PENALTY KICK DASHES RAPIDS ON THE ROCKS FOR SECOND TIME IN TWO GAMES

OKOH'S PENALTY KICK AGAINST HIS OLD TEAMMATES IS A SWEET BIRTHDAY PRESENT

DENVER (MAY 19, 2001) - The New England Revolution rolled into town on the tails of a two-game winning streak. And a penalty kick from former Rapid Matt Okoh in the 83rd minute extended the Revs streak, and sent head coach Tim Hankinson and the Rapids back to the drawing board looking for any kind of way to put points on the board.

This was a game that soccer pundits all across the country predicted the Rapids to win. New England was a team that had dropped its first six games, and with losses like the 0-5 whooping against DC United, it looked like the Revs season was about to turn south in a hurry. Then, on May 12, the Revolution's season fogged the mirror with a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire in overtime. The winning goal was also scored by Okoh just 16 seconds into overtime.

Last week, the Revolution continued their winning ways as they managed their second win (2-1); this time, against a struggling Columbus Crew. The game at Foxboro Stadium was capped by two goals from Brazilian midfielder Marco Antonio Lemes (Cat?) - both in the second half. Cat? put the Revolution on the board in the 69th minute with a low shot inside the far post, and then followed that shot with a PK in the 83rd minute.

The big questions for the Revs coming into the game were whether Cat? could continue his scoring ways? Could Chronopolos and Cloutier be effective on the wings against the Rapids defense of Chris Martinez, Lance Key and Robin Fraser? Would they rebound from the loss of Mauricio Wright (injured right hamstring) plus Wolde Harris and Andy Williams (Jamaican national team duty)? The answer was "yes."

The Rapids were without starting goalie Adin Brown, who was out with a neck sprain, and team leader Marcelo Balboa did not see action because of a hamstring strain. So at kickoff, two teams that have serious problems putting the ball in the back of the net lined up against each other missing key offensive weapons. And once again, it was a penalty kick that decided the Rapids' fate for the third time in as many games, which tell you a couple of things: 1. The Rapids are not scoring; 2. Their defense is holding off the opponents, but critical defensive breakdowns in the box allow the opposing team to get the best of Colorado.

This time Okoh's PK in the 86th minute decided Colorado's fate. Colorado defender Martinez was called for tackling Revolution forward Marco Antonio Lemes (Cate) and taking him down inside the box. The call drew very vocal opposition from the 20,005 in attendance when the replay was shown on the DiamondVision screen. Okoh lined up outside the 18-yard line and took a running start at the ball before doing a little stutter step and sending the ball into the bottom left-hand corner - beating the right hand of Rapids' back-up goal keeper David Kramer.

The PK was the difference in a game - a hauntingly familiar scenario for the Rapids. But the game being decided by penalty kick is a clear indication that the Rapids are in serious need of offensive, goal-scoring firepower. The first half was a clear indication of recurring motif.

Colorado dominated the play in the first half with 17 minutes of possession compared to New England's 11, but couldn't find the back of the net, or any other part for that matter. However, the Rapids had ample opportunity to put the ball in the back of the net. In the 5th minute, Jason Moore sent a corner kick into the goal mouth that was caught by New England goalie Juergen Sommer. One minute later, Imad Baba took a shot from John Spencer about eight yards out, but the pass was wide left. Jason Moore had several crosses to Scott Vermillion and John Spencer, but none of those combinations produced any points. The Revs marked and double teamed John Spencer, which gave Paul Bravo a wider path to the goal. But even Bravo's usually on-track headers failed to reach their intended target.

The Revs never really had what anyone would consider a proper scoring opportunity. In the 19th minute, Cate and Matt Okoh had consecutive shots deflected near the 18 yard box, but that was as close as it got for New England.

In fact, the Revs, and the game's, first true shot on goal wasn't until the 49 minute when Leonel Alvarez wound up and took a line-drive shot at the Rapids goal that was saved by Kramer.

Colorado's best scoring opportunity came in the 63rd minute when Key's pass to Spencer inside the box translated into a strong shot for Ross Paule. Strong shot or no, Paule's ball was smoothered by Sommer.

The bottom line is that regardless of all the crosses Moore sent in front of the net, despite a solid all-around defensive effort by the Rapids, Colorado needs to find a way to win. And the only way to do that is to score one more goal than their opponent, and the Rapids haven't done that since the May 5 game against Dallas. Clearly, the Rapids lack of offensive pressure from the midfield and the strikers is a serious impediment to a winning season. And a problem that head coach Tim Hankinson and company must figure out a remedy for if the team has any designs on a post season.

LINESCORE:
		1		2		F
New England	0		1		1
Colorado	0		0		0

SCORING:
NE: Okoh (pk) 86
COL: None

Minute-By-Minute:

1st Minute: Revs corner kick (Sommer)

5: Rapids corner by J. Moore. Catch punch by Sommer.

6: Baba shot on goal pass from Spencer, wide left.

9: Cloutier to Franchino. Shot over the Rapids goal.

