COMMERCE CITY — Conor Casey moved into a tie for first place on the all-time Rapids scoring list, Omar Cummings scored his fifth goal in the last four games and the Rapids secured their third consecutive 3-0 win at home Saturday night.
And those were just the highlights of an unusually eventful evening.
Wells Thompson scored his first goal in a Rapids uniform against the New England Revolution, the team that traded him to Colorado last winter, and Regis Jesuit High School graduate Brian Mullan made an impressive Rapids debut after being traded from Houston last week.
“One of the best experiences of my life,” Mullan said of his homecoming. “I’ve been waiting for this day for 10 years.”
Casey scored his 39th goal for the Rapids to tie Paul Bravo.
“It’s a big honor,” Denver South graduate Casey said. “A lot of good forwards have come through here, and this is my fourth year now. To do it, and also know that I have a couple years to build on that, is exciting for me. And it feels really good, coming from Denver too.”
Casey hit the post in the first half and was thwarted by a spectacular save by New England goalkeeper Matt Reis in the second half.
Thompson scored with an assist from Macoumba Kandji, a second-half substitute acquired last week in a trade with New York. After the ball found the net, Thompson pulled off his jersey to reveal an undershirt with John 3:16 printed on the front.
“Everybody’s asking me who John is,” Thompson said. “Monkey off the back, just to score, but to do it against your old team is just an added bonus.”
The last time a visitor scored on Colorado was July 17. Since then the Rapids have posted four shutouts and a 1-1 tie against Dallas that included an own goal by Rapids defender Julien Baudet.
Houston coach Dominic Kinnear called Mullan a “fierce competitor” after trading him here, and Mullan played that way from the first minute.
“I thought his display was a fabulous debut for us,” Rapids coach Gary Smith said. “He made some really good choices in possession, he tracked back and battled away when needed, he joined in and was creative with his crossing and his passing, and had a couple of efforts on goal.”
Those three consecutive 3-0 home wins came against teams in last or next to last place, but Smith was happy with the way his team showed no mercy.
“I thought the performance was one of a group of players that looked inspired, that maybe had a little bit of a point to prove after getting beat last weekend,” Smith said. “It was an extremely good performance, and a very, very good result.”
New England 0 0 — 0
Colorado 2 1 — 3
First half — 1, Colorado, Cummings 10 (Smith), 5th minute. 2, Colorado, Casey 10 (Cummings, Smith), 35th.
Second half — 3, Colorado, Thompson 1 (Kandji), 83rd.
Goalies — New England, Matt Reis; Colorado, Matt Pickens.
Yellow cards — Sinovic, New England, 67th; Thompson, Colorado, 84th.
Referee — Mark Geiger. Assistant referees — Steve Taylor. Jeff Muschik.
4th official — Mark Kadlecik.
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
