Fri Jul 11 17:56:22 2008

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Rapids gunning for share of Western lead at S.J.

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Santa Clara, CA (Sports Network) - The Colorado Rapids, who have won just one of their last five Major League Soccer fixtures, can jump into a three-way tie atop the Western Conference table with Chivas USA and the Los Angeles Galaxy with a win at San Jose on Saturday.

San Jose, which is currently in last in the West, can jump into contention in the crowded table with a victory, meaning there will be a lot on the line when the two teams square off at Buck Shaw Stadium.

The Rapids (6-8-1) just snapped a four-game winless streak with a dominating 4-0 win over New York last week at home and will be looking for more of the same on the road this week.

"I thought we'd played well throughout the last four or five games, we just couldn't score," Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo said after the New York win. "The players are playing hard. Every game except maybe San Jose at home we had a chance to win, on the road or at home. Today we proved it. ... It was understood that playing good and playing hard was not good enough any more. We have to get results."

Now that the Rapids are playing the Earthquakes on the road, perhaps there will be a bit of a revenge factor after they suffered a 2-0 loss to the expansion club on April 19 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

San Jose (3-9-3) will be aiming for the same type of performance it put on the first time these teams met this season, which was the club's first win in its return season to MLS. The team will also be gunning to snap its current five- game winless streak, with the latest setback being a 1-0 loss at Chivas USA last week.

"I think we should have had more points than what we've got, to be honest," San Jose coach Frank Yallop said after the Chivas USA loss. "Some of the games we've had, we should have gotten more points out of, but we're the bottom of the league, so the table doesn't lie. We're doing something wrong by losing games, but I think you saw tonight that our spirit is very good. We don't lay over and die against anybody and that's a great building block for any team."

For the 'Quakes to start getting results, they are going to have to start scoring goals. The team has a league-low 10 goals through 15 games this season.

"We've had a few injuries at wrong times, especially up front, and I think that's the thing that's obviously been hurting us - we can't score in the right times," Yallop said. "It's not just the guys that play up front, but it's important for them to be slipped in, in better positions, but just in general I think we need some help up there."