COMMERCE CITY — Colorado Rapids defender Kosuke Kimura has no memory of the 20 minutes that followed a blow to his head in last week’s draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy, but he may never forget Saturday night’s showdown with Rocky Mountain rival Real Salt Lake.
Kimura scored his first MLS goal, running onto an assist by midfielder Terry Cooke in the 60th minute and knocking it home to give Colorado its second goal in a 2-0 victory, Colorado’s first shutout of the season.
Midfielder Nick LaBrocca also scored for Colorado as the Rapids raised their record to 3-2-2 on a frigid, damp evening at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
Making the evening even sweeter for Kimura, his parents came from Yokohama, Japan, to see him for the first time in years. Kimura is the first native of Japan to play in the MLS.
“I felt something coming,” Kimura said. “I sprinted all the way down the field. I got the ball and hit it as hard as I could and scored. I didn’t want to disappoint my parents and everything, so it was great.”
LaBrocca replaced Mehdi Ballouchy in the starting lineup and the move paid off when he delivered his first goal of the season with a header in the 11th minute. Target man Conor Casey began the play, laying off a deft ball for Colin Clark on the left wing. Clark’s sharp crossing pass found LaBrocca running free in front of the RSL goal.
“For me, he was our man of the match,” Rapids coach Gary Smith said of LaBrocca. “He was a driving force in that midfield. The goal really capped a very, very good performance.”
LaBrocca typically is used in a more defensive role, but Saturday he gave the attack a spark.
“My job was to get in the box,” LaBrocca said, “and it worked out well.”
RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando was injured in a collision with Casey in the 35th minute and was replaced by backup Kyle Reynish, who had never seen action in an MLS game. Things got worse for the visitors five minutes later when they were forced to play one man down after defender Jamison Olave was sent off with a red card for a hard foul on Casey. Unlike the rescinded red card last week against Todd Dunivant that baffled the Rapids when it was withdrawn, this one stood.
Salt Lake 0 0 — 0
Colorado 1 1 — 2
First half — 1, Colorado, LaBrocca 1 (Clark, Casey), 11th minute.
Second half — 2, Colorado, Kimura 1 (Cooke, Harvey), 60th.
Goalies — Nick Rimando, Real Salt Lake; Matt Pickens, Colorado.
Yellow cards — Ihemelu, Colorado, 37th; Findley, Real Salt Lake, 55th; Beckerman, Real Salt Lake, 87th.
Red cards — Olave, Real Salt Lake, 41st.
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
