Colorado Makes It Four Undefeated

The Rapids put together another solid outing on the road Saturday night, getting a 1-1 draw in San Jose.  They were a bit unlucky not to get the win however, being the better team for most of the match.  After a couple of early chances by San Jose, Colorado took control for most of the half.  Midway through it Rivero whipped in a corner to the near post and Nathan Sturgis redirected it inside the near post for a 1-0 lead.  If you had Sturgis as the goal-scorer int his one, well, you're lying. ;)  The Rapids ended the half Harris bringing down a long ball into the box, turning, and taking a quick shot that he slammed off the upper corner of the frame.

In the second half the Rapids continued their control of the game, but both sides were creating chances, and getting chippy.  After one card in the first half, five were given out in the second, most to the Rapids.  Finally the calls caught up to them as O'Neil had his hand in the wrong place "causing" Chavez to fall down and giving up a dangerous free kick.  On the kick Chavez hit a knuckleball around the wall that completely crossed-up Irwin to level the score.  Colorado wasn't done though, as off another corner Sturgis almost got his second, pinging one off the crossbar before a through ball beat the Rapids defense and Shane O'Neill had to haul down the attacker and earn a red card.  The Rapids saw out the game to get the point.

My key to the match was controlling the flanks.  Resting Mullan and starting Wynne helped, and Klute had a pretty good game on the other side to reduce the danger.

Random Thoughts:

• With the draw the Rapids have gone 4 straight without a loss, 3 of which were on the road.  This is the first time Oscar Pareja has gone this long without a loss.
• DeShorn Brown knocked the rust off from last game.  He had 3 great breakaways in this one, with one poor shot, one bad angle shot, and one great save stopping him from scoring.
• Harris continued his streak of doing one good thing at a time, but not two.
• Despite picking up two cards O'Neill had a pretty good game.  His yellow was very weak and his red probably saved the winning goal.
• He was rewarded with a call-up to the U-20s for the Toulon tournament, along with Dillon Serna.  Serna will join the team right away but the Rapids have worked with Tab Ramos to keep O'Neill through the Dallas match on June 1st before releasing him.
• The San Jose goal was the first time I really thought Irwin got beat on a shot he should have done better on.  The ball took a wicked swerve but that's where you need your goalkeeper to come up big.
• Anthony Wallace in midfield was better than I would have first expected.
• While Danny Mwanga...wasn't.  At this point that's looking like a poor trade.
• Hey, we did sign Brenton Griffiths for a reason!
• Powers was injured in training late on Friday, which is why he was a late scratch for the game.  On the bright side it allowed him to get back to SOuth Bend for his graduation ceremony Sunday morning.
• I think we win the game had Buddle not been suspended.

Player of the Match: Martin Rivero.  This was a good example of what a full strength Rivero brings us.  His free and corner kicks were on target, his passing was strong, and generally the offense was running through him.  Hat tip to Sturgis for a solid game as well.

All The Young Punks

The Rapids will rely on their own Young Punks tomorrow

The relation of the image and title to tomorrow's game is left up to the reader to figure out, though if you've read this blog for more than a year you should already know.  The Rapids are in Norther California tomorrow to face the Earthquakes.  This is essentially a battle for 5th place and a chance for Oscar Pareja to get a 3rd win in a row and/or go 4 games without a defeat for the first time in his coaching career.  Game time tomorrow is late, at 8:30pm, on Altitude.  Big C38 party with post game entertainment and the kebab truck at the Armory.

Injury Report:

OUT:  DF Diego Calderon (R knee Surgery), MF Jaime Castrillon (R knee surgery), GK Matt Pickens (L arm fracture), MF Hendry Thomas (L hamstring strain)
QUESTIONABLE: MF Jaime Smith (R groin strain), DF Marvell Wynne (R quad strain)

Disciplinary Report:
SUSPENDED: FW Edson Buddle (Disciplinary Committee action after tackle in Crew game)

Ineligible:

FW Charles Eloundou, DF German Mera - Still waiting on International Transfer Certificates

Good to see the injury report move the right direction this week, with Smith and Wynne being upgraded.  They were both hoping to be able to make the trip to San Jose but neither are going to start.  The E-Quakes ahve 2 players out and 3 questionable so they're in better shape than we are (no surprise).  My guess at our XI:

There was some talk this week about giving Mullan and Powers some rest, but with the Buddle suspension I don't think Pareja will sit them this week.  Pablo could start in Sturgis' place but OP seems to like bringing him off the bench.

