Two defensive midfielders stepped up late, trading goals in a 1-1 draw between the Colorado Rapids and Philadelphia Union at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Saturday.
Sam Cronin stepped up and delivered the lead in the 87th minute, as his angled header off Marlon Hairston's cross beat Andre Blake to open the scoring, and, it appeared, take all three points for the Rapids.
But Brian Carroll made a run to the far post on the other end deep into stoppage time, taking down a pass from Fabian Herbers and beating Zac MacMath with a well-placed shot to tie up the game and divide the points.
The frantic end to the game belied the majority of the match, which was a defensive battle and featured few good chances on goal for either side.
Dillon Powers had a shot that clanged off the crossbar with 20 minutes to go for the Rapids, and 10 minutes later Luis Solignac had a shot of his own off the crossbar. Moments later, Solignac scored, but the tally was waived off by an offside call.
Box Score
- 87' - COL - Sam Cronin (Marlon Hairston, Mekeil Wiliams)
- 90+2' - PHI - Brian Carroll (Fabian Herbers, Ray Gaddis)
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Three Things
UNLIKELY SCORERS:
Cronin scored his eighth career MLS regular season goal (212 appearances), his first since May 30, 2015 against Portland. Carroll, meantime, scored his ninth career goal in 354 regular season appearances, and his first since July 12, 2013, against Chivas USA. To say the two holding midfielders were not expected to score, much less on the same night, would be an understatement. But as we know in this sport, anybody can step up at anytime.
Special Olympics Unified Sports match recap:
The Rapids' Special Olympics Unified team fell to Philadelphia Union’s Special Olympics team 7-5 on Saturday, May 28 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Jehbleh Jah of the Union scored first in the 6th minute, but the Rapids quickly answered with a goal in the 7th minute by Vincent Egan. Rapids Unified goalkeepers Vincent Egan and Dominic Sisneros making several fantastic stops. Ultimately, the Rapids Unified team was unable to stop the Philadelphia Union who scored two back to back goals in the final minutes ending the game 7-5. Rapids’ Team President Tim Hinchey, Sporting Director Padraig Smith, Director of Soccer Claudio Lopez and Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin greeted each athlete with a handshake and a medal following the match. Several Rapids and Philadelphia Union first team players were present as well cheering on both teams. More about Special Olympics Unified Sports soccer matches
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