Rapids Get First Point In Seattle

A sloppy, ugly game in Seattle finally got us our first result in the Emerald City, a 1-1 draw.  In the first half Seattle had two shots on goal in the first 10 minutes that Irwin saved and that was as close as either team got to the goal for 45 minutes.  The pressure from Seattle increased in the second half but it was Colorado who struck first.  In the 60th minute LaBrocca swung a corner into the box.  Somehow Drew Moor was left unmarked and after Seattle's 4th-string keeper flapped at the ball Moor headed it home for the 1-0 lead.

Alas, as we've seen far too often, the lead wouldn't last long.  Five minutes later O'Neill got suckered in too close to Lamar Neagle, who spun him but put his shot off the far post.  The ball pinged back out to the top of the box where DeAndre Yedlin hammered it back in.  Clint Irwin made a big stop scrambling back from his first attempted save but the punch when right back to Yedlin who headed into the wide open far side.  Seattle would keep the pressure up with Drew Moor heading a ball off the line in the 82nd minute to preserve the tie.  Meanwhile a Hendry Thomas long shot would be the only other shot on goal the Rapids would have.  Going back to my prediction:

1-1 draw, goal by Sturgis.  The Rapids get their first point in Seattle on the back of a former Sounder.  Seattle pushes for the winner late but Colorado survives.

I had the wrong unlikely scorer but otherwise that's pretty close to how the game played out.

My key to the match was pressuring Seattle, something we did very little of.  The weakened Seattle did most of the pressuring.

Random Thoughts:

• LaBrocca almost had a golazo on the corner kick.  I'm not sure it would have gone in without Moor heading it,  but it was close.
• O'Neill got fooled like you expect a rookie to get fooled from time to time.  The key is that he learns from it.
• Pareja's subs were very strange int his game.  Powers for Buddle just before the goals, which removed whatever cohesiveness we had in midfield.  Wynne for Mera immediately after Seattle's goal which seemed to be a sub planned before Seattle scored but then not pulled back, and Brown for Wallace which was throwing in the towel and holding on for the draw with 15 minutes to play.
• Buddle was completely useless, again.
• Martins had two really blatant dives, one to try to get a PK in the first half that the ref didn't buy and one in the second half that set up a good attacking chance.  Somebody with his skill set shouldn't need to stoop to such tactics, but he does it because the game mainly the refs) reward him for it.
• Two shots on goal all game, one from a central defender and one from a defensive midfielder.  Considering the Sounders had their 4th-string keeper in, complete failure from the offense.  We should have been shelling the goal.
• Generally the team looked very slow.  There wasn't much movement at all.  Mid-day game, on turf, after playing on Wednesday might explain part of it but it was generally a poor performance.
• Since going 5 games without a win to start the season we've played the following 17 games (half the season) at just over 1.7 pts/game.  That would be just behind KC and 3rd overall in the league.  It shows how well we've actually been playing since that slow start but also how costly a short slip in form can be.

Player of the Match: Drew Moor.  Scored a goal, saved a goal, wasn't at fault on Seattle's goal, and pretty much organized a good defense.  You can't ask for much more out of your captain.