Major League Soccer

Carrieri strikes three times to rally Colorado past Fire 3-2 before 61,213 home fans.

DENVER (Thursday, July 4, 2002) -- Colorado striker Chris Carrieri struck for three goals in a 30-minute span in the second half, spurring the Colorado Rapids to twice overcome deficits and defeat the Chicago Fire 3-2 before 61,213 celebrating Independence Day by watching Major League Soccer action at INVESCO Field tonight.

Carrieri, who came into the game in the 45th minute, scored twice, five minutes apart, in the closing eight minutes to turn defeat into victory for Colorado which won its second straight and is 8-7-1 with 16 points. Injury-depleted Chicago fell for the fourth straight outing and is 5-7-2 for 17 points.

Both teams played the second half with 10 men after ejections before intermission.

"It was a great team effort tonight," said Carrieri who doubled his season’s output to six goals. "The defense kept us in it. We went down 1-0, then 2-1 but we kept our heads in it. I think our confidence level is up right now.

In the 82nd minute, playmaker Carlos Valderrama took a pass out of the back and carried down the middle of the field. As he approached the penalty area, he dealt to midfielder Wes Hart at the left perimeter of the box. Hart passed back to the top corner of the box to Carrieri who, given time and space by three defenders in his vicinity, took a step to his right and launched a right-footer into the top right corner to tie matters at 2-2.

Five minutes later, midfielder Mark Chung found Carrieri alone in the left side of the box and, without pressure, he drilled a low shot into the right corner to make it 3-2 to the delight of the Colorado record crowd.

Coming out in the second half, I just tried to make a lot of good runs and tried to get the guys up with a lot of energy," Carrieri said. "With Chung and Carlos playing behind me and feeding me balls, I got three goals. I can't ask for anything more."

Striker Ante Razov gave Chicago a 1-0 advantage in the seventh minute. Defender C.J. Brown started the sequence with a midfield square pass at midfield to Jesse Marsch who played the ball over the shoulder of an advancing Razov. Razov nodded the ball down to his feet in full stride and ripped a hard shot past goalkeeper David Kramer from eight yards out.

"They were flat and Ante is good at making through runs and I just tried to put it where he could catch up to it and he finished well," Marsch said.

Razov, however, wasn’t long for the match, receiving yellow cards in the 33rd and 45th minutes, leading to his expulsion. Colorado forward John Spencer, who recorded the Rapids only other hat trick last July 4, had already been sent off in the 35th minute after receiving his second caution for elbowing Brown.

Carrieri evened the score at 1-1 in the 57th minute, capping off a give-and-go play with Chung. Chung and Carrieri traded passes around the box to spring Carrieri for a sharp shot past keeper Zach Thornton.

"Carrieri's composure and placement on these shots tonight is something we usually don't see out of him," Colorado coach Tim Hankinson said. "He should be able to look back at his performance tonight and use this as a measuring stick for himself as how he should handle himself in this league. He wasn't rushed, he was composed and picked his shots."

The Fire went back ahead 2-1 in the 70th minute. Forward Josh Wolff fed the ball to midfielder Jason Moore who used his first touch to put his first career goal past Kramer.

"It's about time," said Moore, a former member of the Rapids. "It's good to come back here and score. It would have been a lot better if we could have held on to the lead. I am just trying to get back with these injuries and prove myself."

Colorado 3, Chicago 2

Lineups: Colorado - David Kramer, Ritchie Kotschau (Zack Kingsley 74), Rick Titus, Jeff Stewart (Chris Carrieri 45), Robin Fraser, Wes Hart, Mark Chung, Chris Henderson, Kyle Beckerman (Raul Palacios 57), John Spencer, Carlos Valderrama. Chicago - Zach Thornton, C.J. Brown, Jim Curtin, Carlos Bocanegra, Kelly Gray (Aleksey Korol 68), David Vaudreuil (Billy Walsh 89), Jesse Marsch, Dema Kovalenko, Craig Capano (Jason Moore 45), Josh Wolff, Ante Razov.

Scoring:
Chicago - Razov (Marsch, Brown) 7.
Colorado - Carrieri (Chung) 57.
Chicago - Moore (Wolff) 69.
Colorado - Carrieri (Hart, Valderrama) 82.
Colorado - Carrieri (Chung, Palacios) 87.

Total shots: Colorado 20 (Henderson 4), Chicago 11 (Marsch 2, Moore 2, Vaudreuil 2). Shots on goal: Colorado 12 (Carrieri 3, Henderson 3), Chicago 3 (Wolff 1, Moore 1, Razov 1). Saves: Colorado - Kramer 1; Chicago - Thornton 9. Fouls: Colorado 19 (Palacios 4), Chicago 21 (Razov 4). Offside: Colorado 0, Chicago 4. Corner kicks: Colorado 7, Chicago 3. Yellow card cautions: Colorado - Spencer 6; Chicago - Razov 33, Bocanegra 38, Razov 45, Vaudreuil 76, Brown 90. Red card ejections: Colorado - Spencer (second yellow card) 35; Chicago - Razov (second yellow card) 45.

Referee: Noel Kenny. Assistant referees: Greg Barkey, Chip Reed. Attendance: 61,213 at INVESCO Field in Denver. Weather: Partly cloudy.