COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Seattle Sounders forward Herculez Gomez returns Saturday to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, where he holds a permanent piece of history.
On April 7, 2007, while playing with the Colorado Rapids, Gomez scored the first goal at the soccer-specific stadium in Commerce City, northeast of Denver near the airport. Now he is about to return for the first time wearing rave green as the Sounders visit for an MLS Western Conference match.
“Good memories,” Gomez said. “It was a fun time. Exciting for the team, the city, myself as a player. We opened up a brand-new stadium. I was fortunate enough to score the first goal.”
The home team won that opener, 2-1, over D.C. United.
“Cold day,” Gomez said. “I think it was the coldest day in recorded MLS history. It was a set piece, I did well to peel off my defender, (received) a good ball in, I knocked it down, far post. I think it was against Troy Perkins (current Sounders FC academy goalkeeper coach), if I’m not mistaken. Just fun memories of opening day and the buzz surrounding the new stadium, the new re-branding of the team.”
Gomez is one of several players in this match who have worn both jerseys.
Seattle midfielder Nate Sturgis make 31 appearances for Colorado in 2013 and 2014. And the Rapids roster includes three former Sounders: midfielder Micheal Azira was claimed in the waiver draft last offseason, defender Marc Burch left through the re-entry draft, and midfielder Marco Pappa was traded in December for allocation money. Pappa is off to a fast start with his new team, scoring a goal and assisting three others — but he is out with a left knee strain.
“I really enjoy playing anybody that I know, and I’ve been in the league long enough to know a bunch of people,” Burch said. “I have a good time competing against my friends. I definitely have a few on the Sounders, and that will be nice to see. But when you get on the field you don’t really talk much. You play the game.”
The Rapids have been playing well so far. After finishing last in the West last season, they are third now. They are one of the toughest teams in the league to score against, and their offense has become dangerous.
“That’s really what’s changing for us,” Burch said. “Marco has been incredible for us this year. I think we’re a lot more dynamic. (Forward Shkelzen) Gashi is playing well on the outside. … Luis Solignac has been doing really well. I think we have a great core of players. We might be a team that surprises other people in the league right now, but really for us, we’re not surprised.”
That Colorado attitude also was noted by Seattle coach Sigi Schmid.
“They’re very confident right now because obviously they’ve won games,” he said. “They’ve gotten good results. So they’ve got a little bit of a swagger to them.”
That’s a quality that could also be building in the Sounders, who started the season with three straight losses before going 2-0-1 over their next three leading into this match.
“Anytime you get on a run of unbeaten you want to continue that streak,” captain Brad Evans said. “The most important thing is playing to zero away from home against a very good team, at altitude. … I think for us it’s a good thing that we’re still building into hopefully something special.”
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