For a man the MLS Direct Kick announcers were calling the Galaxy Killer, he sure found a whole lot of “space” in a porous L.A. defense. Just 16 seconds into the game, Casey started his scoring spree off an Omar Cummings cross. He didn’t finish until he had posted a hat trick and earned the Rapids their second win of the season.

Gary Smith, from the Denver Post

“Wonderful, absolutely wonderful,” gushed Smith. “No game away from home is easy, we all know that. We took the game to them, and then we implode a little bit. It was a difficult night, but I think we showed a lot of character.”

The Rapids did manage some shaky play in the first half. Preston Burpo appeared to have his feet in concrete as rookie Omar Gonzalez put a Landon Donovan cross into the back of the net (36′). The entire back four caught the slows in the 48th minute and they were unable to close down a nice passing attack resulting in goal number two.

However Casey was not to be denied. The former South High School answered less than 2 minutes later with a deja vu tap-in of a Cummings cross (watch for that Thunder & Lighting combo all year). Then in a complete collapse of the Galaxy defense, he found himself all alone in the 84th minute, calmly steered around the goalie, and pounded in the winner.

I wouldn’t presume we will find all defenses so accommodating in the future. The set piece goal was needless, we will certainly want to improve our marking (especially the really tall guys!). It will be interesting to see who is in net next week as well, I haven’t heard why Preston Burpo replaces Pickens in goal, who has been performing well.

Again, however, the Rapids ability to score and score often (I can’t believe I said that) led the way. The Casey/Cummings combo is a delight to watch.

Next up: the Galaxy again, Tuesday night, in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

For more coverage of the game

• The Denver Post
• Video Highlights