Full House Sees Rapids Get Full 3 Points

In front of a packed house on Saturday night the Rapids got their first MLS win over the Sounders. Colorado controlled the play, but once again had a hard time finishing until a beautiful goal from Conor Casey. On the defensive end, a combination of poor shooting and good defense kept Pickens from having to do much. He had one big save to make, and the defense had a couple of breakaways to clamp down on, but the Rapids had the better of the game. Colorado out-shot the Sounders 10 to 9 and on goal 5-1. Keller had a big night, denying 2-3 close-range headers from the Rapids. He was caught out of position on the goal though.

There were 2 plays that were somewhat controversial in the eyes of Sounders fans. On the goal Jeff Parke and Conor Casey got tied up and Casey used his momentum and size to push through Parke. Could have been a foul on Casey, could have been an obstruction foul on Parke, the ref didn't call either and let the play continue which allowed Casey to score. I think any decision would have been a decent call, but obviously I think the ref made the right choice. Shortly after the goal there were appeals for a handball on the Rapids in the box. On replay I see another case where it was borderline. Cummings had his hand extended from his body, having just completed a 180 spin to get in front of the defender. His arm was out for balance, so it wasn't an "unnatural playing position" but the ball clearly hit him on the arm. It came from right in front of him, so he had no time to react to the ball. Cummings was standing right on the edge of the box, so I think a PK in this situation would have been harsh, but a call of a handball just outside the box probably would have been an OK call, even if the ref was fudging just a bit on the location.

My key to the game was Freddy Ljungberg vs. Pablo. I predicted that a couple of hard, but legal, fouls would get Freddy out of his game and complaining to the ref. Sure enough, Ljungberg did start whining and picked up a yellow for dissent (Pablo also got a yellow for dissent, as did Casey). By the end of the game Freddy was stomping around the field yelling at everyone and calling other Sounders off of free kicks to take them, badly, himself.

Other Observations:

• With the win the Rapids are tied for 4th in pts/game in the league.
  
• Cummings had an off night. He had great ideas, but his final touch couldn't quite execute them.
• I don't understand why Thompson is starting over Clark. One reader of the blog has said he doesn't think Clark is at 100%, but he does as much as Thompson is doing and at least I have the belief that Clark will rise to the next level, which I don't see Thompson doing.
• With the exception of the yellow for dissent, Pablo had a great game. He really neutralized anything coming through the middle.
• Drew Moor bounced back from his awful USOC game with a solid play in this game.
• Danny Earls struggled in this game. His defense was not great and offensively he seemed to be on a different page than everyone else.
• Great crowd. Only the 9th sell-out in the history of the Dick.

Player of the Game: Marvell Wynne. He did a outstanding job of covering his defensive responsibilities while getting into the attack. His overlap with Cummings kept Seattle on its toes.