15: Yellow card for No. 11 Imad Baba for hard tackle.

18: NE shot by Okoh over the cross bar.

19: Cate shot deflected by Martinez. Okoh shot deflected by Fraser. (back to back shots)

22: clear foul in the box by Dunseth on Moore.

24: New England corner . Header by Okoh wide left. Ball stays in play.

26: Moore center to Vermillion who collides with Woods and the ball goes wide.

28: Moore to Vermillion on a header that goes wide left. Spencer takes the ball at the goal line but is called OB

29: Colorado Free kick by Moore

33: Spencer shot wide left. Martinez assist.

35: Foul on Chronopoulus suffers Vermillion off Spencer pass. Free kick three yards outside right hand corner of penalty box. Indirect free kick.

37: Moore shot on goal - wide right.

38: Collision 15 yards outside the penalty box between Martinez and Torres.

39: Goal kick off Martinez pass to Vermillion that goes OB.

41: Shot by Torres deflected by Herdsman.

43: Moore cross over the goal. Goal kick.

45: Shot by Vermillion high over the goal.

45+: Vermillion to Bravo. Bravo cross from deep on the right to Spencer inside the 6-yard box. Spencer's header goes over the goal.

Halftime:

46: Colorado substitution: Agogo for Baba.

47: Agogo shot over the goal. Cross from Moore, who was taken down by Alvarez in the box and should have been a a PK

49: Colorado corner kick by Moore.

49: Alverez shot on goal. Save by Kramer. New Englands first shot on goal. Game's first shot on goal.

52: Jason Moore takes a pk and shoots wide left of goal, after being fouled by Braeden Cloutier.

52:Junior Agogo takes a diving header which is low and wide-left.

56: Johnny Torres takes a shot on goal from 16 yards out, which was saved by Kramer.

57: Alvarez takes a shot which is wide-right.

58: Moore takes a corner kick result is catch-punch by Sommer.

61:Colorado substitution: Paule comes in for Bravo.

61: NE substitution: Asad comes in for Alvarez.

62: Rapids corner by Paule

63: Key pass to Spencer. Spencer to Paule. Paule shot on goal. Save Sommer.

64: A string of really bad defensive decisions for a full minute: Rapids escape with a goal kick.

64: Spencer shot on goal, wide right. Pass was from Paule.

65: Moore to Vermillion. Vermillion shot just wide right.

65: Paule corner. Vermillion header high.

66: Kramer gives crowd a scare when he waits too long to pick up the ball and must kick it away quickly from Okoh

68: 18 yard shot by Okoh. wide right and high.

69: NE substitution: Sunsing for Cloutier.

70: Dawes cross to Agogo. Shot saved by Sommer.

72: Shot by 5 Chrononpoulos inside the 6 yard box. Assist on Cate.

74: Paule pass to Dawes. Dawes shot stopped by Sommer Things are starting to heat up for Colorado

77: Chronopoulos to Okoh. Okoh's spinning shot around Lance Key goes wide right.

80: NE foul. Indirect free kick Paule. To Spencer Jr. Agogo shot deflected by Chronopoulos.

82: Indirect free kick by Paule. Catch by Sommer.

82: Vermillion pass for a streaking Agogo broken up by a sprawling Sommer.

83: Colorado yellow card: Jason Moore on Sunsing for a hard tackle.

85:Martinez fouls Cate by taking him down inside the box.

86: Okoh takes the penalty kick on a controversial call, result is a goal.

88: Colorado substitution Gibson for Martinez.

89: Paule takes a cornerkick.

89:NE substitution Aguilera for Cate.

90: Referee allocates 3 minutes extra time.

90+: Matt Okoh is called offside.

90+: Aguilera takes a shot in the box, saved.

90+: Spencer takes a shot form 25 yards out, result is high.

Lineups (Players are listed right-to-left in starting formation by
position):
COL (4-4-2): GK-David Kramer; D-Lance Key, Chris Martinez (Neathan Gibson
88), Scott Vermillion, Robin Fraser; M-Jason Moore, Steven Herdsmen, Chris
Dawes, Imad Baba (Junior Agogo 46); F-John Spencer, Paul Bravo (Ross Paule
61).

NE (3-4-3): GK-Juergen Sommer; D-Rusty Pierce, Brian Dunseth, Alan Woods;
M-Braeden Cloutier (William Sunsing 70), Joe Franchino, Leonel Alvarez
(Shaker Asad 61), Ted Chronopoulos; F-Marco Antonio Lemes (Roland Aguilera
89), Johnny Torres, Matt Okoh.

