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Rapids top Dynamo on fluke goal

Aug 12, 2007 - 4:46 AM COMMERCE CITY, Colorado (Ticker) -- The Colorado Rapids picked up a much-needed victory on Saturday and they didn't even have to score.

Houston Dynamo midfielder Dwayne De Rosario scored into his own net in the 61st minute to hand the Rapids a 1-0 win and put an end to the team's 10-game winless streak.

Bouna Coundoul made five saves to earn his sixth shutout of the season for Colorado, which came into the game having gone 0-7-3 over its last 10 league matches. Conversely, Houston lost their second straight after going 8-0-3 in its previous 11 league games.

The fluke goal occurred when Rapids' midfielder Terry Cooke sent in a corner kick from the right side and De Rosario accidentally headed the ball into the back-right of the Houston net. Seconds prior to that, Cooke had sent in a corner kick to almost the exact same spot and De Rosario headed it to the right of the goal, which gave Colorado the second opportunity.

"I sent the ball far post and it just dropped there at the far post," Cooke said. "We got lucky enough, the chances went our way and we got the bounce and the ball went in."

Seconds prior to that, Cooke had sent in a corner kick to almost the exact same spot and De Rosario headed it to the right of the goal, which gave Colorado the second opportunity.

"It was a great finish by Dwayne," Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad jokingly said. "Not much you can do when the guy heads it in the top corner and it's your own guy. You don't expect him to head it that way. It happens."

Regardless of how they got it, the Rapids' victory was their first in three meetings with Houston this season. The Dynamo, who beat Colorado in the Western Conference final en route to the championship last season, came into the game with a 4-1-1 record in the all-time series.

"Today, we battled for 90 minutes against adversity and we managed to win," Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo said. "I've said all along that this team always has a great intensity and fight and tonight was not an exception. We finally get a win that we needed."

Colorado (5-9-6) appeared to have scored a goal on their own early in the game when Herculez Gomez found the net with a header in the fourth minute. But the goal was disallowed as Gomez received a yellow card on the play for his part in a collision with Dynamo defender Ryan Cochrane.

One of Coundoul's best saves in the match occurred in the 17th minute when he denied a shot by Craig Waibel. The netminder injured his right arm on the play as he collided with the goal post after cradling the ball. Coundoul remained on the ground for several minutes, but stayed in the game.

"Bouna was a wall," Clavijo said. "He controlled the game, managed the game and played well. This win goes to the team."

Houston (10-7-4) had a chance to knot the game in the 77th minute as Rapids' defender Ugo Ihemelu received a red card ejection for taking down forward Josheph Ngwenya. However, the subsequent free kick from outside the goal box was sent high and wide to the right by midfielder Ricardo Clark.

"I am surprised tonight because we didn't win," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said. "We are making mistakes now where we haven't been before."