Two goals scored seven minutes apart in the second half rallied the Colorado Rapids to a 3-2 victory over expansion side San Diego FC Saturday.

The Rapids (4-2-2) took a 1-0 lead into halftime on a penalty-kick goal by Djordje Mihailovic in the 37th minute. It was the third goal this season for Mihailovic after scoring a career-high 11 times last year in his first season with the club.

The PK was awarded after Yapi was fouled by San Diego goalkeeper CJ dos Santos.

San Diego (4-2-2) pulled even early in the second half when Luca de la Torre used an assist from Chucky Lozano in the 50th minute to score for the second time in his first season.

Lozano has three assists in his first five appearances.

But Colorado needed just three minutes to regain the lead when Darren Yapi took a pass from Chidozie Awaziem and scored his first goal this season. Yapi, 20, has three career goals in 66 appearances. It was the first assist for Awaziem this season and the third of his career.

Rafael Navarro gave the Rapids a two-goal lead in the 60th minute, finding the net for the fourth time this season and the 20th time in 52 career appearances with the club.

That proved to be the difference after Tomás Ángel found the net in the 89th minute after subbing in for Lozano in the 84th to put San Diego within a goal. It was Ángel’s first goal this season and his second in 13 career appearances. Andres Dreyer notched his third assist in his first eight appearances in the league.

Midfielder Jeppe Tverskov thought the team was out of rhythm during the match and Colorado took advantage.

“So, them being as effective as they were, and on the transitioning and making us run a lot back and forth, made, made the game not being as calm as we wanted and more of a chaotic game, which benefited them way more than it did for us,” he said.

Dos Santos finished with five saves for San Diego while Zack Steffen turned away two shots on goal for the Rapids. In addition, Milan Iloski, an Escondido native, made his SDFC debut in the 69th minute.

The expansion SDFC also conceded three goals for the first time in club history. 

San Diego heads east to play Charlotte FC on Saturday.

Jennifer Vigil contributed to this report.