The Colorado Rapids announced today the team's first trade of the 2005 off-season, as the Black and Blue acquired forward Cornell Glen from the Columbus Crew in exchange for veteran defender Ritchie Kotschau.
"Ritchie's leadership was without a doubt a great asset for the Rapids and we thank him for everything he did for our team." said Charlie Wright, General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of the Colorado Rapids. "This trade allows us to acquire an exciting striker in Cornell Glen, who we expect will provide a more diverse attacking option for the Black and Blue in 2006."
Forward Cornell Glen comes to his fourth MLS team in his third year in the league. Glen appeared in 18 games for the MetroStars in 2004, tallying six goals and two assists. This past year he spent time with FC Dallas, not seeing any action, before heading to the Crew and scoring four goals, including a penalty kick against the Rapids.
The native of Trinidad & Tobago has played in 34 games for their national team, "The Soca Warriors", scoring 11 goals. Most recently Glen was called up for Trinidad's World Cup Qualifying playoff matches against Bahrain, from which the island nation qualified for their first World Cup Finals ever. He also played for Trinidad & Tobago in the 2005 Gold Cup, where he scored the tying goal against Panama in the 90th minute during the group stage.
Before playing for the MetroStars, Glen competed for San Juan Jabloteh in the Trinidad & Tobago national league. In 2004 Glen scored a hat trick for Jabloteh against the Chicago Fire in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Ritchie Kotschau, the eight-year league veteran, played a total of 28 games for the Rapids in 2005, accumulating 2,272 minutes in the defensive backline for the Black and Blue.