or so it seemed, not only at that time but for another 14 months afterwards.
But Conor Casey has revived his career and with it the fortunes of a franchise that hasn't been to the MLS Cup Final since losing to D.C. United in 1997 and which has reached Major League Soccer's version of the Final Four only three times since then.
Casey resumed his assault on MLS goalkeepers last week with a hat trick against Lance Parker in the Rapids' 4-0 victory over Chivas USA. Casey became only the seventh MLS player to score three goals in a game before halftime, and his initiation of Parker was almost unique in league history. Only one other player scored a hat trick against a keeper making his MLS debut: Jason Kreis against Cesar Delgado of the Wizards in 1999. (That was not only Delgado's first MLS match, it was also his last.)
Those were Casey's first goals for Colorado since late May, due in large part to time spent with the U.S. men's national team -- first for a World Cup qualifier against Honduras and then for the Confederations Cup. That alone represented a notable comeback for a player who was once considered a rising star, having been chosen for the 2000 U.S. Olympic team without any professional experience. But Casey's international career appeared over after he earned eight caps during the 2004 and 2005 seasons -- until he was called up for a World Cup qualifier against Guatemala in November 2008. Over the last 20 seasons, only three other players returned to play for the U.S. in a World Cup qualifier after an absence of more than three years: Preki (2001 vs. Honduras), Ramiro Corrales (2040 vs. Jamaica), and John Thorrington (2008 vs. Barbados).
But it's how Casey turned around his MLS career that made his call-up to the Nats possible, and that's hardly ancient history. Casey struggled for more than a year after joining the Rapids, scoring only three goals in his first 24 MLS matches. In fact, he managed only five shots on goal in his first 18 games. Tough to score if you can't put the ball on frame.
But last July Casey emerged from a long scoring slump, and his total of 21 goals in 28 games since then is the highest in MLS during that period. The goal-scoring leaders since July 1, 2008: Casey, 21; Juan Pablo Angel, 19; Landon Donovan, 18; Kenny Cooper, 17; Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Brian Ching, and Jeff Cunningham, 14.
With three goals last week, Casey is now within reach of a rare achievement. Only three players in MLS history have scored 20 goals over a span of 20 games in the same season, and no one has done that since 2000. The three were Roy Lassiter (1996), Stern John (1998), and Mamadou Diallo (2000). Casey needs three goals in his next two matches to achieve 20/20 status.
Putting aside individual accomplishments, it's the effect that Casey has had on his club that really matters. Since July 2008, the Rapids have posted a 14-12-10 mark, third-best in the Western Conference and only marginally behind Chivas (15-12-7). Colorado's 11-19-6 record in the same number of games prior to Casey's scoring surge was the worst in MLS during that time (extending from May 2007 through June 2008).
And it all began with an inconspicuous listing in the newspaper agate: "Colorado Rapids -- Acquired today forward Conor Casey from Toronto FC in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, an allocation, and the MLS rights to Riley O'Neill." File away Casey's two games with Toronto alongside Ariel Graziani's false start with the Revs and Ante Razov's and Brian Ching's with the Galaxy. Sadly for those teams, there are no mulligans.
Peter Hirdt is Vice President of the Elias Sports Bureau, Official Statistician of Major League Soccer.
