COMMERCE CITY — On Saturday night, the Rapids sought to start positive streaks in two areas — winning at home and finding a scoring touch.
They accomplished both.
Conor Casey scored in the 63rd minute, and the Rapids won for the second time at home, beating Seattle 1-0 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in front of a sellout crowd of more than 18,000. The win was the Rapids’ second in their last five games (including Wednesday’s contest against New York, which was a U.S. Open Cup qualifier) and was their fifth of the season.
“We well deserved the win,” Rapids coach Gary Smith said. “All the best chances went our way, I felt. All in all, a wonderful result.”
With just nine goals this season coming into the contest, there had been a bit of concern over the Rapids’ inconsistency in finding the back of the net. But a Rapids team that is getting used to a new system and growing in confidence started to find its form against the Sounders.
Pressure was the name of the game early as the Rapids put considerable heat on Seattle’s back third for much of the first half. They had good chances in the fourth, sixth and ninth minutes, though nothing found its mark. By the end of the first half, the Rapids had fired five shots, two on goal, keeping Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller — a former U.S. national team keeper — on his toes.
In the second half, the Rapids broke through. Forward Omar Cummings played a ball to Casey, who outdueled a Seattle defender and found himself with space on the right side of the box with the ball. Casey gathered himself and chipped a shot over Keller’s head into the left side of the net.
It was Casey’s fourth of the season.
“Conor scored a terrific goal,” Smith said. “It should give the fellow a huge boost, because while he has been criticized in some corners for not scoring . . . his general play has been great. He’s been an absolute rock up front for us.”
The goal was Casey’s first during game action this season. His other three scores came off penalty kicks.
“It’s been a while since I scored,” Casey said. “It was a nice way to do it, for sure.
Seattle 0 0 — 0
Colorado 0 1 — 1
First half — None. Second half — 1, Colorado, Casey 4, 63rd minute. Goalies — Seattle FC, Kasey Keller; Colorado, Matt Pickens. Yellow cards — Gonzalez, Seattle FC, 46th+; Mastroeni, Colorado, 48th+; Ianni, Seattle FC, 52nd; Ljungberg, Seattle FC, 53rd; Wynne, Colorado, 71st; Casey, Colorado, 96th+. Referee — Jair Marrufo. Assistant referees — Greg Barkey. Peter Manikow- ski. Fourth official — Ramon Hernandez. A — 18,416 (18,086)
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
