Rapids Fall to FC Dallas 1-0 in Final Florida Match

The Colorado Rapids suffered their first loss of the 2009 preseason falling to FC Dallas 1-0 this afternoon at the Central Broward Regional Park Cricket Stadium.

FC Dallas’ Kenny Cooper scored the game’s only goal in the 57th minute on a free kick from just outside the penalty area.

“I think today's competition was a step up for us," said head coach Gary Smith. "We mixed the team up again today. We have some trialists that we are looking at along with the draft picks. Dallas put a strong group out there. They started stronger than us, but I think they were looking to work on different things than we were. I thought we looked a little tired, but we have been training hard here. They had some good opportunities early, but Preston Burpo had a terrific first half. With a trialist and a draft pick up front we were a little lacking in the final third, but we managed to get to the half at 0-0.”

Smith added, “In the second half, we were a younger group but showed some more energy and a spark. We had our own chances and I thought we finished the game quite nicely. I think it was a pretty decent effort, but sadly we were on the wrong end of the score line.”

“Overall it has been a wonderful week of training here in Florida with a lot of hard work and good preparation. I thought the games were a good progression for us.”

The Rapids head back to Colorado tomorrow morning and have a scheduled day off before returning to two-a-day sessions on the training pitches of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Friday.

First half line-up: Preston Burpo, Ivan Guerrero, Cory Gibbs, Ugo Ihemelu, Serge Pascal Wawa (trialist), Pablo Mastroeni, Colin Clark, Terry Cooke, Mehdi Ballouchy, Ross Schunk, Edison Fonseca (trialist)

Second half line-up: Matt Pickens, Greg Dalby, Kwame Sarkodie, Stephen Keel, Jacob Peterson, Kosuke Kimura, Michael Holody, Jordan Harvey, Nick LaBrocca, Omar Cummings, Nicodemus Orok (trialist) (Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe)

Rapids Fall to FC Dallas 1-0 in Final Florida Match