VISIT TO KANSAS CITY SUNDAY HARBORS CRUCIAL WESTERN CONFERENCE TEST FOR RAPIDS

The Colorado Rapids will face the Kansas City Wizards on Sunday, July 19, at 1:00 p.m. MST at Arrowhead Stadium.

Colorado (9-9, 23 points, 3rd in Western Conference)
Kansas City (8-10, 20 points, 4th in Western Conference)

Fox Sports Rocky Mountain
Coordinates: Satcom C1, Transponder 18
Play-by-play: Marc Stout
Color: Dean Linke

The Rapids have won the last three match-ups against the Wizards, dating back to the two-game sweep of Kansas City in the 1997 MLS Western Conference Semi-Finals. Colorado also won the lone meeting between the clubs earlier this season, a 2-1 victory at Mile High Stadium on May 31, 1998.

The Rapids enter an important three-game road stretch winners of six of their last seven games. All six wins came at home, with the sole loss a 2-1 decision to the Galaxy at the Rose Bowl. The next two games for the Rapids are in Tampa Bay (7/25) and New England (7/29).

The Rapids have yet to win a game on the road in regulation this season, going 1-7 away from Mile High in 1998, with the lone win a shootout win over the San Jose Clash back on March 28, the second game of the season. Since that game, Colorado has lost six straight road games, and been outscored 22-11 in those six games.

By contrast to their road woes, the Rapids boast a 7-2 record this season at Mile High Stadium. On the season, the Rapids are 7-2 at Mile High, but remain 1-7 on the road.

With a win Sunday, Colorado would jump to 10-9, only the second time in club history the team has ever been over the .500 mark at any time during the regular season. The only other time the Rapids had won more games than they had lost at any point during a season was after beating the Wizards on May 5, 1996, which improved the Rapids' record to 2-1.

Rapids midfielders Adrian Paz and Marcelo Balboa have been voted in as starters for the 1998 MLS All-Star Game by the league's first-ever fan balloting. Marcelo Balboa and Adrian Paz will face off against one another as members of the MLS USA All-Star and MLS World All-Star teams, respectively. The game pits Major League Soccer's American stars against those from around the world. The 1998 MLS All-Star Game will be held Sunday, August 2, 1998, at Orlando's Citrus Bowl as part of the league's All-Star events at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex. The 12:30 P.M. MST game will be nationally televised on ABC (KMGH-TV 7 in Colorado).

Colorado may be without midfielder Adrian Paz Sunday after Paz suffered a pulled right hamstring in the first half of Saturday's win over New England and missed Wednesday's CONCACAF Champions Cup loss in Leon. Rapids trainer Jay Mellette lists Paz as questionable for Sunday's game in Kansas City, but he will start if deemed fit to play.

After giving up 31 goals in the first 11 league games (2.82 per game -- 3-8 in that stretch), Colorado has allowed only five goals in the last seven outings (0.71 per game - 6-1 in that stretch).