Goals from Torres and Bautista give the Red-and-White 2-1 comeback win

LAS VEGAS – (Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014) – Chivas USA secured their third preseason win with a 2-1 victory over fellow Western Conference side the Colorado Rapids, 2-1, Sunday night in the Las Vegas ProSoccer Challenge. After falling behind on the Rapids’ initial score by Deshorn Brown, the Rojiblancos were propelled to the come-from-behind win on tallies from Erick “Cubo” Torres and Adolfo “Bofo” Bautista.

The Rapids got on the scoresheet first in the 16th minute when Brown brought down a pass inside the left side of the box sent to him by Dillon Serna. The forward was then able to beat Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy to his left with a shot across his body and inside the right post, after noticing the Red-and-White keeper was off his line.

Serving as the visiting side, the Rojiblancos pulled even three minutes later after forward Matthew Fondy was taken down inside the right side of the box when he attempted a solo play toward goal. The referee immediately awarded Chivas with the penalty and Torres surely placed the ball toward the back of the net, beating Colorado’s Clint Irwin to his left.

The Goats continued to push their attack forward and get into dangerous spots inside the box. In the 36th minute, Fondy found rookie Thomas McNamara on the left wing, where the midfielder took control of the pass and created space for himself on the left side to get off a clean strike. However, the attempt curled high and wide of the upper right corner of the goal.

Heading into the second half, the Red-and-White continued to get into range in search of their first lead of the contest, and in the 58th minute came within inches of tallying the go-ahead score. After playing a corner kick into the mixer, the ball fell loose near the penalty spot where McNamara unleashed a first-time volley. However, the powerful shot ended up crashing into the crossbar and out of play.

After repeated looks at goal, Chivas USA broke through and took the lead on a second penalty kick in the 83rd minute. Once McNamara was taken down inside the box, Bautista – who came on as a sub for Torres in the 62nd minute – lined up and knocked in his second game-winning goal of preseason when he beat the Rapids´keeper inches inside the left post. The goal not only gave the Rebaño Angelino the 2-1 result but also their second consecutive victory in the ProSoccer Challenge over Colorado.

Chivas USA will now head to Tucson, Ariz. to compete in the Desert Diamond Cup. The Goats will kick off the two-week competition on Wednesday when they face tournament host FC Tucson and will move on to play the New England Revolution three days later. After a rematch with the Rapids on Feb. 26, the Red-and-White will wrap up their participation in Tucson with a placement match on March 1.

For updates during the matches and more information during preseason camp, visit cdchivasusa.com and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Sam Boyd Stadium

Chivas USA 2-1 Colorado Rapids

Scoring Summary

COL – Deshorn Brown (Dillon Serna, Vicente Sanchez) 16’

CHV – Erick Torres (PK) 19’

CHV – Adolfo Bautista (PK) 83’

Lineup

Chivas USA

Dan Kennedy (Tim Melia 45’), Eric Avila (Andrew Ribeiro, 74’), Bobby Burling (Fejiro Okiomah, 76’), Carlos Bocanegra (Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 74’), Tony Lochhead (Michael Nwiloh, 76’), Trialist #1 (Carlos Alvarez, 12’), Mauro Rosales (Christopher Tyrpak, 74’), Oswaldo Minda (Trialist #2, 66’), Thomas McNamara (Bryan de la Fuente, 83’), Matthew Fondy (Caleb Calvert, 83’), Eric Torres (Adolfo Bautista, 62’; Carlo Chueca, 87’)