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Rapids down Crew to extend run in home openers

Mar 11, 2012 - 3:11 AM Commerce City, CO (Sports Network) - The Colorado Rapids have turned Dick's Sporting Goods Park into a fortress in their home openers.

Drew Moor and Quincy Amarikwa scored and Colorado extended its unbeaten streak in home openers to nine straight matches with a 2-0 win over the Columbus Crew on Saturday in the teams' season opener in Major League Soccer.

Since moving into Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Colorado has five wins and a tie in six home openers.

Columbus, which has been eliminated in the postseason by Colorado the last two seasons, had just a handful of chances in its first match against the Rapids since being eliminated in the wild-card round of the playoffs last season.

Colorado goalie Matt Pickens wasn't very busy, but he made a huge save midway into the first half to keep the match scoreless after 30 minutes. Rookie Ethan Finlay, who replaced an injured Dilly Duka after 12 minutes, launched a blast that Pickens had to dive to tip around the right post.

The Rapids (1-0-0) followed with the opening goal just before half, as a short corner was played to Kosuke Kimura on the right and he swung a pass to the far side of the area for an unmarked Moor to head home in the 43rd minute.

Colorado maintained the lead until the closing minutes, when Kimura picked up his second assist on Amarikwa's goal. Amarikwa dribbled around a few defenders and drove a shot into the upper-left corner in the 89th.

Although Colorado and Columbus (0-1-0) have developed a rivalry through their playoff meetings, the clubs will not meet again during the regular season and wouldn't meet again this season unless both advanced to the MLS Cup final.