who earlier in the week had received his green card -- put the Hoops in the lead in the 29th minute with a fine goal. Dax McCarty sprung Nunez with a long pass out of midfield, and after Nunez slipped around a defender at the edge of the area he banged home a low shot past Bouna Coundoul.
• But five minutes later the Rapids pulled level. Terry Cooke launched a long ball from well in his own half, and Jovan Kirovski chased it down with a defender on his back. Despite a hint of a handball, Kirovski brought the ball down and looped a perfect volley over the onrushing Shaka Hislop.
• Yet Nunez gave FCD the lead for good 12 minutes from the end with his second goal on the day. After the Honduras-born midfielder won a free kick outside the left corner of the area, he drilled a low drive past the wall and off Coundoul's hands inside the far post for the go-ahead strike.
• Then in stoppage time, FC Dallas finished off the match. Dominic Oduro set off on a loping run down the left flank and found Kenny Cooper in the area. While the Dallas native stood on the ball, Oduro continued his run behind Cooper into the heart of the area, and banged home Cooper's short pass.
• Here's Morrow's team (4-3-1-2): Shaka Hislop - Drew Moor, Clarence Goodson, Alex Yi, Chris Gbandi - Dax McCarty (Bobby Rhine 88), Aaron Pitchkolan, Juan Toja - Ramon Nunez (Arturo Alvarez 81) - Kenny Cooper, Carlos Ruiz (Dominic Oduro 68). Substitutes Not Used: Ray Burse, Abe Thompson, Blake Wagner, Anthony Wallace
• Here's Clavijo's team (4-4-2): Bouna Coundoul - Brandon Prideaux (Dan Gargan 33), Ugo Ihemelu, Mike Petke (Conor Casey 81), Greg Vanney - Terry Cooke, Kyle Beckerman, Pablo Mastroeni, Herculez Gomez - Nicolas Hernandez, Jovan Kirovski (Jacob Peterson 67). Substitutes Not Used: Jose Cancela, Nico Colaluca, Zach Thornton, Daniel Wasson
COLORADO RAPIDS
The Colorado Rapids saw their losing streak reach three games last Saturday at The Home Depot Center, falling to Chivas USA 2-0 behind a pair of second-half goals. The Rapids sit in fourth place in the Western Conference with 15 points from 12 games, behind both Chivas USA and Houston Dynamo, with first-place FC Dallas seven points ahead.
LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA came in riding a two-game winning streak, unbeaten in four, while the Rapids had lost their last two matches after going unbeaten in four.
• Chivas 'keeper Brad Guzan made a stunning save after a poor clearance left Herculez Gomez all along in front of goal midway through the first half, and more Colorado misfortune gave the home side the lead just after the break.
• Sacha Kljestan curled in a cross from the right and it skipped through the area, bounding off the chest of a retreating Terry Cooke at the far post and past Bouna Coundoul for the 49th-minute opener.
• Then in the 63rd minute, a terrific through ball from Jesse Marsch freed Maykel Galindo behind the Rapids back line and he raced in clean on goal, sliding a shot under Coundoul from inside the area for his sixth goal on the campaign and third in the last four matches.
• Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo made four changes to the team that lost 2-1 at Houston Dynamo the week before. Dan Gargan came back into the team, coming in for Chris Wingert at right back, while Terry Cooke also made his return to the starting lineup, replacing Jose Cancela. Nick LaBrocca made his MLS debut, replacing the suspended Kyle Beckerman, and Jovan Kirovski returned in place of Pablo Mastroeni, who joined the U.S. team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
• Here's Clavijo's team (4-4-2): Bouna Coundoul - Dan Gargan, Ugo Ihemelu, Mike Petke, Brandon Prideaux - Terry Cooke, Jovan Kirovski, Nick LaBrocca (Jose Cancela 66), Jacob Peterson (Roberto Brown 57) - Conor Casey, Herculez Gomez (Nicolas Hernandez 80). Substitutes Not Used: Zach Thornton, Greg Vanney, Daniel Wasson, Chris Wingert
• "We played well until the own goal," said Clavijo. "That changed the momentum and we needed to open up and send people forward and, of course, you pretty much put everything in their hands when you do that."
TEAM NEWS
• The Rapids were sent spiraling to their third loss in a row, after embarking on a four-game unbeaten run May 10-26. "Like I told the team, we played well. We worked extremely hard. We need to concentrate on the things we did well, and correct the things we didn't do well," Clavijo said.
• The Rapids were missing a pair of key performers in Kyle Beckerman and Pablo Mastroeni, both out of the lineup for the first time in the season. Beckerman should be back for the FCD match, but if the USA advance to the Gold Cup final, Mastroeni will still be on international duty.
• "For me, it's definitely frustrating because I see the potential and I've seen what we can do. We've showcased it earlier this year. But all of a sudden there are one or two players out of the lineup and we freeze. We have to start creating opportunities for ourselves," said Herculez Gomez.
• Added Mike Petke: "There is a lot of frustration but it's not boiling over, it's not causing a problem. We already have more wins on the road this year than we did all last year so we had high expectations."
• The Rapids did feel the game could have been changed if they had translated some of their first half performance into a lead on the scoreboard.