STATS		NEW ENGLAND	COLORADO
Total Shots	13			14
Shots on Goal	3			2
Saves		2			2
Fouls		17			12
Offside		3			1
Corner Kicks	2			7

Cautions:  	NE:	None
COL: 	Baba 15 (foul tackle)
	Moore 83 (foul tackle)
				
Ejections:  	NE: 	None
		COL: 	None

Referee: Kevin Terry
Asst: Tom Babadilla
Asst: Misail
4th Official: Jose Corro
Attendance: 20,005

GOALS:
NE:	Okoh (pk) 86
COL:	None

RAPIDS HEAD COACH TIM HANKINSON:

The Pk has nothing to do with how we're feeling right now. The disappointment is that we had the best crowd of the year, an enthusiastic crowd. We weren't able to do better at home. Being able to execute and get a goal and being able to put finishes on that. We are going to have to find an answer or it's going to be a long season. It's already becoming a long season. By the fact that we've gone now a couple of games and we're high and dry. The last couple of games were cases where we had people in the box - if you go back to the tape - that were appropriate calls but it comes down to that fact that we need to finish; otherwise you can't win games. You have to score goals to win games and you have to score goals to eat and keep bread on the plate. If that doesn't happen, we'll have to look for other solutions.

Right now, we're not playing with enough quality in the midfield to create true chances, and strikers are playing with their backs to the goal with extra cover. We need to be able to break down defenders. We need players like Lance Key to overlap and create chances for us. You can't break down defense realistically often enough when you're relying on defenders to do the dirty work. We need more out of Spencer. We need more out of Junior and we need more out of Bravo. Guys like Ross and Baba have got to step it up, because it's just not good enough. We continue to do well defensively which is possibly the only silver lining in this. Our goals-against-average is great; it seems like the only way we're giving up goals these days is on penalties. Half of them aren't from us taking players down. We've had enough Academy Awards handed out. If we're going to win games we're showing that we are defending well enough to win games. We have to find solutions and that comes from getting more out of our personnel. But it also means that we have to get more quality. Most of our chances are coming from dumping the ball in the box and hoping that something falls into our laps and right now that's not happening. You can't go through a season waiting for balls to fall into your lap.

We're not good enough at playing the "one-two's." Therefore we get forced outside into crosses. When teams start sitting back on us, we're going to struggle. We need to be quicker in getting into the attack before they can drop back and we have to find some additional players.

RAPIDS ROBIN FRASER

There wasn't much to do, so I would hope that defensively we would do well. They didn't send many people through. They didn't put themselves in dangerous opportunities. That's just a bad, bad game for us to lose. When they aren't sending people forward, there is no reason for us to allow goals. We got ourselves in trouble with stupid situations. Their attack wasn't that strong. We just need to find a way to put it all together.

RAPIDS CHRIS DAWES

We're not satisfied with this result. We need to find a way to put the ball in the goal. Tonight was one of those games that we just couldn't score goals, and it's just one of those things where when the goals start to come we can't be stopped. Eventually they'll come. We need to focus all of our energy on scoring goals right now. Teams go through spells when they have trouble finding the goal. Unfortunately, at this time in the season it can be very difficult to start scoring goals.

RAPIDS LANCE KEY

Well, this was a tough one for us to lose. They stuck out a tough road win. We felt like we were controlling the pace of the game. It just came down to a mistake at the end. Our biggest issue right now is we need to start scoring goals. We need to find a way to put it all together as a team. It's going to take a team effort for us to make this thing right. And once the goals start to come things will start to flow more smoothly. We're playing good defense right now. We just need to have the entire team on the same page.

RAPIDS DAVID KRAMER

Well it looked like it was a tough call to make. But it was the call that the referee made and we have to live with it. This match wasn't decided solely on that call.

Those guys are paid to score goals. It was a good shot, and I couldn't get to it.

REVOLUTION'S HEAD COACH FERNANDO CLAVIJO

We didn't give them any room, and overall we played well. I think both teams played clean and played hard, and I think it was a good game. It was played physically hard but we just narrowed the space. We couldn't run with them, and we knew that and we did exactly what we needed to do to come out on top.

That's the perfect plan if it goes that way. We didn't come here to play defense. We only played three in the back and we came to attack. The problem is that they are used to playing at this altitude. They need to win at home. They just came off of a loss and that was more motivation for them to push harder. Their game was very predictable - it was a lot of long balls, and nothing that we thought was very creative.

Our defense played hard and they stepped up when they went to three on top. We played hard for 90 plus minutes.

I think it's attitude. Guys are coming in here willing to play for each other, and everyone is beginning to realize their roles. They know exactly what they're doing every single minute and every single play. I think early in the season we weren't on the same page. I'm glad that everyone realized that we are a good team and we can win games.

RAPIDS TRAINING SCHEDULE

Day		Date	Time 	Location
Sunday		May 20	Off	
Monday		May 21	10:00 a.m.	Westminster
Tuesday		May 22	10:00 a.m.	Mile High Stadium
Wednesday	May 23	7:00 p.m.	Game vs. Miami
Thursday	May 24	11 a.m.	Westminster
Friday		May 25	Travel	
Saturday	May 26	7:00 p.m.	Game vs. Columbus
Sunday		May 27	Off	

Click Here to Return to COLORADO RAPIDS News Releases Home Page

Click Here to Return to COLORADO RAPIDS HOME PAGE