A Nicolas Hernandez goal proved the difference as the Colorado Rapids claimed the Rocky Mountain Cup with a 1-0 victory against Real Salt Lake on Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Hernandez scored in the 48th minute to give the visitors their second victory in four games against their Rocky Mountain rivals, keeping ownership of the cup awarded by the two teams' supporters groups. But more importantly, the Rapids moved three points back in front of Real in the Western Conference playoff race.
The game saw plenty of yellow cards, many of which could have been red, dozens of hard tackles and a handful of shoving matches. At the end of the game, referee Abbey Okulaja called for seven minutes of extra time, but it wasn't enough for Real to find an equalizer.
Real started the game with a knock against them; Jason Kreis took himself out of the lineup before the first kick with a bone bruise on his left knee.
Kreis went out of Real's last game, against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday, after sustaining a hard foul in the second half that had him rolling on the turf at Rice-Eccles Stadium clutching his left knee.
Real coach John Ellinger inserted newcomer Jafet Soto in the starting lineup in place of Kreis, but the lineup change came late enough that Real could not add another player, and Real had only six players available on the bench.
Colorado started out well. Clint Mathis took a couple of shots on goal in the opening minutes that looked dangerous. In the 17th minute, Aitor Karanka crossed it from 30 yards out to the far right post to Thiago Martins for a point-blank header. The shot was wide, but the play got Real goalkeeper Scott Garlick fired up about the defensive breakdowns.
Real got a look when Carey Talley played it forward to Jeff Cunningham, who got control just shy of the endline to the right of the goal. Cunningham played the ball into the six-yard box, but Colorado goalkeeper Joe Cannon deflected it away.
Colorado had the best look of the game in the 25th minute when Martins took a shot from the right, inside the penalty area. Garlick made the diving save, but the ball went right back to Martins for a rebound shot just a half-second later. But Eddie Pope, wearing the Real captain's band in Kreis' absence, made the goalmouth block to shut it down.
In the 28th minute, Real's Andy Williams poked the ball through the defense to Chris Klein, who turned and shot from 10 yards out. Cannon, however, was again up to the task and made the save. But overall, Real was not able to get the hang of things in the first half -- Colin Clark took a strong shot in the 43rd minute, blocked away by Real's Kevin Novak with some tight marking.
In all, Colorado took five shots on goal in the first half, and Real took only one.
Colorado pulled ahead in the 48th minute when Dan Gargan played the ball across to Hernandez for a header into the top-right corner. Real's Mehdi Ballouchy was on the turf during the play, and Real hesitated on defending the goal. Garlick again was fired up by the play, and ended up sprinting out of the penalty area to challenge the Rapids' Hunter Freeman; Garlick barreled into Freeman, knocking him to the ground. He was shown a yellow card for the offense.
Real found a couple of shots in the next few minutes; Klein took them both. The first, Klein shot on his first touch after a pass from Williams and sent it high and over the goal. The second, Klein was nearly on target with a shot from the left to just outside the right post.
But Ellinger wanted more attacking options. The coach replaced defender Willis Forko with forward Atiba Harris and moved into a 3-4-3 formation. Moments later, Williams was fouled by Colorado's Kyle Beckerman, who was shown a yellow card. Williams sent the resulting free kick into the penalty area, but could not connect with anyone.
Harris had a good look at the goal in the 74th minute, pulling in a ball that split the Rapids defense and taking a point-blank shot on the goal that Cannon was just able to deflect away. In the 76th minute, Cunningham made Cannon work for his paycheck again with a 15-yard shot.
Ellinger moved to improve his offense again in the 76th minute, inserting Jamie Watson for Soto. As the game progressed, things got more and more physical on the field until Klein centered a pass from the endline to Pope, who hit the net with a one-touch, point-blank volley. But Klein was ruled out of bounds before his pass, and the goal was waved off.
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
