Chicago Derails Colorado

Last night the Rapids turned an early lead into a train wreck of a game an put up their second consecutive 2-1 loss.  Deshorn Brown picked Austin Berry's pocket in the 17th minute to put the Rapids up early but after that it was downhill.  6 minutes later Wynne gave up a  PK on a hand ball that Magee scored and the Fire were in control of the game.  Magee would score again in the first half, only for it to be called back for offside, and right before half a flurry in the box caused by a missed offsides somehow didn't result in a Fire goal.

The second half started with a bang for the Fire as Berry made up for his earlier mistake, getting on the end of a Ginger Ninja cross to make the score 2-1 in the 48th minute.  The Rapids had some good chances to get level, but couldn't the broadside of a barn from the inside.  Castrillon headed it right at the keeper.  Buddle put it high over the bar.  Rivero was unmarked with time to settle in the middle of the box from 12 yards out and went wide.  And the final insult was in stoppage time where Klute crossed the ball right in front of the goal to an onrushing Cascio who somehow hit the post from inside 2 yards.  Brown did get a goal on the board right at the end of the game, but it was correctly waved off as it hit Brown's hand as he controlled it.

My key to the match was refocusing after the San Jose game.  Apparently I had to be specific about how long to be focused for as 20 minutes didn't do it.  

Random Thoughts:

• Mullan got absolutely torched on the first goal.  Wynne was at fault for diving in on the play and putting his hand in a place where bad luck could happen, but he was scrambling to cover for Mullan's mistake.
• It appeared Sturgis had Berry on the second goal but it was a bit of a mess as the cross came after a corner was cleared out and people were disorganized.  There's been calls of offside from fans (including Richard Fleming) but a freeze frame shows it was a tight but good no-call.
• It was good to see Castrillon starting, but he clearly wasn't on the same page as everyone else.
• Buddle is really turning into a bust this season, for his money he should be producing more than he has.
• If Buddle isn't the bust of the season, Mwanga is.
• Mullan might have been our best offensive player.  Defensively though he was awful.
• The team really missed the bite of a Thomas (or Pablo) in midfield.
• At the end of the game Balboa was complaining about a lack of replays on the Brown non-goal.  Here's an idea, how about Altitude spend some money on their own production instead of just hooking onto the opponent's feed?
• On to Portland Sunday, it doesn't get any easier.

Player of the Match: Chris Klute.  While he did keep Berry onside on the goal there wasn't much else he did wrong last night which is more than most of the team can say.  He kept attacks on his side to a minimum and whipped in a couple of dangerous crosses.