SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Rapids outran the San Jose Earthquakes. They generally outplayed them, too. The one thing the Rapids couldn’t do was outscore the Earthquakes.
But at least Colorado was able to salvage a hard-fought, 1-1 tie with San Jose on Conor Casey’s disputed header in the 69th minute Saturday afternoon at Buck Shaw Stadium.
Casey redirected Terry Cooke’s brilliant, 40-yard cross past San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon into the back of the net. The Earthquakes thought Casey had fouled defender Jason Hernandez to get a clear shot at the ball.
San Jose coach Frank Yallop protested loud enough to get ejected by referee Hilario Grajeda.
The Rapids (6-8-2) agreed with Grajeda that it was just a clean, hard play by Casey.
“It was absolutely a good call,” Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo said. “It was a physical game. Some calls are going to go your way and some aren’t. The referee had nothing to do with the result of the game.”
Casey’s header came seven minutes after the Earthquakes scored.
“I just stood my ground, got up in the air and just tried to change the ball’s direction,” Casey said. “We were in there just battling and I got it.”
Casey also had a chance in injury time to send the Rapids home winners when he took another shot inside the box. But this time, Cannon — a former Colorado player — made the save to preserve the tie.
“I thought I had a chance at it,” said Casey, who now has had an assist or scored in three consecutive games. “But somebody got a foot on it and it took something off the ball. We just have to be happy with a tie.”
It was a physical game that saw, in addition to Yallop’s ejection, six yellow cards.
A stifling heat wave, which has fueled countless wildfires throughout California, had lessened by Saturday. But the temperatures still were hitting the mid-80s in the second half, and tempers seemed to rise with the heat under the afternoon sun.
Throughout much of the game, Colorado controlled play. The Rapids had several good scoring chances in the first half, playing a long-ball game.
Casey and fellow forward Tom McManus repeatedly beat Earthquake defenders only to be foiled by Cannon.
The expansion Earthquakes (3-9-4) are an offensive-impaired team that had entered Saturday with only 10 goals since April and is on pace to set a league record for fewest in a season.
But they ended a 280-minute scoreless streak when Ryan Johnson headed Ramiro Corrales’ free kick around Rapids goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul at the 62nd-minute mark.
“We knew they were dangerous on set plays, and they still made us pay,” Clavijo said. “They had one good chance and they finished it.”
Colorado 0 1 — 1
San Jose 0 1 — 1
First half — None.
Second half — 1, San Jose, O’Brien 3 (Corrales), 62nd. minute. 2, Colorado, Caey 2 (Cooke) 70th.
Goalies — Colorado, Coundoul. San Jose, Cannon. A — 9,107 (26,525).
