HOUSTON — The Rapids nearly broke through in Houston.
After going winless in the Bayou City in five meetings, Colorado took a 2-1 lead in the 71st minute on a Houston own goal. The Rapids, however, couldn’t hold on as the Dynamo tied it with Joseph Ngwenya’s goal in the 80th minute, and the Major League Soccer teams played to a 2-2 draw before 13,744 fans Saturday night at Robertson Stadium.
Colorado extended its unbeaten streak to five games.
“It’s a very difficult place to come and get any points,” Rapids coach Gary Smith said. “I’m delighted the way my players approached the game. I feel they showed a lot of energy and courage. Some of our play, especially in the second half, was very, very decent. Sadly, we didn’t make enough of some of the openings that we got ourselves into. Maybe that was due to the break and a little bit of rust. Nevertheless, I thought it was a very genuine, hardworking, disciplined and, ultimately, fair result.”
In its first game in 17 days, Colorado (6-3-3, 21 points) appeared rusty in the first half, with Houston (5-7-2, 17 points) gaining a 1-0 lead on Danny Cruz’s goal from 30 yards out in the center in the 17th minute.
Conor Casey responded in the 45th minute after taking a pass from Mehdi Ballouchy in the middle of the box. Casey slipped past one Dynamo defender, drawing Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad out of the net and getting him to slide before blooping it over Onstad and into the net from 10 yards out.
Colorado took the lead off Jaime Smith’s corner kick that found Lovel Palmer’s left hip and dribbled into the left net inside the near post, but Ngwenya tied it 2-2 for the Dynamo by scoring from 12 yards out.
“It’s good to be back,” said Casey, who scored his third goal in four games and sixth of the season. “Obviously, it was nice to have some time off. It was nice to get a point in the end coming into the heat. It’s never easy to play here. After going up, it’s a little disappointing not coming away with three, but I think it’s a fair point.”
Said Rapids goalkeeper Matt Pickens: “We came out a little flat. But they didn’t have a lot of chances in the first half, either. . . . We wanted to dictate the pace, and I think overall we did all right. We’re not crazy excited about the point, but we will take it and go home.”
Colorado 1 1 — 2
Houston 1 1 — 2
First half — 1, Houston, Cruz 2 (Ashe), 17th minute. 2, Colorado, Casey 6 (Ballouchy), 45th. Second half — 3, Colorado, Palmer (own goal), 71st. 4, Houston, Ngwenya 1 (Mullan, Ching), 80th. Goalies — Colorado, Matt Pickens; Houston, Pat Onstad. Yellow cards — Ching, Houston, 7th; Larentowicz, Colorado, 68th. Referee — Mark Geiger.
