Houston – Joe Cannon could have blamed the festival-like atmosphere surrounding the Houston Dynamo’s inaugural game Sunday night.
But the Colorado Rapids goalkeeper was having none of that as he talked about his team’s season-opening 5-2 loss to the Dynamo, formerly the San Jose Earthquakes, in front of 25,462 screaming fans at rollicking old Robertson Stadium.
Houston’s Brian Ching scored four goals, one short of the MLS record held by Rapids midfielder Clint Mathis while he was with the MetroStars in 2000. And Cannon had no excuses.
“I don’t think they surprised us with anything,” Cannon said. “If anything, we surprised ourselves by playing so badly.
“But I’ll take full responsibility. They pay me a lot of money to keep the ball out of the net, and when it comes down to it, I didn’t do it.”
Cannon didn’t buy that the Dynamo being pumped for its first game was the reason for the loss.
“We knew we had to match their energy, and we didn’t do it,” said Cannon, who had just one save. “But I still say, if anyone wants to point a finger, it should be pointed at me.”
The Dynamo scored its first-ever goal when Ching tapped in a pass from Wade Barrett past a diving Cannon in the 13th minute.
The Rapids, who dropped to 0-9-2 in season openers, came back less than a minute later on a hard shot from 20 yards out by Kyle Beckerman.
But Ching scored two more before the half on similar plays in the 37th and 44th minutes, both on close-in headers off passes from Brian Mullan.
Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo was more concerned about losing Mathis to a knee injury early and soon after losing forward Dedi Ben-Dayan to the same injury.
“That changed the complexion of the game for us,” Clavijo said. “When you play the entire preseason with the same lineup, then you lose those players – it affects you mentally, physically and tactically. We felt it.”
The Rapids fought back to within 3-2 in the second half on a booming unassisted free kick goal by Jovan Kirovski from 22 yards out.
Colorado finished the game without defender Pablo Mastroeni, who was sent off in the 85th minute after a tackle from behind on Alejandro Moreno. Moreno then scored the final goal in the 92nd minute.
“I think my boys fought very hard,” Clavijo said. “But it was the first game and everybody was not in top shape. We’ve definitely got to get that worked out.
“But that wasn’t the problem. Today the better team won.”
Coming off an appearance in the Western Conference finals, the Rapids don’t expect to stay down.
“If anybody is writing the Rapids off, they shouldn’t,” Cannon said. “This game was not as bad as it looks. Five goals is a lot, but we were back in it at 3-2. This team will come back, and we’ll be there in the end.”
