The Colorado Rapids jumped out to a two-goal lead inside 17 minutes, but went down a man and conceded two second half goals, ending the game with 10 men and a 2-2 tie against Sporting Kansas City.
Gabriel Torres and Dominique Badji tallied for the Rapids to stake Colorado to the early advantage, but after trialist Francisco Flores was shown a red card in the 75th minute, Sporting KC battled back for the draw off a penalty kick from Krisztián Németh and an equalizer from Bernardo Añor.
The newly-acquired Argentinian midfielder Lucas Pittinari played a nice through-ball to set up Torres in the 12th minute. The Rapids Panamanian designated player calmly found the right corner, beating the on-rushing Sporting KC goalkeeper Luis Marin.
Minutes later, Uruguayan veteran Vicente Sanchez danced around Marin, then squared a pass to Badji who tapped it into the empty net. Badji, who was , continues to impress this preseason. He also scored an insurance goal against UNLV in a .
The Rapids sent out an entirely different outfield lineup in the second half, holding the lead until going down a man when Flores was shown a second yellow for kicking a ball away.
In the 76th minute, Sporting KC’s Jimmy Medranda drew a penalty kick going down acrobatically as Rapids’ centerback Jared Watts attempted a slide tackle on the edge of the box. Central defense partner Shane O’Neill was shown yellow for decent, and was subbed off a minute later for Grant Van De Casteele.
Rapids keeper Zac MacMath guessed right, but Németh slotted home the spot kick.
Two minutes later, Añor collected a ball on the left side of the penalty area and created just enough space to slide the equalizer past MacMath to the near post.
The Rapids take on the New England Revolution Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in their second match of the Desert Diamond Cup.
FIRST HALF LINEUP:
Zac MacMath; Wes Knight, Bobby Burling, Axel Sjoberg, Michael Harrington, Lucas Pittinari, Marcelo Sarvas (captain), Vicente Sanchez, Gabriel Torres, Carlos Alvarez, Dominique Badji
SECOND HALF LINEUP:
Zac MacMath; Francisco Flores, Shane O’Neill (Grant Van De Casteele, 78), Jared Watts, Marc Burch, Sam Cronin (captain), Ben Newnam, Dillon Serna, Dillon Powers, Oscar Montoya, Deshorn Brown
