Rapids back in first following victory

The Colorado Rapids jumped back into a share of the Western Conference lead with a 2-0 win over DC United Sunday afternoon. With the three points earned in victory, the Rapids pull even with FC Dallas atop the Western Conference with nine points and even their record in the process at 3-3.

Colorado entered the game with a new look line-up with four players different players earning starts. Kosuke Kimura was reinserted into the starting eleven and Ugo Ihemelu and Jacob Peterson earned their first starts of the season, while Jordan Harvey registered his first career MLS start.

Omar Cummings nearly put the Rapids on top in the sixth minute. The Jamaican forward almost put away a tantalizing Kosuke Kimura cross with a diving header, but the shot went past the near post.

In the ninth minute, Christian Gomez played a cross off of a short corner right to Tom McManus at the far post, but the Scotsman's header went wide of the goal.

Gomez nearly came back to haunt his former side in the 17th minute when he one-timed a through ball to Jacob Peterson. The Indiana University product was able to get a shot off, but a diving defender pushed it out for a corner.

In the 35th minute, Jordan Harvey and Nick LaBrocca played a give-and-go to earn a throw in on the left side. On the restart, Harvey found LaBrocca whose cross bounced through the United penalty area, but Colorado was unable to get a shot off of it.

Cummings had another opportunity in the 45th minute when McManus put him behind the defense. DC goalie Zach Wells came off his line and forced Cummings to the endline, where the Jamaican tried to chip the ball to the back post, but Wells got a touch on it to keep it out of the goal.

The Rapids finally broke through in the 53rd minute. Gomez held the ball in the midfield until Peterson could make it up the pitch. The Argentine played a perfect ball to Peterson for a one-time shot that Wells had no chance of stopping. The goal was Peterson's second-in-a-row against DC United. The Michigan native scored against them last year on June 28.

Two former United players had a hand in putting the final nail in their former team's coffin. Gomez found the recently subbed in Terry Cooke who crossed a ball to Facundo Erpen. The Argentine doubled Colorado's lead with a powerful header off assists from Gomez and Cooke.

Colin Clark had a chance to become the first Rapids player with multiple goals on the year, but his shot after a Herculez Gomez through ball was well saved by Wells.

The Rapids will take their first Western Conference road trip next weekend as they travel to Houston to take on the two-time defending champion Dynamo in a 6:30 p.m. MT start live on Fox Soccer Channel.

Scoring Summary:

COL - Peterson (Gomez) 53

COL - Erpen (Cooke, Gomez) 72

Lineups:

Colorado Rapids - Bouna Condoul, Kosuke Kimura, Ugo Ihemelu, Facundo Erpen, Jordan Harvey, Jacob Peterson (Terry Cooke 71), Nick LaBrocca, Pablo Mastroeni, Christian Gomez (Colin Clark 74), Omar Cummings (Herculez Gomez 61), Tom McManus

Substitutes not used: Chris Sharpe, Kelly Gray, Rafael Gomes, Jose Burciaga

DC United - Zach Wells, Gonzalo Peralta, Marc Burch, Gonzalo Martinez, Bryan Namoff, Marcelo Gallardo, Rod Dyachenko, Clyde Simms, Santino Quaranta (Quavas Kirk 61), Luciano Emilio (Francis Doe 59), Franco Niell (Jamie Moreno 45)

Substitutes Not Used: Jose Carvallo, Pat Carroll, Ryan Cordeiro, Dan Stratford