YMCA!

Tomorrow night the Rapids take their 2 game win streak (3 if you include the USOC) into Columbus to take on the MLS Cup holders. Game time is 5:30pm MDT and the game is televised on Altitude 2 (Channel 5 on Comcast). The supporters groups, as always, will be gathering at the British Bulldog,

Official Injury Report:
PROBABLE: GK Matt Pickens (back spasms); MF Terry Cooke (L thigh strain); DF Ivan Guerrero (R ankle sprain)

Its also been reported that Cooke is out with a groin injury and Ivan Guerrero is very unlikely to play. The Crew are going to be missing up to 5 starters due to injury, so the player availability favors the Rapids. Given that I' guessing our lineup will be:

Pickens

Kimura - Ihemelu - Gibbs - Harvey
Pablo

LaBrocca - Ballouchy - Clark

Cummings - Casey

In this group only Clark played more than 75 minutes in the USOC game Tuesday night, and Clark's backup is most likely Guerrero who along with being injured also played 20 minutes on Tuesday. Backups for the three players listed as Probable would probably be Burpo/Pickens, Harden/Gibbs, and Peterson/Casey.

Key To Look For:

Pablo vs. Schelotto. GBS is the reigning league MVP and the Crew are built around him. Shutting him down is going to be critical to stopping the undermanned Crew. Pablo is one of the best destroyers in the league and he'll need to step up and control this game. Luckily Pablo did not play at all Tuesday night so he should be rested from his National Team duties over the last weeks.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Omar Cummings. If it weren't for the midweek USOC game I'd actually favor the Rapids to win this one. The delayed travel from that game and the less rest the Rapids got from it makes me think that they'll probably be happy to settle for a draw. We have yet to have a clean sheet in a league game, and with a player like GBS on the other side I don't think that will change this week.