Galaxy Has No Shot in 1-0 Loss to Rapids

Eight was definitely more than enough for the Galaxy.

Chris Carrieri’s 77th-minute goal added to Los Angeles’ misery as the previously winless Colorado Rapids secured a 1-0 victory in front of 13,368 at Denver on Saturday night.

The only bright spot for the Galaxy (0-4-4) is that its Major League Soccer-record eight-game season-opening trip is finally over. The team christens the 27,000-seat Home Depot Center on Saturday against the Rapids (1-5-1).

“I think it is going to be great, it’s just what the doctor ordered,” Galaxy defender Danny Califf said. “But I don’t think that we can go into it thinking that the wins are going to come just because we’re at home.”

On a night when the Galaxy was missing scoring-machine forward Carlos Ruiz -- suspended because of a red card in the previous game -- it figured offensive chances would be at a premium.

But the Galaxy took things to the extreme by not recording a shot on goal.

Even worse was that the goal it gave up was Colorado’s first in 395 minutes. The Rapids also had been shut out in their last three games and had held a lead for only 10 minutes all season before Saturday.

“We limited Colorado to only four or five shots on goal, not a bad performance,” Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said. “It’s just that we can’t sustain it when we have the ball.”

Colorado’s goal came on one of the Galaxy’s few defensive breakdowns.

Mark Chung dribbled to his right past Califf near the top of the box -- drawing defender Hong Myung-Bo -- before sending a pass back to his left to a wide-open Carrieri.

Before anyone could stop him, Carrieri sent a well-placed shot under goalkeeper Kevin Hartman’s left arm into the lower right corner of the net.