ross Paule moving forward.

This let Celo and Dawes be almost like dual-defensive midfielders, because in the first half, Ralston was starting to make runs centrally, and he and Valderrama were teaming up on Dawes, and we felt like we could clean a little bit of that concern up. Lance Key did a great job, as did Marty on the two marking jobs. Both of them shared that responsibility and it was great to see Fraser help close the deal. Overall, it was a good match for us.

(On a comparison between the defense this game and previous games) Coming tonight against a team that always has the potential to get a basketful, with Mamadou and Valderrama, shutting that down says a lot about our ability to concentrate for long periods of time. That's something we weren't able to do in earlier games. We were concentrating for only a half, and then in the other half, we were losing focus. The defense has greatly improved. It looks like right now we're going to have to keep teams down offensively and looking for our chances in the game to capitalize.

RAPIDS ROBIN FRASER:

(On the goal he saved) I don't really remember. I just got into a position where if he shot, it would have squeaked over to the far post, and as it happened, I think it bounced off Adin and came rolling back to me. As far as goal-line clearances, it was pretty routine, I just happened to be in the right spot. Four weeks ago, I wasn't even running, so it's amazing to see where I'm at in this period of time. I'm very happy; very happy we won, happy I played, and very tired.

RAPIDS JOHN SPENCER:

I've only taken two penalties in the last four years, because I missed one for Chelsea in the U.E.F.A. Cup, and was so disappointed. I took one against the college team in Florida, so it just got me back on the roll and gave me more confidence. I practiced penalties all week because I felt it was about time we got one, and we got two.

I was really disappointed, I should have had two goals before that: the one from Lance and the one that ricocheted in between my legs. But we got a few points, and there's many more to come.

TAMPA BAY COACH ALFONSO MONDELO

The story of the game tonight was once again penalty kicks being called against us. I don't have a problem with the first one. However, I have a huge problem with the second one, because it was a foul on our player getting pushed from behind, and the ball hitting him in the hand. The referee first started the call for us, but made the wrong choice, costing us the game. We don't want the officials having an influence on the game. It's unfortunate.

RAPIDS TRAINING SCHEDULE

Day		Date	Time 	Location
Sunday		May 13	Off	
Monday		May 14	10 a.m.	Westminster
Tuesday		May 15	Travel	
Wednesday	May 16	8 p.m. (ET)	Game vs. MetroStars
Thursday	May 17	Travel home.	
Friday		May 18	10 a.m.	Westminster
Saturday	May 19	7 p.m.	Game vs. New England
Sunday		May 20	Off	

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