The Rocky Mountain Cup will remain in the possession of the Colorado Rapids as they slipped past Real Salt Lake with a narrow 1-0 win at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night.
The regional rivals brought plenty of fireworks as fouls and cards flew continually throughout the match and, thanks to Nicolas Hernandez's goal in the 48th minute, ended with a big celebration from the Rapids on Real's home field parading around the trophy awarded by the supporters clubs of the two teams. And, perhaps more importantly, Colorado moved back three points ahead of RSL in the Western Conference standings.
High pressure from the Rapids from the opening whistle put RSL on its heels at the early part of the match and led to the first scoring opportunity for Colorado. In the 10th minute Clint Mathis laid a soft ball off to Thiago Martins waiting just inside the corner of the box. Martins hit a shot first time that missed the corner of the frame by only inches.
On the defensive end, the Rapids received help from their younger players. Second-year professional Hunter Freeman pulled a veteran tactic on Chris Klein in the 23rd minute. Andy Williams slipped a devastating ball into space behind the Rapids backline. Before Klein could get the momentum to meet the pass, Freeman nudged the veteran just enough to disturb his run and stifle the chance.
Moments later Martins found himself inside the penalty area with a clear path to goal. The Brazilian ripped a blast that was deflected away from goalkeeper Scott Garlick. The rebound fell to Martins again who unloaded another shot that was cleared off the line by Eddie Pope.
Rapids goalkeeper Joe Cannon added his efforts to the fray in the 28th minute. After a nifty one-two passing combination between Williams and Klein, Cannon booted away a shot from the latter as he dove onto the scene.
Cannon continued his fine form into the second half. Just on the other side of the intermission he broke up a long ball directed to a streaking Cunningham with a Superman-style punch.
The deadlock was broken in the 48th minute on a tally from Hernandez. Dan Gargan sent a high cross into the area that he perfectly headed under the crossbar, leaving Scott Garlick rooted to the ground for his team-leading seventh goal of the season.
Controversy abounded during the play as the RSL players were protesting that a Salt Lake player was down during the play. Both teams gathered for heated discussion, during which Garlick chest-bumped Freeman, sending him to the turf. Garlick received a yellow card for his actions.
Cannon continued to keep RSL off the board in the 74th minute. Atiba Harris was sent clear through by a pass from Williams from midfield, splitting a pair of Colorado defender. But Cannon rushed Harris and cleared his shot away with a sliding kick save.
Just two minutes later Cannon smothered another blast, this time from Cunningham. The league's leading scorer fired from an angle at 10 yards, but it was easily gathered by Cannon.
In the 77th minute Daniel Wasson replaced Colin Clark on a Rapids corner. As Wasson ran onto the field he went straight for the far post where the cross landed on his foot and he directed his shot inside the post. But Williams was perfectly placed to clear his shot off the line.
Elation shot through the crowd as it appeared that RSL pulled level in the 86th minute. Klein sent a cross into Harris who poked a shot in front of Cannon. But, the assistant referee had ruled the ball out over the endline before Klein crossed.
A hard challenge from Gargan on Cunningham in the 88th minute led to another fracas between all the players on the field. Gargan received a yellow card as no one else was cautioned on the play.
But Real couldn't find a way to greatly trouble the Rapids the rest of the way, and for the second year running claimed ownership of the regional cup.
Scott McAllister is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
