Nick LaBrocca scored his first MLS goal to give the Colorado Rapids a 1-0 victory against the New England Revolution at a wet Gillette Stadium on Saturday night.
LaBrocca's 68th-minute header from a Jose Burciaga Jr. free kick was the game's only goal and gave Colorado its first victory at Gillette Stadium since July 24, 2002.
The result was harsh on the home side, which forced Rapids goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul into several fine saves but could not break through to find the goal it needed.
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol made a late change to the starting lineup after Chris Albright (ankle) failed a fitness test. Amaechi Igwe earned his second consecutive start at left back. Wells Thompson (heel) made the bench and hoped to make his season debut.
Pablo Mastroeni (abdominal) didn't make the trip for Colorado. John DiRaimondo and LaBrocca continued to deputize in the center of the park. With Ugo Ihemelu (hip) and Mike Petke (foot) still sidelined, Stephen Keel and Kosuke Kimura remained on the back line.
Both teams struggled to settle into the drenched conditions as the rain increased in intensity over the game's first quarter of an hour.
The slick surface was bound to create chances and Matt Reis fumbled Terry Cooke's cross into Christian Gomez's path after 22 minutes. Gomez lingered on the ball, trying to pull it away from the prone Reis. Gomez finally released it only for Reis to get a palm to it and Heaps to head it off the line.
Coundoul was equally alert two minutes later after Shalrie Joseph played Kenny Mansally over the top of the defense along the left side of the penalty area. Coundoul rushed off the line to cut Mansally's angle and block his effort.
Mansally would continue to threaten. Coundoul had to rush off his line and sweep the ball out over the sideline before fighting off a 30-yard piledriver and pushing it wide.
Both teams made changes at halftime. Rapids midfielder Christian Gomez limped off with a right knee injury and Scottish striker Tom McManus made his debut in his place. Argenis Fernandez also made his debut at halftime replacing the ineffective Sainey Nyassi.
Mauricio Castro saw his narrow-angle free kick pushed onto the crossbar by Coundoul four minutes into the second stanza after Kimura needlessly hauled down Mansally.
Although Colorado had enjoyed bouts of possession, it had rarely threatened until seizing the lead on 68 minutes. It was a goal New England shouldn't have given away, from Khano Smith's impetuous foul on Omar Cummings to LaBrocca's unmarked free header at the far post after Burciaga curling free kick.
New England responded with a furious assault on Coundoul's goal. A Mansally header forced an acrobatic save from Coundoul, who bobbled the ball to ensure that he didn't carry it over the goal line. Castro sent his free kick just wide of the near post.
Substitute Kheli Dube then shot directly at Coundoul after being sent through by Jeff Larentowicz. Coundoul finally punched away a late free kick to ensure his side would escape with all three points.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
