September 8, 1996
Mile High Stadium (announced attendance=8990)

In a valiant effort to win their last home game, the Colorado Rapids came to play the way they should have in their last home game.

In the 24th minute, San Jose's Eric Wynalda made a great pass to Missael Espinoza who turned past defender Matt Kmosko, and shot the ball through Rapids' Goalkeeper, Chris Woods' legs and into the net.

Four minutes later, Colorado Rapids striker, Jean Harbor, took a free kick that brought the croud to its feet. It was a high powered shot from around 30 yards out that almost ripped the net! It was, without a doubt, the most powerful free kick of the season at Mile High Stadium. Harbor's equalizer goal came in the 28th minute of the game.

In the 38th minute, bothered by San Jose's defender, John Doyle, Harbor alledgedly retaliated by elbowing him off the ball. However, it was announced that he kicked him off the ball. In either case, Harbor was RED CARDED out of the game, and the Rapids had to play with only 10 players for the rest of the game.

Unfortunately, Harbor was playing his best home game in a long time. In my opinion, the referee over reacted and issued a red instead of a yellow card. Compounded with poor performance from the linesmen, the croud boo'd every time a bad call was made. The referee was loosing control of an otherwise good game. His calls became more and more inconsistent.

Scott Benedetti broke through the Clash defense in the second half, beat Goalkeeper, Tom Liner, flicked the ball past the right goal post, missing a golden opportunity to tie the game.

In the 86th minute, Espinoza threaded the ball to his teammate, Paul Bravo, who pushed the ball past Chris Woods and into the net. With only one away game left, the Colorado Rapids will sit out the playoffs. They need to rest, recuperate, and reflect. Changes are sorely needed to reorganize the whole organization.