Union Get Omared

Hey Philly? Your team might be a bit too interested in the Michael Vick - Kevin Kolb saga because they've apparently never heard of this guy Omar Cummings that the Rapids have. That's surprising considering Union player Jordan Harvey played here in Colorado with Omar last year. Despite that the Union didn't seem to even know he as on the field, as they left him unmarked in front of goal twice in the first 20 minutes and Cummings made them paying, staking the Rapids a 2-0 lead on their way to a 4-1 win last night.

Really that's all that really needs to be discussed. After we were up 2-0 Philly was done, threw in the towel at halftime by subbing off two veteran players for two young kids, conceded goals to Wells Thompson(!) and Qunicy Amarikwa(!) before getting one back just before full time. Hey, that makes them better than Chivas, Houston, and New England who have all been shut out recently at the Dick.

My key to the game was not letting down after the emotional game in Sandy. Apparently that wasn't a problem.

Other Observations:

• Omar's two goals give him 6 in his last 4 games with the Rapids, plus 1 he scored in that time with Jamaica. He's got 12 overall on the season, putting him one ahead of Casey. Wow.
• Gary Smith did a very good job of balancing his veteran starters with 3 games this week. Jamie Smith and Brian Mullan split time to get some rest, and GS got Pablo and Cummings (still recovering from the ankle injury) off the field early to give them some rest.
• Unfortunately that meant starting Wells Thompson who had a bad game. He scored, but that's the one highlight he had. He clearly wasn't on the same page as the rest of the team.
• Koz got his second assist in two games. Its actually going to be hard to send him tot he bench when Baudet returns.
• Last night they moved Le Toux at half to the other side of the field to go at Moor and Wallace instead of Koz and Wynne. You don't see a MVP candidate moved around like that very often.
• Moor was a beast on the backline last night. Well positioned to stop any kind of momentum the Union had.
• Kandji with two assists, but he probably should have had at least one more or a goal. He and Amarikwa had 3-4 chances late in the game and needed all of them to score once.
• Pickens had a quiet night, the only real threat was one he couldn't stop.
• San Jose lost last night which helps our playoff chances.
• With the win the Rapids have now exceeded their point total form last season. They have an 8 point cushion on the playoffs with 4 games to play.

Player of the Game: Omar Cummings, for the fourth time in the last five games (and the one time he didn't win it was because he didn't play). What more can you say about this guy? He's hotter than any Rapid has been in years.