RAPIDS HOLD ON TO DEFEAT REVOLUTION, 3-2, AT CMGI FIELD IN NEW ENGLAND

Ten-Day Road Trip Concludes With Goals From Henderson, Kingsley and Chung

DENVER (Wednesday, July 24, 2002) - The Colorado Rapids wrapped up the longest road trip of the year with a 3-2 win over the New England Revolution at CMGI Field on Wednesday night. Colorado (9-9-2, 29 points) was led by goals from Chris Henderson, Zach Kingsley and Mark Chung.

The Rapids came out of the gate on the offensive, controlling the ball and owning the better of the run of play in the opening minutes, but it was the Revolution who had the first good scoring chance, in the 13th minute. Jim Rooney played a soft pass to the feet of Alex Pineda Chacon, who had taken up a position inside the penalty area in front of the goal. Chacon immediately redirected the pass with a one-time shot, but goalkeeper David Kramer turned it aside with a brilliant kick save.

Just a minute later the Rapids saw a scoring chance denied by good goalkeeping when New England's Juergen Sommer stopped a direct blast. John Spencer, playing his first MLS game after completing a three-game suspension, eluded a defender with a quick step-over move and launched a shot at the upper-right corner, but Sommer was able to knock the shot over the bar for a corner kick. On the following corner the Rapids were again stopped just short of a goal when Jim Rooney cleared Kingsley's bouncing shot off the goal line.

New England rookie scoring sensation Taylor Twellman nearly added to his MLS-best goal total in the 25th minute, but his diving header, made possible by the good run and accurate cross of Steve Ralston, went just wide of the right post.

Colorado broke the scoreless deadlock in the 34th minute when Chris Henderson finished off a quick one-two passing sequence with a shot through the goalkeeper's legs. Defender Robin Fraser capped off an intelligent run with a quick pass to Spencer inside the penalty area, and Spencer, despite being off balance, was able to touch the ball into the path of Henderson, who one-timed a low shot from inside ten yards.

A controversial call in the 50th minute led to the tying score by Twellman. Referee Alex Prus whistled Wes Hart for a handball in the penalty area after a corner kick, giving the Revolution a penalty kick, which Twellman deposited just out of the reach of the diving Kramer inside the right post.

Colorado wasted no time in search of a reply, and in the 58th minute Kingsley returned the advantage to the Rapids with his first MLS goal. From the right side, Kingsley recovered his own rebound off defender Jay Heaps, cut back from his left foot to his right, and smashed a perfect shot across a crowded six-yard box and inside the left post.

Just five minutes later the Rapids capitalized on a defensive miscue and added to the lead with their third goal of the match. The wild play started with a shot by Hart, whose effort was headed to goal when goalkeeper Sommer and defender Leo Cullen crashed into each other. The loose ball fell to Mark Chung, who corralled the ball with his left foot and forced it home into an empty net from ten yards out.

The Rapids did well to hold the two-goal lead in the 78th minute after the Revolution knocked on the door following a corner kick. David Kramer knocked the ball away from the goal with another kick save as several New England players converged, and defender Rick Titus eventually moved the ball out of danger.

New England substitute John Wilson, who played against the Rapids a week ago as a member of the Charleston Battery in the U.S. Open Cup, scored a last-gasp goal in the 90th minute to make the scoreline closer, but the Rapids held on for the victory and the three points that vault the team past the Los Angeles Galaxy and into third place in the Western Conference.

The Rapids return home for their next Major League Soccer match, on Saturday night, July 27, against the Dallas Burn at 7:00 p.m. at INVESCO Field. Prior to the match the Rapids will host Colorado's biggest Wild West celebration and the second annual Run the Rapids stadium race. For ticket information, call the Rapids at 303-299-1599.

NOTES: Just prior to the game the Rapids acquired 26-year-old forward Musa Shannon off waivers. Shannon was dressed for the match and wore uniform # 14...The Rapids were without the services of goalkeeper Scott Garlick for the match. Garlick returned to Denver before the match to have a left thumb injury evaluated. Goalkeeper John Lowery was called up from the Minnesota Thunder of the A-League to serve as David Kramer's backup for the game...Because yellow cards received in the match pushed their season caution points total over the limit of 21, Wes Hart and Rick Titus will serve mandatory one-game suspensions Saturday for the game against Dallas.

Linescore:

                   	1     	2     	F
COLORADO RAPIDS    1     	2     	3
NEW ENGLAND   	0     	2    	2

Scoring Summary:
COL--Henderson (Spencer, Fraser) 34 
NE --Twellman (PK) 51 
COL--Kingsley (unassisted) 58 
COL--Chung (unassisted) 63 
NE --Wilson (Ralston, Twellman) 90 

COLORADO RAPIDS--David Kramer, Steven Herdsman, Rick Titus, Robin Fraser,
Zach Kingsley, Pablo Mastroeni, Carlos Valderrama, Mark Chung, Wes Hart
(Ritchie Kotschau 74), Chris Henderson (Raul Palacios 85), John Spencer 
TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Spencer 3, Chung 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Kingsley 2); FOULS:
13 (Hart 5); OFFSIDE: 6; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: Kramer 4; CAUTIONS:
Herdsman 7, Hart 47, Kingsley 93+; EJECTIONS: none; POSSESSION PERCENTAGE:
52% 

N.E. REVOLUTION--Juergen Sommer, Jay Heaps, Nick Downing, Leo Cullen, Joe 
Franchino, Jim Rooney, Wolde Harris (John Wilson 74), Steve Ralston, Braeden
Cloutier (Shaker Asad 71), Taylor Twellman, Alex Pineda Chacon (Ian Fuller
45) 
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Twellman 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Rooney 2); FOULS: 12 (Fuller
3); OFFSIDE: 0; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: Sommer 1; CAUTIONS: Franchino 23,
Wilson 76; EJECTIONS: none; POSSESSION PERCENTAGE: 48% 

Referee: Alex Prus; Assistant Referees: Thomas Supple, Bahji Salman 
Attendance: 14,548; Weather: Clear, 68 Degrees

QUOTES:

Zach Kingsley: "It was a great night. At first I was just a call-up, and now I'm seeing some regular playing time. Tonight I was lucky enough to get into a position to score and I was able to finish. I couldn't ask for more. My teammates are all behind me and I'm in a good situation here. Wolde (Harris) thought I was going to cross it again, and I faked and went right. I just banged it and got a good piece of it and it went in.

Head Coach Tim Hankinson: "They put a lot of pressure on us trying to get back into the game and they made it close, to their credit. I think we played well both offensively and defensively at time, but the last 15 minutes were a bit havoc filled."

Chris Henderson: "It was fun to play here tonight. We've had a good road trip with the Open Cup win and the tie in Columbus. It was the best trip we've had all season, probably."

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