Wisconsin Soccer Central

After giving up more goals than any other team in Major League Soccer in 2014, the Colorado Rapids revamped their backline during the offseason.

One of those moves was selecting Axel Sjoberg (Marquette) in the first round of the Major League Soccer SuperDraft, and so far the 6-foot-7 center back has been great as part of the Rapids' new-look defense.

Sjoberg played the full 90 minutes as Colorado blanked the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 on Saturday night in Commerce City, Colo.

The Rapids have allowed nine goals on the season – tied for the fewest in the league – and are unbeaten (1-0-6) with Sjoberg in the lineup. In 630 minutes with him on the field, Colorado has given up just four goals, an average of one every 157 minutes.

On Twitter: @SjobergAxel

• Ethan Finlay (Marshfield) set up the first of Kei Kamara's two goals as host Columbus Crew SC tied the Chicago Fire 2-2 in an MLS match Friday night. Finlay took a pass from Justin Meram and played the ball across the box for Kamara to tap in past Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch for the opening goal in the 8th minute. It was Finlay's sixth assist of the season – he's tied for second in the league in assists, one behind Sporting Kansas City's Benny Feilhaber. On Twitter: @EthanFinlay13
• Bryan Ciesiulka (Marquette) came on in the 72nd as Saint Louis FC outlasted the Des Moines Menace 2-1 after extra time in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup second-round match Wednesday night in Fenton, Mo. UW's Carl Schneider (Madison La Follette) and Marquette's C. Nortey started for the Menace – Schneider played all 120 minutes and Nortey logged 95 for the USL Premier Development League side. On Twitter: @bciesiulka
• Carlos McCrary, who played the past three seasons with the Madison 56ers in the National Premier Soccer League, scored his 12th goal of the season Saturday as host 1. FCA 04 Darmstadt lost to FC Kalbach 4-3 in Verbandsliga Hessen-Süd play in Germany. McCrary is tied for 11th in the league in goals for Darmstadt (11-12-8), which is in 11th place in the 17-team sixth-division league – two points ahead of the relegation zone – heading into next Sunday's season finale at VFB Ginsheim. On Twitter: @CarlosMcCrary
• Center back Eric Pothast (Marquette) made his first league appearance of the season Sunday as Ängelholms FF played a 0-0 draw with host Ljungskile SK in a Superettan match in Sweden. Pothast, who missed the first nine matches because of a back injury, helped Ängelholms (1-4-5) post its first clean sheet of the year in the second-division league. On Twitter: @Eric_Pothast
• Midfielder Mary Luba (Shorewood/Marquette) signed with the Chicago Red Stars as an amateur player and made her debut Saturday night, playing the final 12 minutes of a 2-1 win over host FC Kansas City in a National Women's Soccer League game. On Twitter: @lubamary
• Hannah Kernen (Belleville/Sugar River/UW-Green Bay) made her professional debut Saturday in Borlänge, Sweden, playing all 90 minutes as Täby FK topped host Gustafs GoIF 3-2 in a third-tier Division 1 Norra Svealand match.
• Goalkeeper Genevieve Richard (UW) played her first pro match as Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara thumped Ehime FC Ladies 5-1 in Nadeshiko League Division 2 play Sunday in Japan. Nojima Stella (7-2-1) is second in the 10-team second-tier league, which plays a 27-game season. On Twitter: @GenRichard_GK