April 11, 2009 FORCED OUT Cepero leaves Bulls game with concussion
Danny Cepero left the Red Bulls game after suffering a concussion early in the match. Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
Houston -- Goalkeeper Danny Cepero was forced from the Red Bulls' match with the Houston Dynamo with a concussion in the seventh minute on Saturday night after colliding with forward Kei Kamara.
Former MetroStars midfielder Brad Davis started the sequence with a long free kick. Cepero came out to punch the ball away, but Kamara knocked heads with the goalkeeper. Cepero fell quickly to the turf and appeared to have been knocked unconscious at Robertson Stadium. Team trainer Rick Guter work on the Baldwin, L.I. native before he escorted him off the field.
Rookie Alec Dufty, who did not have a minute of MLS experience, replaced Cepero in the match.
The Dynamo botched a golden scoring opportunity in the 36th minute when Kamara headed a ball to U.S. international forward Brian Ching. Ching was barely onside, but beat the trap. He came in alone on Dufty, who came out to cut down the angle. Ching then lofted a shot well over the net.
The first half ended in a scoreless tie.
Dufty, a free agent who was not selected in the MLS SuperDraft, was all coach Juan Carlos Osorio had because veteran keeper Jon Conway was serving his 10th and final game of a 10-match drug suspension. Conway will be eligible to play in next week's home game against Real Salt Lake.
The 6-5, 205-lb. Dufty turned 22 last month. The University of Evansville product looked shaky during his early days in training camp, especially in Argentina, although he looked more comfortable in recent practices.
Cepero became a late-season and playoff hero in 2008, scoring in his first MLS match, a 3-1 win over the Columbus Crew, before becoming a vital part of the Red Bulls' fabulous playoff run to MLS Cup.
This was Cepero's and the Red Bulls' first return to Houston after the club jolted the Dynamo, 3-0, in the Western Conference semifinals, one of the greatest, if not biggest, playoff upsets in MLS history.
