COMMERCE CITY — It was a “bad” goal to surrender, no question about it. A goal that never should have happened. A gift.

But the reason the gaffe by Rapids goalkeeper Matt Pickens was so shocking Saturday was because it was so out of character. Pickens has been one of the team’s most reliable performers, a big reason Colorado is in the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

Unlike his predecessor in the Rapids’ goal, Bouna Coundoul, Pickens almost never gives up a bad goal.

“It was an error, something I doubt we’ll see again from Matt,” Rapids coach Gary Smith said. “It’s totally out of keeping with his form and the way his season has gone.”

With the Rapids leading rival Real Salt Lake 2-0 in second-half stoppage time, seemingly mere moments from a resounding victory in their regular-season finale, Pickens paused with the ball at his feet while deciding where he wanted to go with it. When he turned his head, opportunistic RSL forward Alvaro Saborio sprinted at him. Pickens saw him coming and rushed to kick the ball downfield, but it caromed off Saborio and hit the crossbar. Saborio put away the rebound.

“That would have to be the one mistake Matt’s made all year,” Rapids goalkeeping coach David Kramer said.

It became a costly error moments later when RSL converted a penalty kick, escaping with an improbable 2-2 draw to retain the Rocky Mountain Cup.

“If the PK was never called, it’s a 2-1 game, we win, we celebrate and we’re all laughing about how stupid a mistake it was,” Pickens said Monday. “But because of what happened, and with them parading around our field with the cup, I just felt really disappointed. I didn’t feel bad for myself, I just felt bad for the fans and the team.”

There was a lot of anger in the Rapids’ locker room after the game, but it was directed at the PK call, not Pickens.

“He’s been phenomenal,” midfielder Wells Thompson said. “The guy has been a rock back there for us. That’s huge for a team, to have a good foundation in the back. He’s been there for us all year.”

And maybe the error wasn’t as costly as it seemed at the time. Had the Rapids won, they would have stayed in the West and opened in the playoffs against Los Angeles, which won the MLS Supporters’ Shield as the team with the league’s best regular-season record.

Because they tied, the Rapids didn’t finish in the top four in the Western Conference, and they will play Columbus, the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference. Columbus would seem to be a more beatable team, and it has to play here Thursday, only four days after its regular-season finale. And in that game, it lost starting goalkeeper William Hesmer to a fractured shoulder.

“I like our draw, I’ll put it that way,” Pickens said.

Pickens grew up in a suburb of St. Louis, which has a strong soccer history going back a generation or more. He had three older brothers, with whom he played soccer constantly. Because he was the youngest, they stuck him in goal.

Funny how things work out. His brothers (and parents) are all 5-feet-9, 5-10. Pickens would grow to 6-3 — goalkeeper size.

“Go figure,” Pickens said.

Pickens played at Missouri State and spent four seasons with the Chicago Fire of MLS before signing with the Queens Park Rangers, a west London club playing one level below the English Premier League. Two months into his stay there, he injured his shoulder and was out for the season.

When Coundoul turned down a contract offer from the Rapids to re-sign in 2009, they brought in Pickens. He was named their 2009 defensive player of the year and has played even better this season.

“I think all around, it’s been a good year,” Pickens said. “I just try to play consistent, week in and week out. The more you do that, the more confident you get. That’s what any goalkeeper should work on, consistency. So far it’s been working for me. We’re in the playoffs and we’re in a good spot.”

Pickens doesn’t get all the credit and doesn’t want it. The back four, usually made up of Kosuke Kimura, Drew Moor, Marvell Wynne and Julien Baudet, has collaborated with Pickens to give Colorado the fifth- best defense in the 16-team league. And the guys in the back always credit the central midfield tandem of Pablo Mastroeni and Jeff Larento-wicz for disrupting many potential enemy attacks before they reach the Colorado penalty area.

“You’re nothing without your back four, or the guys in front of you,” Pickens said. “As long as those guys are working their tail off, and they’re keeping the ball away from the net, that’s going to help you a lot.”

John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com