Preview: Rapids host FCD as both look to reverse struggles

COLORADO RAPIDS vs FC DALLAS
DICK'S SPORTING GOODS PARK, Commerce City, Colo.
July 14, 2012 (WEEK 19, MLS Game #177)
9 p.m. ET (Altitude; KTXA-21)

The Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas meet for the second time this season, as the MLS Cup 2010 finalists face off  Saturday evening at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The Rapids are coming off back-to-back losses, last a 2-1 defeat at Seattle Sounders FC. FC Dallas have seen their long winless run continue despite three consecutive draws, reaching a scoreless result last weekend against the San Jose Earthquakes.

REFEREE: Yader Reyes. SAR (bench): Mike Kampmeinert; JAR (opposite): Mike Rottersman; 4th: Mark Declouet
MLS Career: 18 games; FC/gm: 27.0; Y/gm: 3.8; R: 6; pens: 3

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INJURY REPORT:

• COLORADO RAPIDS -- OUT: DF Anthony Wallace (L Achilles tear); MF Pablo Mastroeni (headaches); PROBABLE: MF Jamie Smith (R ACL tear); FW Conor Casey (R hamstring strain); FW Omar Cummings (L ankle sprain)
• FC DALLAS -- OUT: MF Bobby Warshaw (R foot fracture); DF Ugo Ihemelu (concussion symptoms); DF Alex Lee (lower abdominal strain); DF George John (concussion symptoms); QUESTIONABLE: FW Blas Perez (R foot sprain); DF Jair Benitez (R knee contusion); PROBABLE: MF Ricardo Villar (R foot strain); MF David Ferreira (R foot surgery); MF Daniel Hernandez (R knee soreness); MF Jackson (R ankle sprain)

INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

SUSPENDED: none

WARNINGS:

• SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: COL: Jeff Larentowicz
• SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: COL: Jaime Castrillon, Tyrone Marshall, Martin Rivero ... DAL: Jair Benitez, Fabian Castillo, Daniel Hernandez

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (54 meetings): Rapids 19 wins (1 shootout), 66 goals ... FC Dallas 25 wins (2 shootout), 87 goals ... Ties 10
AT COLORADO (27 meetings): Rapids 13 wins (1 shootout), 38 goals ... FC Dallas 7 wins (2 shootout), 35 goals ... Ties 6
FUTURE MATCH: 8/11: FC Dallas vs. Colorado Rapids, 8 p.m. CT

• Second-half goals from Jaime Castrillon and Martin Rivero gave the Rapids a 2-0 victory in the first meeting between the teams this season, May 6 in Frisco.
• It was Colorado's first at Dallas since 2008; the last win for Dallas at Colorado came in 2007. But both teams won on the road in a fractious Western Conference Semifinal Series in 2006.
• Each team won at home in their two meetings last year, the first two after Colorado's extra-time triumph in MLS Cup 2010 in Toronto.
• Coaches record: Schellas Hyndman vs. COL: P10 W2 L4 D4 ... Oscar Pareja vs. DAL: P1 W1 L0 D0

LAST MEETING (MLS):
5/6: DAL 0, COL 2 (Castrillon 61; Rivero 74)

• FC Dallas were two men short before the first half was over. In the 34th minute, Daniel Hernandez sent Rapids midfielder Martin Rivero to the turf and earned a second yellow card for the game. Just minutes later, FCD was reduced to nine men when Blas Perez was issued a straight red card for a reckless tackle on Rapids' defender Drew Moor.
• The Rapids finally broke through in the 61st minute when Jaime Castrillon got on the end of a Brian Mullan cross to head the ball past FC Dallas 'keeper Kevin Hartman.
• Martin Rivero sealed the victory with a 74th-minute goal, his first in MLS, collecting a Mullan pass in the heart of the area and turning himself around to stroke a left-footed shot into the corner of the goal.
• FC DALLAS (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Zach Loyd, George John, Ugo Ihemelu, Jair Benitez - Jackson (Ruben Luna 82), Daniel Hernandez (sent off 34), Andrew Jacobson, Fabian Castillo (Hernan Pertuz 46) - Blas Perez (sent off 36), Scott Sealy (James Marcelin 46).
• COLORADO RAPIDS (4-4-2): Matt Pickens - Kosuke Kimura, Drew Moor, Tyrone Marshall (Conor Casey 46), Luis Zapata - Brian Mullan, Martin Rivero, Jeff Larentowicz, Jaime Castrillon (Wells Thompson 87) - Omar Cummings (Kamani Hill 14), Tony Cascio.

COLORADO RAPIDS

The Colorado Rapids lost for the second time in as many matches, dropping a 2-1 decision to Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday evening at CenturyLink Field. The Rapids are in sixth place in the Western Conference with 22 points from 18 games.

HIGHLIGHTS: Seattle end slide with dramatic win vs. Rapids
LAST MATCH

• Sounders FC took the lead after 52 minutes. A corner kick was half-cleared, but quickly worked back out to Mauro Rosales on the left flank. He again flighted the ball into the box and Alvaro Fernandez nodded home the perfectly placed service.
• Twelve minutes later, Sounders FC doubled the margin through very similar circumstances. Again Rosales sent in a ball from the left flank, and this Eddie Johnson found himself with space inside the box and rose over the defense to head home.
• The Rapids pulled a goal back in the 79th minute when left back Luis Zapata perfectly curled a cross to Omar Cummings at the far post for an easy volleyed tap-in. A couple of minutes later, Cummings deflected a Jeff Larentowicz shot into the net, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
• Rapids head coach Oscar Pareja made one change to the side that fell 1-0 to Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Jamie Smith came into the side in place of Omar Cummings.
• COLORADO RAPIDS (4-3-3): Matt Pickens - Hunter Freeman, Marvell Wynne, Drew Moor, Luis Zapata - Martin Rivero, Jeff Larentowicz, Jaime Castrillon (Tony Cascio 84) - Brian Mullan, Conor Casey (Edu 67), Jamie Smith (Omar Cummings 67).

