the first scored by Rapids teammate Conor Casey after just 16 seconds on April 4.
• Casey doubled the Rapids lead in the fourth minute with another stunning goal. Cummings flicked on a header over the Chivas backline and Casey raced onto it, hitting a sublime volley lob over Parker into the goal. The four-minute span for two goals at the start of a game was one minute shy of the MLS record set three times previously.
• Casey doubled his haul and made it 3-0 in the 23rd minute. Kosuke Kimura sent Cummings free down the right with a wonderful backheel, and the Jamaican drove a low ball to the back post where Casey tapped in from the doorstep. For Cummings, it was his third assist of the night and 10th on the season, giving him the league lead.
• Then in first-half stoppage time, Cummings seemed to be clear in on goal, only to be hauled down from behind by Chivas defender Shavar Thomas. His fellow Jamaican international was sent off by referee Alex Prus and Casey completely his hat trick by converting from the spot, the penalty giving him 11 goals on the season and the lead in the MLS Golden Boot standings, one ahead of Columbus forward Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
• Rapids head coach Gary Smith made three changes to the team that lost 1-0 to the Columbus Crew the weekend before. Kosuke Kimura came in at right back for the suspended Ugo Ihemelu, Conor Casey came back from injury for Pat Noonan, and Jamie Smith made his first MLS start in place of Mehdi Ballouchy.
• Here's Smith's team (4-1-3-2): Matt Pickens - Kosuke Kimura, Cory Gibbs (Ty Harden 77), Scott Palguta, Jordan Harvey - Pablo Mastroeni (Mehdi Ballouchy 69) - Jamie Smith, Nick LaBrocca, Colin Clark - Conor Casey (Pat Noonan 71), Omar Cummings. Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, Greg Dalby, Facundo Diz, Jacob Peterson
TEAM NEWS
• Casey had scored four goals in a three-game stretch from May 16-30, but then missed the next four games on international duty. He did not score in any of his three games after returning, then missing two more games through national team call-up and injury.
• "It's been a while since I scored for us, and it's always good to get on the board early and often," Casey said. "It was a great win for us. With the injury, I'd been out for about 10 days. To come back and feel good and score right away was awesome."
• For 12-year MLS veteran Pablo Mastroeni, it was his first goal since April 23, 2005 against Columbus.
• "(Mastroeni) is such a character and such a wonderful captain," Rapids coach Gary Smith said. "He's well-respected not just by the players, but by the staff. He's part of the fabric of this club. It doesn't happen very often. So to celebrate ... I couldn't get too close to him. There were too many people trying to shake his hand and coddle him."
• The Rapids suffered a big blow just days after the match when Colin Clark suffered a knee injury that will put him out for the remainder of the season.
• "He's that left-footed player [that fits] the style of play that we're trying to bring through in the club, a very athletic and pacey style, certainly going forward. But he's also an extremely conscientious lad defensively," Smith said. "... Jamie (Smith) and Jake (Peterson) are the natural replacements for Colin within the groupThey offer a similar set of athletic abilities. They're both naturally right-footed, so we're not going to get that out-and-out balance that we had with Colin. We'll certainly be mindful of what we need to do for the last 10 games."
• Omar Cummings tied a team record with his three assists against Chivas, and he is two ahead of Chicago's Cuauhtemoc Blanco. With 10 games remaining in the regular season, Cummings still has a decent chance of reaching the Rapids' single-season record of 16 assists, set by Carlos Valderrama in 2002.
• "What we're finding is, with games, he's getting more confidence," Smith said. "He's gaining more experience. I do believe he should be up there with the leading goal-scorers, because the opportunities are coming and going for Omar. His assists are top in the league, but he should be in the top three, five goal-scorers. His finishing has to improve, and maybe that's the next stage and the next move in his development."
