Power Of Jameson Night Plays Out In Odd Ways

The Jameson tradition continued as the Rapids are still undefeated against New England when Jameson Night is held. Saturday night though the Jameson power resulted in a very odd game. Two PK's, a 70 yard goal, and a goal off a throw-in all combined for a 2-2 draw.

The Rapids had complete control of the first half, with the Revolution really only making one good foray into the Rapids attacking third. Unfortunately that foray resulted in the only goal of the half. Off a throw-in the ball was headed on and found an unmarked Benny Feilhaber who headed the ball down past Pickens for a 1-0 lead. For the rest of the half Colorado continued to control the game but couldn't turn that control into goals.

The second half was when things got a little strange. It started with Cummings and Nyassi teaming up again to get Sanna in on goal, only to have him tripped from behind. A clear red card and penalty, which Folan converted to level the score. 17 minutes later Kimura scored his first goal of the season...from 70 yards! There was less than 10 minutes left and Koz was playing a long ball to try to get Folan or Cummings behind the defense. Instead Revs keeper Matt Reis misread it, let it bounce in front of him, and over his head into the net. Needless to say all 12,000+ fans at the Dick had their jaws on the floor. The power of Jameson's!

Just when the Rapids thought they had stumbled into 3 points the momentum switched. In the 90th minute Scott Palguta challenged for a ball at the top of the box and got more of the Revs forward than the ball. A PK was called and converted to level the score. The Rapids made an attempt to get the win but the game ended in a draw.

My key to the game was if the Cummings - Nyassi combo was a one time thing or a new partnership. Gary Smith decided to sit Cummings down for a half to rest him so it was hard to tell, but the Rapids were more dangerous when they were working together.

Other Observations:

• I have no idea why Gary Smith rested Cummings int eh first half. He only played 62 minutes on Wednesday and had 3 assists. If for some reason he only had 45 minutes in him, why not start him and sub him off at half instead of the other way around?
• Setting up for the throw-in that led to the Revs goal, Jake (sitting next to me) yelled "Hey Wells, Feilhaber is their best guy, don't leave him so much space!". 5 seconds later the unmarked Feilhaber put the ball in the back of the net.
• Colorado had no hurry to their game until New England scored. The Rapids were happy to control play in midfield without making many dangerous attempts on goal. That cost them when they went behind.
• The PK call on Palguta was a bit soft, but it wasn't a horrible call.
• There were a number of questionable calls in the game, but that's not what cost us the win. The lack of pressure in our play left us in a position where a bad play by Palguta cost us 2 points.
• Folan shouldn't see the field again unless the Rapids are up or down by 3 goals. He adds nothing to the attack and if the ball isn't played perfectly to him he doesn't try.
• Just a bizarre game. A draw was probably a fair result, but there were times when it looked like we were going to lose and win this one.

Player of the Game: Pablo Mastroeni. When things worked they worked because they went through Pablo. New England's offense was also stymied int he midfield, largely due to Pablo's play (along with Larentowicz).