TEAM NEWS
This or That: Conor Casey

• After starting Conor Casey and Omar Cummings as the strike partnership in back-to-back matches, Pareja ran out Casey as a lone striker in a 4-1-4-1 scheme.
• "We have been playing three games in a week," Pareja said. "Conor has been tight on his leg, Omar coming from injury [on] the ankle as well has been a week where we want to have some fresh legs with Jamie [Smith] and give us an opportunity to get involved in the game. We thought it showed well with the plan today. It gave us a lot of control in the middle."
• Jamie Smith made his first start of the season, after his first two appearances of the campaign came as a substitute in the previous matches.
• "I don't think it's the tactical switch," defender Drew Moor said. "Of course there's an adjustment period, but we practice with each other every day. Yeah, there's little tweaks here and there, but you have to. It's soccer. I thought our starting 11 was a mostly veteran group of guys who've mostly been around together."
• After going 11 games without conceding a goal from a set-piece situation, both goals from Seattle started with corner kicks.
• "First of all, we gave up a bunch of set pieces, and you're asking for problems," Moor said. "They've looked at us now, they know where our strengths are, and they got pretty much a free header on [the first goal]. You've got to be big, you've got to be strong, but unfortunately that's what's killed us now. It's disappointing when you keep giving up points on set pieces."
• After coming on for the final quarter of the match, Cummings scored his fourth goal of the season, his first since April 21.
• "That's what coach wants any sub to do. Add some energy, take on defenders and get the best positions," said Cummings. "I think we definitely put some higher pressure on Seattle and got our chances."

FC DALLAS

FC Dallas saw their long winless streak continue, but played to a third consecutive draw, this time a scoreless result with the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday evening in Frisco. FCD is in ninth place in the Western Conference with 16 points from 19 matches.

HIGHLIGHTS: Goal-line clearances keep SJ, FCD scoreless
LAST MATCH

• Both teams had shots cleared off the line in the first half. Fabian Castillo who nearly found the net in the 31st minute for FCD when he connected with a loose ball, but it hit fallen San Jose defender Jason Hernandez in front of goal and bounced away from danger.
• The Earthquakes nearly broke through five minutes later. Chris Wondolowski was freed in on goal and chipped past an on-rushing Kevin Hartman in goal, but Hernan Pertuz recovered to clear the ball off the line.
• Hartman finished the night with one save for FC Dallas, while Quakes 'keeper Jon Busch was credited with three saves.
• FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman made two changes to the team that played to a 1-1 draw with Toronto FC in Frisco. David Ferreira and Andrew Wiedeman came into the midfield in place of Jackson and Daniel Hernandez.
• FC DALLAS (4-4-1-1): Kevin Hartman - Zach Loyd, Hernan Pertuz, Matt Hedges, Carlos Rodriguez - Andrew Wiedeman (Jackson 46), Andrew Jacobson, James Marcelin, Fabian Castillo (Ricardo Villar 46) - David Ferreira - Brek Shea.

TEAM NEWS
Honorary Scarfer: Dez Bryant

• Rookie Matt Hedges and Hernan Pertuz comprised the central defense partnership for a fourth consecutive match, having allowed just a single goal over the last three matches after conceding 14 in the previous seven.
• "It's obviously way better communication," Pertuz said. "Even though it's not easy because of the language and it's always hard to communicate clearly, we've been working on it and understanding more and coordinating a little bit better at covering the spaces better as a team."
• It was a second scoreless draw in the last three matches for FC Dallas, after going the first 16 league matches keeping just one clean sheet.
• "I think we need to get a little bit more disciplined in the back ... but I think Hernan and Matt continue to get better and better," FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman said. "Now I can say those two guys you could [be] put on any team in the league and they would be successful."
• FC Dallas have drawn six times and lost seven matches over their 13-match winless run, dating back to April 14. It's now tied for the fourth-longest winless run in MLS history.
• After coming on as a substitute at midweek, David Ferreira made his first start since his leg fracture suffered last April 22, and played the entire 90 minutes.
• "I think at that point in time David was really tired, but he's the one that's going to give you the killer pass," Hyndman said of the second-half chances. "You take a risk of putting somebody fresh on the field and not being able to give that killer pass."
• Said Ferreira: "Little by little, I'm getting better. At the end, I felt a lot of fatigue from the game. I was happy because I was able to play the whole game, but I know that I need to keep improving."
• Missing Blas Perez for a fourth consecutive league match, Brek Shea was again run out as a lone striker.
• "The fact we don't have a replacement for Blas is more important [than the other injuries]," Hyndman said. "We went with Brek [Shea] up front tonight because he's our best option, but you can also see he's a little stuck behind reading what's going on."
• Perez has missed six games this season, and FCD has scored three goals total in those matches. "Some strikers just have a nose for the ball," Hyndman said. "They always seem to find a way to get to it. You can see the way Blas scored two goals for Panama. He's that kind of a player. Without a true striker, this team will kind of tease you. They will get there and either make it or not make it."