It took 65 minutes, but the Colorado Rapids finally found their form Saturday night, getting goals from substitute Terry Cooke and Omar Cummings in a nine-minute stretch and putting away the Kansas City Wizards 2-1 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
Mere seconds after coming onto the field, Cooke whipped a free kick off the inside of the post, beating K.C. goalkeeper Kevin Hartman -- who earlier in the evening became Major League Soccer's all-time saves leader. Wizards substitute Michael Kraus provided some magic of his own off the bench, pulling the visitors level just five minutes later.
But then Cummings stroked home a rolling shot from the right side of the penalty area just four minutes later in response, giving the Rapids the victory in their home opener.
The Rapids came out quickly for their first kick at home, establishing early dominance on possession and keeping Kansas City on its back foot for the first 20 minutes of the half.
Though largely the same squad that finished last season with new head coach Gary Smith during his "interim" period, the attack looks tighter, quicker, more controlled after a full preseason incorporating Smith's style.
The Rapids set the pace for much of the first half, while Kansas City seemed content to sit back, hoping Colorado might exhaust itself on the attack. But Colorado showed no fatigue, keeping the pressure on with every opportunity, beginning in the fifth minute when Mehdi Ballouchy lifted a corner kick towards the spot, but the Rapids couldn't get a touch to it.
Following a yellow card shown to Cory Gibbs in the 22nd minute, the Wizards' attack woke up a bit, and Claudio Lopez had a chance with on a centering pass from Jonathan Leathers, heading it towards the corner where Rapids 'keeper Matt Pickens intercepted it on its path to the net.
Rapids strikers Conor Casey and Cummings threatened in the 31st, taking a couple of high bounces back and forth from 20 yards, but neither could got a shot off. Lopez was there on the counter attack, getting a hard shot off from the left, but Pickens knocked it out again.
With center midfielder Pablo Mastroeni playing for the U.S. national team, Peterson earned the start ahead of Cooke, taking the right midfielder slot while Nick LaBrocca slid into center. Peterson made his presence known throughout the match, constantly pressuring the Wizards defenders, running down balls and pressing the back line.
LaBrocca forced a save out of Hartman late in the first half, which pulled the 13-year veteran level with Tony Meola for the all-time MLS saves record. When Hartman parried a shot from Cummings in stoppage time, the record was his at 1,137 saves for his career.
Kansas City was increasingly active in Colorado's back third as the half progressed, and after a scoreless 45 minutes, the halftime adjustments figured to be key. The biggest came with the dueling substitutions off each bench, as Cooke and Kraus changed the dynamics, coming in cold as the temperatures sunk below freezing and heating up the attack from both sides.
Cooke's substitution for Peterson in the 65th brought the crowd to its feet, and the playmaker kept them standing with a goal seconds later on a freekick following Leathers' yellow card. With the ball set up outside the left post right on the edge of the area, Cooke whistled the ball inside the near pipe and off the frame for his first goal of the season.
The Wizards countered with their own bench magic, as rookie Kraus entered the match in the 67th minute for his first ever minute of play in a regular season game -- he made his professional debut for the Wizards in last year's playoffs. It took two minutes before Kraus was facing Pickens one-on-one, blasting it over Pickens' head and off the crossbar before it bounced into the net for the leveler.
With the stalemate broken, the Rapids roared back as Colin Clark sprung Cummings and the powerful striker unleashed a rolling shot into the corner past Hartman for the eventual game-winner.
The Rapids pressed to the final minutes, though they were forced to dodge a bullet in the waning seconds when Wizards center back Jimmy Conrad got free to head a corner kick toward goal, only to put it high.
The Rapids hit the road next Saturday, traveling back to The Home Depot Center, where they will take on the LA Galaxy, while the Wizards return home to take on the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday.
Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
