Frisco, Texas – With 15 minutes remaining in regulation of a tied playoff match, Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo thought about substituting for injured goalkeeper Joe Cannon.
It would have been the worst move of Clavijo’s coaching career.
Cannon provided an incredible display of goalkeeping, including making a save on FC Dallas’ fifth penalty kick in a tiebreaking shootout to send the Rapids to the Western Conference final against Los Angeles.
The third-seeded Rapids will host the fourth-seeded Galaxy on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Invesco Field at Mile High.
The Rapids’ coach isn’t opposed to divine intervention.
“God doesn’t want wrong things to happen to people that are working hard like we did today,” Clavijo said.
After a 2-2 draw in 90 minutes of regulation and then 30 minutes of overtime, the short-handed Rapids earned a 5-4 advantage in series-deciding penalty kicks.
Cannon struggled through the match with a sports hernia and was visibly hampered when distributing the ball.
However, his reflexes were stunning as he finished with 12 saves, plus the shootout stop on FC Dallas’ Roberto Mina.
After Cannon’s save, substitute Jean Philippe Peguero stepped up and buried the fifth penalty kick shot and FC Dallas’ season.
The game was the second leg of a two-game aggregate-goal series that began last week with a 0-0 draw at Invesco Field.
The Rapids became short- handed when Alain Nkong was shown a straight red card in the 54th minute for an elbow that bloodied FC Dallas midfielder Simo Valakari’s nose.
Colorado took a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute off a Jeff Cunningham header from Terry Cooke. FC Dallas then evened the score in the 67th minute when Carlos Ruiz tied the score.
Ruiz had been quiet until that point, but he struck again to give FC Dallas a 2-1 lead in the first half of overtime at the 105 minute mark.
However, a little more than a minute later, the Rapids equalized on Ritchie Kotschau’s goal in the 106th minute.
Ruiz had an opportunity for the hat trick but missed a penalty kick in the second half of overtime when his shot struck the post in the 112th minute.
The match moved to penalty kicks, and both teams scored on their first four kicks. Colorado earned goals from Pablo Mastroeni, Jovan Kirovski, Cunningham and Cooke.
FC Dallas received goals from Ruiz, Ramon Nuñez, Oscar Pareja and Greg Vanney before Cannon smothered Mina’s attempt.
“We dominated the game, should have had it won,” FC Dallas coach Colin Clarke said. “We missed a P.K. … We had a man up and dominated the game like you should do and (had) plenty of opportunities but their keeper was very, very, very good. He was outstanding and probably the difference.”
Colorado 1 0 1 – 2
FC Dallas 0 1 1 – 2
Colorado won on penalty kicks 5-4
First half – 1, Colorado, Cunningham 1 (Cooke, Nkong), 19th minute.
Second half – 2, FC Dallas, Ruiz 1 (Mina, Rhine), 67th.
Overtime – 3, FC Dallas, Ruiz 2 (Gbandi, Vanney), 105th. 4, Colorado, Kotschau 1 (Cooke), 106th.
Penalty kicks – Colorado 5 (Pablo Mastroeni G, Jovan Kirovski G, Jeff Cunningham G, Terry Cooke G, Jean Philippe Peguero G); FC Dallas 4 (Carlos Ruiz G, Ramon Nuñez G, Oscar Pareja G, Greg Vanney G, Roberto Mina NG).
Goalies – Colorado, Cannon; FC Dallas, Garlick.
A – 10,104 (21,193).
