FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Colorado captain Pablo Mastroeni scored in the 73rd minute on a laser shot from 25 yards out for the winning goal Saturday night as the Rapids overcame a slew of missed scoring opportunities to hand New England its first home loss of the season, 2-1 at Gillette Stadium.
After a flurry of activity near the Revolution net in the 33rd minute proved fruitless for the Rapids, it appeared the match between the Major League Soccer clubs would end just as each of their three prior meetings had — in a 1-1 draw.
But Conor Casey, with his back to the goal at the top of the box, rolled one back to an oncoming Mastroeni, who blasted a shot past former Colorado goalkeeper Preston Burpo to give the Rapids (3-1-1) a road win.
“It really did (feel inevitable that the game would end in a tie),” Mastroeni said. “(Casey) did a good job of laying it back with enough pace where I could just run into it, and I just took a swing and it hit the back of the net.”
Burpo, who was traded to New England (2-3-0) along with Cory Gibbs during the offseason for Jeff Larentowicz and Wells Thompson, kept his team in the game with an amazing sequence in the first half. Mehdi Ballouchy’s bicycle kick bounced off the crossbar, off Burpo’s body and into a follow-up shot by Casey that was snuffed out by Burpo.
“I thought New England only had fleeting opportunities that were counterattacks,” Rapids coach Gary Smith said. “I didn’t think they had many opportunities to get themselves on level terms.”
Matt Pickens made four saves for the Rapids, whose 10 points are the most in team history through five games.
In the 14th minute, Ballouchy introduced himself to the goal column with his first score of the season. With his right foot, the Moroccan launched a one-hopper past Burpo from about 35 feet out.
Revolution midfielder and MLS newcomer Marko Pero- vic, who had spent much of his career overseas playing in Switzerland, secured the equalizer on a spectacular free kick only five minutes later, his first in the league.
Sainey Nyassi drew a foul from Marvell Wynne, setting up the 25-yard, left-footed curl over a wall of Colorado defenders.
Colorado … 1 – 1 — 2
New England … 1 – 0 — 1
First half — 1, Colorado, Ballouchy 1, 14th minute. 2, New England, Perovic 1, 19th.
Second half — 3, Colorado, Mastroeni 1 (Casey), 73rd.
Goalies — Colorado, Matt Pickens; New Eng- land, Preston Burpo. Yellow cards — Phelan, New England, 48th; Mastroeni, Colorado, 66th; Casey, Colorado, 90th.
