Thursday, November 3, 2011

Fin.

As expected, the Rapids season ended last night. It was always going to be an uphill battle and the mountain just got too steep.

Colorado started 6 regulars, 2 backups, and 3 reserves and Kansas City took full advantage. On a free kick in the first half they found the open area that Drew Moor normally fills, and Palguta failed to fill last night. The strong wind caused the ball to die a few feet short of where Pickens expected it and it was headed home to give KC a 1-0 lead int he game and a 3-0 lead in the series. At that point it was a done deal. There was no way the Rapids team on the field was going to score 3 goals to tie the series.

Honestly at that point I hit the fast-forward. Due to work commitments I didn't even get to start watching the game until 9pm and I didn't need to be up until 11 to watch the end of the season. I didn't miss much though as the Rapids still had no attack. In the second half the SporKC's put a final nail in Colorado's coffin. Once again on a set piece they found the weak spot in the Rapids defense where Drew Moor would normally be and headed the ball home for a second goal and a four goal lead in the series.

Unfortunately a couple of Rapids players decided that if they couldn't win they were going to get their shots in. Both Thompson and Nyassi took cheap shots at the KC players in payback for what had been a physical, but not dirty, series from KC. Very disappointing.

In the end what killed us was our lack of offense. In this game, where the Rapids had to win by 2 and needed to score 4 by the end of the game, they only got 4 shots on goal total. We got a combined 5 shots on goal in the two games, 1 more than the total goals KC scored. With no offense there's no way we were going to continue the season.

In the end though, we played with the scudetto on our chests, the silver ball at our feet, and the championship banner on the wall. That makes this season unforgettable regardless of the results.

I'm going to take a break for a few days, but I'll be back next week with a season recap, my choice for Player of the Year, and where I think we should go from here.

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