both on the road. The Rapids had alternated wins and losses for six consecutive rounds, last a loss to the LA Galaxy on the road.
• The Reds took a deserved lead in the 37th minute. A deflected clearance looped into the air and fell straight to Danny Dichio, and he curled a perfect volley inside the right-hand post for his fifth goal on the season.
• Rohan Ricketts had not scored a goal for more than three years. But within 10 minutes in the second half, he had two. In the 58th minute, he latched onto a long goalkeeper clearance after a Rapids defender misjudged a header, strolling unmolested to the edge of the area before stroking a low shot past Colorado 'keeper Preston Burpo.
• Then he made the TFC lead 3-0 in the 67th minute. Receiving a pass from Dichio in the area, Ricketts twisted and turned to wriggle away from a pair of defenders before lashing a rising drive under the bar, doubling his goal haul from his entire professional career.
• The Rapids pulled a goal back 10 minutes from the end. From a free kick at the top of the arc, Christian Gomez whipped a low curling effort under the wall and inside the left post for his third goal for the Rapids, his first not from the penalty spot.
• Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo made five changes to the team that lost 3-2 to the Los Angeles Galaxy the previous Saturday. With Ugo Ihemelu on international duty and Facundo Erpen suspended, Kosuke Kimura, Stephen Keel and Cesar Zambrano all came back into the team, with Rafael Gomes dropped. John Dr Raimondo made his return from injury, coming into the midfield for Christian Gomez, and Omar Cummings started up top in place of Conor Casey.
• Here's Clavijo's team (4-4-2): Preston Burpo - Kosuke Kimura (Christian Gomez 46), Stephen Keel, Cesar Zambrano, Jordan Harvey - Jacob Peterson, John DiRaimondo (Rafael Gomes 78), Nick LaBrocca, Colin Clark - Tom McManus, Omar Cummings (Conor Casey 64). Substitutes Not Used: Terry Cooke, Mike Graczyk, Herculez Gomez, Ciaran O'Brien
• We knew coming here to Toronto it was going to be a physical game, we knew there was going to be a lot of emotions coming from the fans. I thought that the first 10, 15 minutes we played extremely well, but when you miss your chances in a situation that you are in Toronto, you're going to pay the price," Clavijo said. "We made some tactical changes in the second half -- one-on-one with the goalkeeper again, it could have changed the game and when you miss the chances you pay the price."
TEAM NEWS
• Once again, it was a very young team put on the field by Clavijo. Cesar Zambrano, a first-round selection in this year's supplemental draft, was given his MLS debut in the center of defense. John DiRaimondo returned to the midfield for the first time in eight matches after suffering an ankle injury.
• "You have to realize we have nine players who started for our reserve teams in the last two years, out of [the starting XI]. We're paying the price right now but we're still in the race. It's an incredible opportunity for some of the younger players today. But we need to win some games and we need to do better defensively," said Clavijo.
• Clavijo again stayed with four in the back, after playing with three in the back for a few weeks. But a change for the TFC match was leaving Christian Gomez out of the first XI for the first time on the year, returning to DiRaimondo and Nick LaBrocca as a deep-lying central midfield axis, as he started the season.
• "We know Toronto plays extremely well at home and dominates teams. We surprised them a little bit with our approach from the beginning," Clavijo said. "When you miss those chances early on and you should've been 1-0 or 2-0 up, things change."
• Clavijo tried to turn around the contest with veteran additions in the second half, bringing on Christian Gomez at half-time and Conor Casey with a little less than a half-hour to play.
• "I mean we put in a decent first half but just kind of fell apart in the second half," Casey said. "The guys took advantage of it, they used their chances well - a 3-0 deficit is pretty hard to come back from."
• A victory could have vaulted Colorado into first place in the Western Conference. Instead, with a 3-6 record over their last nine games, Clavijo knows that his side has to improve to keep pace in the playoff hunt. "We need to get home and get back in the win column and get back to where we belong," he said.
