SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Conor Casey, the MLS’ leading scorer, converted a penalty kick in second-half injury time to lift the Colorado Rapids into a 1-1 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday night.
Casey scored his 14th goal after San Jose was called for taking down Drew Moor in a scramble for a last-minute cross. Casey pushed his shot to the right of goalkeeper Joe Cannon mere seconds before the final whistle sounded.
Reinvigorated by a nearly three-week break from league play, the Earthquakes (5-13-5) took to the role of spoiler, looking to hand Colorado (10-8-7) its second consecutive loss.
The Rapids moved into a tie for third with Seattle in the Western Conference with 37 points and are tied for fifth overall. The top two teams in each conference and the clubs that have the next six highest point totals qualify for the playoffs.
San Jose went up in the eighth minute when Ryan Johnson looped a header from 8 yards over the head of goalkeeper Preston Burpo, who was playing in place of injured starter Matt Pickens. The ball had been delivered into the penalty box off a throw-in from deep on the left wing by center back Brandon McDonald.
The Rapids also played without starters Colin Clark and Cory Gibbs due to injury and Pablo Mastroeni because of a league suspension.
Colorado nearly tied it in the 68th minute when Casey gained control of a Rapids corner kick that San Jose failed to clear effectively and fired a low shot to the near post, but Cannon made the save.
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Story from: STATS LLC, .