Key To Look For: Controlling the flanks.  San Jose likes to run the ball up the sides and get it into their strong forwards.  If we can cut off the supply then the Earthquakes, already finding it hard to score, will have  a much harder time.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Brown.  With Buddle I think we could pull a win, but the lack of a holding forward like Edson will make it difficult to control the game enough to keep San Jose off the board.  The Earthquakes defense is weak though, so Brown will find a way to get on.

Buddle Suspended, USOC Draw Revealed

Two bits of news.

• Edson Buddle, as I expected, was suspended today for his stupid and dangerous tackle at midfield in the 2nd half of Saturday's game against the Crew.  He'll miss Saturday's game in San Jose.
• The 3rd round draw for the U.S. Open Cup was posted.  The Rapdis will face the winner of next week's Ocala Stampede (PDL) - Orlando City (USL) match.  If lower-league side Ocala wins we'll host them on May 28th at 7pm MDT at the Dick.  If the more likely result of the higher-league side Orlando wins, we'll travel to Orlando to play them at 5:30pm MDT on May 28th.  Should we travel it will be our 11th straight road USOC or USOC Qualifier since we beat the California Victory at the Dick in 2007.

Two-Wheeled Diversion

The 2013 USA Pro Challenge Host Cities

Time for one of my diversions into another of my favorite sports, pro cycling.  Yes, I know, its been a bad offseason for cycling with Lance Armstrong admitting what many people have known for a while.  He doped.  The sport shouldn't be seen from the perspective of its biggest failures though.  There's still plenty to enjoy and the newest generation coming into the sport, led by riders like Teejay Van Garderen, Andrew Talansky, and Peter Sagan, seem to understand that things have to change and are doing things the right way.

Right now is one of the best times to enjoy cycling with two big races going on this week.  The 2nd biggest stage race of the year, the Giro d' Italia, is into its second week in Italy.  In recent years the strategy in this race has made it less predictable than the Tour de France.  Unfortunately it appears that Boulder-based Garmin-SHARP will not be able to repeat their 2012 Giro win as defending champion Canadian Ryder Hesjedal had a rough time over the last few days and has lost significant time.  Also going on this week is the Tour of California which started in San Diego on Sunday and will end next Sunday in the Bay Area.  One of the most brutal stages I've ever seen happened yesterday as the stage finished on the Cat 1 tramway climb outside of Palm Springs, which set a record high at 114 degrees yesterday!  BMC's Teejay Van Garderen appears to be the favorite in the early days.

Both of these races are televised live each day in the States.

• Giro d' Italia - beIn Sports, 7:30am MDT with the last two hours of the stage live (slightly different schedules on the weekend depending on their soccer and motorcycle coverage) - Channel 411 on Denver Comcast
• Tour of California - NBC Sports Channel, 3pm MDT with the last two hours of the stage live (Sunday the stage will start on NBC then switch to NBC Sports) - Channel 689 on Denver Comcast

Of course this is warm up for the big race of the year, the Tour de France in July, which will be carried live on NBC Sports.  Then the 3rd USA Pro Challenge will take place here in Colorado in August, from the 19th-25th.  My favorite race, because its local, and NBC Sports will have the same sort of coverage they've had in the past, similar to what they're doing for the Tour of California.  Here's a quick breakdown of the stages:

