Press release from the club:
Getting Defensive
Sounders FC ranks tied for No. 2 in MLS in fewest goals allowed (6); two of those goals were scored while playing shorthanded. Kasey Keller rates first among keepers with a GAA of 0.32. He is No. 2 in shutouts (4) and wins (4).
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Colorado’s Northwest Connections
The Rapids have several players with Northwest connections, including forward Conor Casey, who scored 11 goals last season. Casey attended the University of Portland (1999-2000), where he was a teammate of Sounders FC forward Nate Jaqua in 2000.
Midfielder Ciaran O’Brien starred for Federal Way’s Decatur High School. He played on loan from the Rapids to the USL-1 Sounders last summer alongside his older brother Leighton, who played for the USL-1 Sounders for seven seasons. Their father, Fran, for both FC Seattle and the Tacoma Stars
Goalkeeper Preston Burpo played for the USL-1 Sounders from 1997-05, helping win the championship in 2005 under then head coach and current Sounders FC assistant Brian Schmetzer.
Ty Harden, who teamed up with Sounders FC midfielder Pete Vagenas for the 2007 season with the Galaxy, spent four years at the University of Washington (2003-06), where he was a teammate of Sounders FC goalkeeper Chris Eylander.
About Colorado
Second-year coach Gary Smith leads a Rapids team that through eight games is tied for third with Houston in the Western Conference with 12 points (3-2-3), and is unbeaten in its last three (1-0-2). The Rapids feature two U.S. National Team veterans in Pablo Mastroeni and Cory Gibbs. Midfielder Colin Clark has assisted on all three of Colorado’s game-winning goals. The Rapids are tied for 8th in goals scored with 11, and 4th in goals yielded with nine.
This past weekend, the Rapids tied with New England, 1-1. Forward Conor Casey, who is tied for third in MLS with five goals, scored in the third minute. Gibbs returned to the lineup as a second-half substitute for the first time since April 11. He had been sidelined with a groin injury.
Reach Aaron Weinberg at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
