By Allison Ann Otto, Special to The Denver Post

April 14,2003
 

    Zizi Roberts had little to say after Saturday's 2-1 season-opening loss to San Jose before 20,816 fans at Invesco Field at Mile High.

Sitting in front of his locker with his arms crossed, his face said it all for the Colorado Rapids' forward: total frustration.

"I don't know what I'm going to do tonight," Roberts said. "I guess I'm not going to sleep, because I really don't like to lose."

The Liberian native scored the Rapids' only goal less than a minute into the second half off a pass from fellow rookie Casey Schmidt.

But it was the missed opportunities later in the game that needled Roberts, particularly in the 72nd minute when he was tackled from behind by defender Troy Dayak at the top of the San Jose goal box. The play could have elicited a penalty kick, but despite Roberts' objections no foul was called.

"It looked on the replay like it was a penalty, but those are the calls of the game you have to live with," Rapids coach Tim Hankinson said.

"I thought that was a definite penalty," said John Spencer, who came into the game as a substitution for defender Steve Herdsman in the 46th minute. "But to be fair to (the referee), I think the linesman could have helped him out on the side. He was closer."

Roberts had one more chance in the 85th minute - again from just outside the goal box. His shot missed wide to the left of goalie Pat Onstad and landed in the side of net outside the goal.

"I was very sure that was a second goal," Roberts said. "I saw everybody yelling. I felt so crazy."

Then he realized the ball landed outside the net and he fell to his knees.

The Rapids were battling uphill from the start in their first franchise opener at home. Less than a minute into the game, San Jose's Brian Ching trapped a pass from Brian Mullan and scored with a low shot to Rapids keeper Scott Garlick's right side. Landon Donovan, who didn't play in the second half due to a lingering flu, was also credited with an assist.

Wheat Ridge native Todd Dunivant, making his MLS debut, scored San Jose's second goal. He netted a shot in the 22nd minute that went between Garlick's legs. Dunivant became the first San Jose rookie in team history to score in his debut game.

"In the first 15 minutes they put us under pressure and we didn't mark up tight," Hankinson said. "Two shots, two goals. Any way you look at it, it is just poor defending from the start of the game. That put us in a very difficult hole the rest of the night."

Colorado had a scoring opportunity in the 20th minute when Craig Waibel shoved midfielder Chris Henderson, who drew a foul to set up a direct kick by Mark Chung. The midfielder's kick was headed down by teammate Robin Fraser but was immediately cleared by Dayak.