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo lost for the second time this season to the New England Revolution, this time going down 2-0 at Robertson Stadium on MLS Primetime Thursday. The Dynamo have 17 points from 13 matches, now in second place in the Western Conference, three points behind the Los Angeles Galaxy.
LAST MATCH
• The Revolution came into the second MLS Cup Final rematch of the year with a five-game unbeaten streak, while the Dynamo had won four of their last six games, including their last two, to pull into a tie for the top of the West after starting the year with a six-game winless run.
• But just as they had done in a 3-0 rout of Houston to open the season, the Revolution raced to an early lead and never looked back. In the eighth minute, Kheli Dube slipped around a defender to corral a bouncing throw-in, cut across the byeline and laid a perfect ball across the face of goal for Steve Ralston to tap in at the far post.
• Then in the 35th minute Dube scored his fourth goal of the season -- all in the last five games. A corner was swung in from the left and he picked it out of the air with a full side-volley, the ball bouncing off goalkeeper Tony Caig's chest and inside the left-hand post.
• The Revolution rounded off the victory late in the contest when Franco Caraccio won a penalty after he was pulled down on the turn by Michael Parkhurst right on the edge of the area. But Matt Reis dove to his right to save Stuart Holden's penalty.
• With Pat Onstad, Dwayne De Rosario and Brian Ching all away on international duty, Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made three changes, bringing in Tony Caig, Brad Davis and Geoff Cameron in their places in a reconfigured team.
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-2-3-1): Tony Caig - Richard Mulrooney, Bobby Boswell, Patrick Ianni (Eddie Robinson 46), Craig Waibel - Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis (Chris Wondolowski 60) - Corey Ashe, Stuart Holden, Geoff Cameron - Brian Mullan (Franco Caraccio 70). Substitutes Not Used: Kyle Brown, Mike Chabala, John Michael Hayden, Corbin Waller
• "I think it's disappointing anytime you lose, especially when with the goals we gave up tonight and them being soft," Kinnear said. "And they scored when we didn't defend particularly well. Other than those two instances, I thought we were OK. We didn't create tons of chances tonight, but we got some good looks at the goal."
TEAM NEWS
• Even without regulars Ching, De Rosario and Onstad, all out of the lineup for World Cup qualifiers, the Dynamo did create enough offense to give themselves a chance in the opening half.
• "It wasn't terrible soccer defensively, but you could definitely tell that we were missing a few games offensively," said Waibel. "It was just patchwork out there, and there were some young guys that came in tonight that didn't play their best football. That being said, when we get in a situation like this, where a few guys get called up for international play, they need to be ready. This is going to continue. Guys are going to keep getting called up and we will need our young guys to not only come in, but they have got to come in and play their best football. I wouldn't pin (the loss) on just one or two guys, but we struggled at a few positions tonight."
• The Dynamo fell back to .500 on the season, with two of the losses coming against the team it beat last November at RFK Stadium in Washington for a second consecutive league title. The Revolution have outscored the Dynamo 5-0 this year.
• "We went down a goal early, but before it was 2-0, we had a couple chances. The bounces didn't really go our way. Matt Reis made a few good saves," Stuart Holden said. "It is frustrating, because other days we would have been going into the half up 2-0, and it is always disappointing losing at home in front of our fans, but we are going to bounce back against Colorado next week."
• After starting the game with a 4-5-1 look, it took Kinnear about 10 minutes and an early goal to revert to his tried-and-true 4-4-2. Geoff Cameron moved up to partner Brian Mullan and Brad Davis reclaimed his wide left midfield role with Corey Ashe on the right.
• "The 4-4-2 is obviously where I have played most of my minutes with this team," Davis said. "It wasn't a big transition, but I like either position, and I like wherever I can get on the field and help the team."
• Franco Caraccio made his first appearance since May 22, coming on in the 70th minute. He won a penalty kick, but Holden's attempt was saved by Matt Reis. "It is bittersweet for me, obviously. It felt good for me to be able to get out and get back into the groove of things," Caraccio said.
