COMMERCE CITY, Colo. - Ray Burse realizes his days as the starting goalkeeper for FC Dallas might be numbered.
Taking over for much of the season in place of injured veteran Dario Sala, Burse has not been content simply keeping the spot warm for Sala, and instead set out to give the FC Dallas coaching staff something to think about once Sala returns.
Despite Saturday's result, a 1-0 loss at Colorado that snapped the club's modest three-game unbeaten streak, Burse has accomplished his mission.
Burse made four saves at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Saturday but was unable to smother a point-blank chance by Rapids defender Kosuke Kimura in the 79th minute, sending FC Dallas to only its second loss in its past nine matches.
FC Dallas (4-8-5) squandered an opportunity to close ground on Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference standings going into a bye week that precedes a visit to RSL on July 24.
"It was tough, a good shot by Kimura," Burse said. "He hit it so hard I had little time to react. By the time I reacted it was behind me. It was difficult, but a good goal for him. I got a finger (on it), but by the time I did it was well past me and going into the net."
Burse, who had appeared in only one game during each of the previous two seasons after being acquired as a third-round draft pick in 2006, was thrown into the fray after knee issues sidelined Sala out of the gate.
Sala started the season opener for FC Dallas but underwent surgery on March 24 to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Sala returned on April 25 against Chivas USA but was issued a red card during that match, leading to a mandatory one-game suspension, and a bone bruise that developed in his surgically repaired knee has kept Sala sidelined ever since.
Burse has helped FC Dallas recover from a 1-6-1 start and provided a spark during a stretch that has seen the club go 3-2-4 in its past nine games.
"The only thing I can focus on is how I play, focus on what I can do and what I can bring to the team and make it difficult for them to make a change," Burse said. "I need to continue to work hard and hopefully it will go in my favor. I have a good goalkeeping coach in Drew Keeshan who believes in me and has all the confidence in me in the world. He reiterates that to me on a daily basis and it carries over into the games."
FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman confirmed that Sala will start in his club's exhibition match against Guatemalan club CSD Comunicaciones on Wednesday at Pizza Hut Park. While it remains to be seen how Sala's knee will respond to game action, a bye in league play for FC Dallas this week creates a likely scenario for Sala to return when the club visits Real Salt Lake on July 24.
"Dario Sala is one of the better 'keepers in the league through experience and technical ability," Hyndman said. "He will have his first game coming back this Wednesday. We'll build it from there. He's basically been out since preseason. That's a big loss for us, but I also want to be very careful that I don't slam the great job that Ray has done. He's been a very good goalkeeper for us, and we saw a couple good saves out of him today.
"The bottom line is two things - you have to score goals, and we only had a couple chances, and then the other part is we can't give up goals."
No amount of heroics by Burse, who posted four saves, would have helped FC Dallas on Saturday, as a punchless offense allowed Colorado to pull out the late victory.
FC Dallas failed to produce a shot on goal throughout the entire match and took only two corner kicks. Playing without leading goal-scorer Kenny Cooper, who was with the U.S. national team for its Gold Cup match against Haiti, the FC Dallas offense was stagnant for much of the match.
Forward Jeff Cunningham, who scored two goals in the club's Cooper-less July 4 win against New York and had also produced three goals and one assist in the previous six games, was marked tightly by the Rapids defense all night, particularly by defender Ugo Ihemelu.
Cunningham finally found some free space during the final 20 minutes but was unable to get FC Dallas on the board before Kimura's 79th-minute tally. Cunningham just missed getting his foot on a hard cross from Eric Avila in the 70th minute after Cunningham sped past Pickens to an open net, and Cunningham's drop pass to Dave van den Bergh in the box minutes later ended in a wild shot that sailed high.
"It's a combination of (Cooper being absent) and playing a young player," Hyndman said. "The thing with young players is that they have great potentials, great futures, but they don't show up for every game. They just don't. They have their peaks and their valleys.
"With Cooper, he's an experienced player, so maybe you don't need to play another young player. I think the young players will be great down the road, but unless they show up and get better, then they are going to give balls away and they won't do the important things you need done night in and night out."
FC Dallas' 2009 first-round draft pick, defender George John, returned to the lineup for the first time since May 16 after recovering from a hamstring injury, but he suffered a cut on his head that required postgame stitches after bumping heads with Colorado's Conor Casey early in the second half. John's head was bandaged on the sideline and he returned to the match, but he finally exited in the 68th minute due to what Hyndman termed as "dizziness."
Pat Rooney is a contributor to MLSnet.com
