The clothes might not make the person, but they certainly seemed to make the Colorado Rapids into something special Saturday night.
Throwing a nod to the early years, the Rapids donned their green jerseys for the first time in three years and recaptured the mojo that made them one of the worst stops for visiting teams in Major League Soccer.
The Rapids gave up the first goal for the fifth time this season, but rallied in the second half to defeat D.C. United 2-1 and snap a two-game winless streak at Invesco Field at Mile High.
A week after looking out of sync and outworked in a loss to Houston, the Rapids (2-2-1) were brimming with chemistry and seemingly were brought to an all-hands-on-deck boil by the home crowd of 18,225.
“Honestly, we really didn’t have it in the last couple games,” said Rapids defender Mike Petke. “I don’t know what it is. We came out motivated tonight, the way we wanted to every game.”
Argentine striker Nicolas Hernandez made his Rapids scoring debut in style, ripping the game- winner off the bounce in the 84th minute, half an hour after Jovan Kirovski equalized on a penalty kick for his fourth goal in five games.
Spanish veteran Aitor Karanka made his long-awaited debut and seemed to settle Colorado’s troublesome defense, while goalie Joe Cannon made six saves in a vintage display of instinct and acrobatics that began with a glove on a free kick in the eighth minute.
“It hit the post and I thought it was going to be my night when that happens, because normally those have been going in,” Cannon said.
Cannon’s best save was a one- handed stab to deny Jamil Walker in the 37th minute, eight minutes before the former Air Force player injured his hamstring and gave way to Freddy Adu.
Unlike previous games, Cannon got some early touches and stayed hot, even when caught off his line in the 78th minute on a shot by veteran Jaime Moreno.
“The team made a decision to stick with him, and we knew why,” said Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo, referring to Cannon’s new contract.
D.C. United (3-1-2), which hasn’t won in Denver since May 6, 2000, refused to bunker in defensively and chose to battle the Rapids for dominance in the midfield. Christian Gomez scored his second goal of the season four minutes into the second half, giving United a lead that would last just five minutes.
Kirovski earned the penalty kick when he got defender Facundo Erpen to take a lazy hack at his leg. Kirovski converted it to the right post, beating goalie Troy Perkins.