• "We worked extremely hard and this is one of those games where we put forth the effort but didn't get the result," said Clavijo. Added Petke: "The effort was there. There have been very few games this year that for 90 minutes the effort, at least, has been there and this was one of them."
• After a string of seven consecutive games where the Rapids had scored just a single goal in each match, it was their first shutout of the season.
• "We need to get back into the Monday through Friday grind and dedicate ourselves in practice and come out on the weekend and dedicate ourselves like we did in the first half tonight and take pride in what we're doing ... have fun, enjoy it. Enjoy soccer. Sometimes it feels like we're not enjoying ourselves, but it's a beautiful thing, soccer," Petke said.
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas suffered its heaviest defeat of the season last Sunday, falling 4-0 to Toronto FC in the back end of yet another two games in four-day stretch. The Hoops still pace the Western Conference with 22 points from 14 matches, leading Chivas USA and Houston Dynamo ahead of their MLS Primetime Thursday matchup, and a point ahead of the New York Red Bulls for the most in MLS.
LAST MATCH
• Toronto FC were returning to action after a 10-day layoff, with three wins and a draw in their last six games. FC Dallas came in on the back end of a fourth Thursday-Sunday double on the season, holding more points but having played more games than the rest of the league.
• The home side took control of the game with a pair of goals coming three minutes apart midway through the first half. A cross found Danny Dichio all alone in the area, but he was twice denied at point-blank range by FCD 'keeper Dario Sala. But on the second rebound, the ball squirted to Maurice Edu, and the No. 1 overall SuperDraft pick banged home his second goal (22).
• Then Dichio claimed one for himself, rising up to head home a Carl Robinson free kick swung in from beyond the right corner of the penalty area.
• Robinson also then took a goal for himself in the 65th minute, getting onto the end of a Kevin Goldthwaite cross from the left touchline to sharply head home. Jeff Cunningham finished off the rout in stoppage time, a short corner finally played in after a couple of quick passes for the veteran striker to nod home for his second goal in as many games with TFC.
• With a second game in four days, FCD boss Steve Morrow made just one change to the team that defeated Real Salt Lake 1-0 the Thursday before. Dax McCarty returned to the starting lineup, replacing the suspended Pablo Ricchetti.
• Here's Morrow's team (4-2-1-3): Dario Sala - Drew Moor, Clarence Goodson, Alex Yi (Bobby Rhine 71), Chris Gbandi - Dax McCarty (Carlos Ruiz 46), Marcelo Saragosa - Juan Toja - Dominic Oduro, Abe Thompson (Ramon Nunez 46), Arturo Alvarez. Substitutes Not Used: Ray Burse, Aaron Pitchkolan, David Wagenfuhr, Anthony Wallace
• "I thought we started the much better team, for the first 20-25 minutes I thought we were dominating the game, pushing forward and we looked the more dangerous team. We created a few opportunities and we didn't take them," Morrow said.
TEAM NEWS
• The fourth time already FC Dallas has played two games in a week, after the weekend the Hoops had played anywhere from two to five more games than any other team in the league.
• "It was one of those days you know, I don't like to make excuses here but you know I will defend my players today, we've had two tough games in the space of three days on the road in Salt Lake on turf -- then a short time back to Dallas then having to back up here and play on turf, as well, on a hot afternoon. We'll just move on and forget about it," Morrow said.
• Ironically, while the Hoops have the most points in MLS coming into Week 12, they also have a negative goal differential, having scored 19 goals while allowing 22, in their 14 matches.
• "I think we have to do a much better job of when we're dominating the game and making the most of our opportunities and take our chances when they come along. We didn't do that and got punished for it," Morrow said.
• There was a welcome surprise for the game as Carlos Ruiz arrived in time to come on as a second-half substitute. The day before, Ruiz was in the Guatemala team that was eliminated from the CONCACAF Gold Cup in a 3-0 loss to Canada in the quarterfinals, but he traveled to Toronto on Sunday morning to rejoin his club side for the first time in five games.
• "It was very painful to lose to Canada, but I wanted to be with my team," Ruiz said. "Toronto isn't far from Boston, so I talked to Steve (Morrow) and said I wanted to be with the team and that it was up to him if he wanted to use me or not. I told him that I wanted to be with the team and get focused on playing with them again."
• Morrow feels that Ruiz's solid performances in the Gold Cup should give him momentum as he returns to MLS. Ruiz scored goals in the opening two matches of the season, but has not found the back of the net since in league play.
• "I watched his games and think with the way they (Guatemala) play (in a 4-5-1), it's tough for him as the lone guy up top. I don't think he particularly enjoyed that way of play and didn't get a great deal of support," Morrow said. "For the role that he had to play, I thought he did a good job and worked very hard. He had limited opportunities and took one of them well. Hopefully that will benefit us in the long run."
• Morrow also said Ruiz has seemingly overcome a hamstring injury that hampered him before he left to join Guatamala, missing the game before his last MLS match, May 20 vs. Real Salt Lake.
• "It was good to get him back. He called us and wanted to join the team after they got knocked out on Saturday afternoon. We welcomed him back in. We've missed him and we're light up top as well," Morrow said. "We're glad to have him back in for this week because that gives us more options up front. He worked hard while he was gone and had three tough games. He's in good shape."
