HOUSTON — Brian Ching scored on a header in the 20th minute and Pat Onstad stopped a penalty kick late in the game to lift Houston to its first win of the season with a 1-0 victory Sunday over the Rapids.
Ching took a pass from Brad Davis on the left side of the box and headed it just under the crossbar. The ball hit the upper far post before going in to give Houston (1-2-2) its first goal in 254 minutes.
Onstad preserved the victory with a diving save on Conor Casey’s penalty kick in the 83rd minute, just getting a hand on the ball.
Colorado (2-2-1), which had its three-game unbeaten streak snapped, got two saves from Preston Burpo.
Colorado 0 0 — 0
Houston 1 0 — 1
First half — 1, Houston, Ching 2 (Davis), 20th minute. Second half — none.
Yellow cards — Casey, Colorado, 25th; Clark, Colorado, 28th; Clark, Houston, 34th; Mastroeni, Colorado, 58th; Davis, Houston, 63rd; Cummings, Colorado, 73rd. A — 12,708.
Lineups
Colorado — Preston Burpo, Ugo Ihemelu, Mehdi Ballouchy, Jordan Harvey, Scott Palguta, Kosuke Kimura, Nick LaBrocca (Terry Cooke, 68th), Conor Casey, Omar Cummings, Pablo Mastroeni, Colin Clark.
Houston — Pat Onstad, Richard Mulrooney, Brian Mullan, Brian Ching (Corey Ashe, 86th), Brad Davis, Geoff Cameron, Bobby Boswell, Kei Kamara, Stuart Holden, Wade Barrett, Ricardo Clark.
