Tonight's Word Is Dismantled

Well, I didn't see that coming.  Colorado took Seattle to the woodshed in the first half, scoring almost at will, and spotted themselves a 4-0 lead at half en route to a 5-1 win over the league leaders.  The game started with my coin flip, won by the Sounders unfortunately, but that actually worked in the Rapids favor.  They have been working on a kickoff play all season and Saturday night it worked to perfection, putting Deshorn Brown through on a Torres pas and the rookie slotted it home for the 2nd fasted goal in MLS history, just 13 seconds into the game.

10 minutes later it was time for the Rapids other rookie to get on the board.  Vicente Sanchez saw that the Sounders were slow getting back on a corner kick and called for a ball quickly.  He crossed it in and Powers read what Sanchez was planning and crashed in to head it home for the 2-0 lead.

Brown wasn't done though, taking a pass from Powers, fighting through Yedlin's challenge, and beat Gspurning near post for his second goal of the night and ninth of the season.  Captain Drew Moor got into the act almost by accident in the 41st minute as another corner was knocked towards goal by Hendry Thomas but deflected off Moor and into the goal, giving the scoring credit to Drew.

The second half was a bit calmer, as the Rapids eased off the accelerator, having the game in hand.  After a rousing chorus of "Portland's Better!" from the Terraces Eddie Johnson would get Seattle on the board, taking advantage of a mis-communication in the Rapids defense to get a breakaway.  The Sounders got close a couple of other times but eventually gave up a response as just before the end of the game Gabriel Torres scored his first goal as a Rapid, curling a shot past the far post to finish the rout.

My key to the game was shaking off the rust.  Yeah, that took all of 13 seconds.

Random Thoughts:

• Awesome tifo from C38 to start the game, and bonus points for featuring Rapidman!
•  This game could have easily been 8-2.  The Rapids hit the crossbar on two free kicks and Gspurning had to make back-to-back point blank saves.  Irwin equaled Gspurning's saves with a little help from Drew Moor.
• This is only the 3rd time the Rapids have scored 5 goals in a match.  They beat New England 5-2 at home in 2002 (in what would be Fernando Clavio's last game in charge of the Revs) and NY 5-4 in NY in 2008.
• Sanchez and Torres showed ball work that we haven't seen in a Rapids kit since Pareja's fellow countryman Carlos Valderrama.  Nothing on the team matched El Pibe's hair though.
• The forward combo of Sanchez - Torres - Brown is what a lot of fans (including me) have been hoping for for a few games and it paid off in spades with 3 goals and 3 assists.
• Powers had a great game in midfield, overshadowed by Brown's great game.  Clearly the best draft class we've had maybe ever.
• The only debate left in the Rookie of the Year competition is which Rapid should get it.  I'm on Team Deshorn now.  DeAndre Yedlin has been a trendy pick for some in the media, but seeing him get worked by fellow-rookie Brown on his way to putting up the 2nd best scoring number ever by a rookie should end any thought that Yedlin could win it.
• Sanchez was great seeing that Seattle was sleeping on the corner and taking advantage.  He got both his assists off of corner kicks, which is something we've struggled with this season as Rivero's corners are not good.
• Eddie Johnson told the Terraces to STFU after he scored,, sticking his tongue out at them.  This as the Sounders were still down 3 goals.  Great job by C38 getting into his head, stay classy EJ.  Remember you negotiated with the Rapids just to get back into the league before the Sounders swooped in to trump the Rapids trade offer with Toronto.
• Torres needed that goal before heading off to play for Panama again.
• Had a great time doing the coin flip, thanks to the Rapids for the experience!
• Colorado can clinch a playoff spot with a win over San Jose and a Vancouver loss or draw on Wednesday .

Player of the Match: Deshorn Brown.  His first multi-goal game took him past Clint Dempsey for second on list for goals by a rookie.  He was rewarded with his first callup for the Jamaican National Team for their World Cup Qualifiers against the U.S. and Honduras next week.  He'll miss the San Jose game on Wednesday but he'll have the two games against Vancouver to try to meet or break the rookie goal-scoring record set by fellow Jamaican Damani Ralph at 11 goals.