Colorado Rapids goalkeeper Preston Burpo goes by the nickname "Stone." Well, it took gutsy performances by "Stone" and his defense for the Rapids to hold on to defeat the Los Angeles Galaxy 4-2 on penalty kicks in their U.S. Open Cup play-in game on Tuesday night at The Home Depot Center.
The dynamics of the game changed after midfielder Greg Dalby was issued a straight red card in the 36th minute, forcing the Rapids to play a man down for the rest of the game -- which remained scoreless after regulation and 30 minutes of extra time.
Burpo sealed the victory during the shootout by blocking shots from the Galaxy's Chris Klein and Mike Magee.
"I just kind of got good reads on them," Burpo said. "Fortunately I was in front of them to make the saves."
While Burpo was the hero at game's end, the team effort wasn't lost on coach Gary Smith.
"I thought just categorically we showed tremendous character (being) a man down for what I think was the best part of 90 minutes," Smith said. "That's never easy away from home."
It took Colorado's defense recognizing that the dynamics of the game would be altered after Dalby's ejection. The Rapids' whole defensive mindset changed.
"The timing of the red card wasn't great," said defender Scott Palguta, one of three Rapids players making his first start. "A red card is never good, but to come so early in the game, you know at that point we knew we just had to grind it out. It was going to have to be a very professional performance."
The Rapids strayed away from their strategy during Saturday night's 3-2 victory against the Galaxy. In that game it was LA which played with a man down for part of the second half while Conor Casey -- who sat out Tuesday's game -- picked apart the Galaxy's defense on his way to scoring a hat trick. This, though, was going to have to be different for the Rapids to have a chance.
"We had to let them have the ball," said midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy, who entered the game after halftime. "We had to sit on top of the 18 and just shift around. There was no way we could chase the ball around. We'd have no chance."
Burpo recognized the outstanding play of his defense in front of him.
"Guys tactically stuck together defensively," Burpo said. "You could see this team has a lot of character, spirit. And I think that showed being a man down for however long it was."
It must have felt like forever for Burpo, who guarded the net while the Galaxy took 24 shots (to Colorado's 11). Still, he was Mr. Dependable starting for the second consecutive game in place of injured Matt Pickens.
"Preston's a great professional. He's one of life's reliable people," Smith said. "He was extremely disappointed that he didn't start the season. (He) had a fantastic preseason. He's now pulling out all the stops to keep up with that position. Preston will be there when you need him. That's why he's part of this group, because he's a strong person."
Burpo was also selfless on Tuesday night, as he wasn't interested in stirring controversy over the starting position after his tremendous performance and helping the Rapids earn consecutive road wins.
"It's not about me," Burpo said. "It's about the bracket and we came down here and got a win Saturday night and won tonight. The goal in this tournament is to win each and every game because it's a knockout tournament, and the team reached both goals."
Simon Jude Samano is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