• Stage 1 - Aspen Circuit Race - 3 laps of a 22 mile circuit around Aspen/Snowmass, this is the first time a circuit stage has been used in the USA Pro Challenge.
• Stage 2 - Aspen to Breckenridge - The annual summit of 12,000 Independence Pass, quickly becoming the signature of the race, happens early in the stage then the riders will be on to new roads as they swing through Buena Vista before heading North to Breckenridge.
• Stage 3 - Breckenridge to Steamboat Springs - Almost the exact reverse of stage 5 in 2011, the riders will hit Rabbit Ears Pass right before the finish instead of right after the start.
• Stage 4 - Steamboat Springs to Beaver Creek - Again, almost the revers of Stage 4 in 2011.  We had a chance to go to Steamboat Springs for both the Stage 4 finish and Stage 5 start in 2011 and it was awesome.  If you're interested in seeing this sport in person its a great way to see both ends of a stage in one place.
• Stage 5 - Vail Time Trial - The Coors Classic time trial returns to the race after being skipped in 2012.
• Stage 6 - Loveland to Fort Collins - The race's first foray to the Northern part of the Front range.  Going up Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park and back down, this would be the stage I'd like to watch if I could get up to Estes in time that morning.  Family commitments will prevent me from seeing it in person this year, so I hope its an successful stage and they'll return.
• Stage 7 - Denver Circuit Race - Using much of the same course as they did in 2012 for the Denver Time Trial, the 9.4 mile circuit will take them through Writer Square and City Park before starting and finishing as always in front of the Capitol at Civic Center Park.

So that's the rundown of cycling right now.  As always the best local coverage of pro cycling can be forund over at Pedal Dancer.

Rapids Unship The Crew

Colorado played perhaps its most complete game of the season as they picked up a solid win in Columbus for the first time since 2004.  The Rapids got on the board early of a long clearance from Irwin that Buddle headed to Mwanga.  Danny saw Harris in the box and chipped it to him.  He was able to flick it into Buddle's path and Edson settled it and beat the keeper far post for a 1-0 lead after 8 minutes.

The Crew hand a number of chances early, including one just 22 seconds in, but couldn't convert them.  After the first 25-30 minutes though the Rapids really got control of the game and wouldn't give it back.  The stats don't show it however, as the Crew overall had more chances, but every real chance they got they either misfired or put it right at Irwin.  He didn't have to stretch to make a save all night.

Midway through the second half Colorado finished off the game.  Rivero served in a free kick from near the corner that pinged off a Crew defender as Harris took a swing at it.  The ball bounced out to Powers in the D at the to of the box and he took a low shot that deflected off a Crew defender for a goal.  At 2-0 and with the Crew not having many ideas the game was essentially over.

My key to the match was getting a shutout.  Achievement unlocked.

Random Thoughts:

• Apparently only two of the four question marks to start was enough, my prediction of needing three of the four was a bit off.
• Great to see Rivero getting his first start of the season.  We're going to need him to get through the summer.
• Buddle's goal could have been waved off due to a hand ball.  Edson used his shoulder and/or upper arm to settle it.  There's no clear view to see one way or the other but its very close.
• Arrieta should have seen red and not yellow for the arm to Moor's face.  It was similar to the hit Moor rightfully got red carded and suspended for in LA.
• Buddle should have seen red for his tackle he got a yellow on as well.  No chance to play the ball and two-footed.  I wouldn't be shocked if both Buddle and Arietta get sat down by the Disciplinary Committee this week.
• Our second 2-goal performance of the season was nice to see.
• Hat tip to Harris for the assist on Buddle's goal.  He's been my whipping boy this year so its only right that I should point out when he does something good.
• The Mullan experiment at right back needs to end as soon as Wynne is healthy.  He's gotten beat like a drum the last two games.  Something to look for in the summer transfer window.
• Otherwise the defense had a solid and quiet game, which you like to see.
• Brown really looked rusty after his injury, hopefully he shakes that off by next week.
• For a guy who's supposed to be fast, Mwanga...isn't.
• After our 0-2-3 start we're now 4-1-1 over the last 6 games.  Maybe the team is figuring it out?

Player of the Match: Dillon Powers.  OK, so I took the easy road and picked a goal-scorer but nobody stood out among the group in a good team effort and Buddle was ruled out due to his rash tackle.