Rapids Get Great Ugly Win

Well, that wasn't pretty but it was effective.  A game of shutting down every Dallas chance and hoping we get lucky worked and Colorado left Dallas with 3 huge points.  I'm not saying we're back in the race yet but the possibility still exists after this result whereas any other result would have eliminated it.

General Impressions:

• The game really boils down to one stat.  Dallas had 7 shots on goal.  Colorado had 1.  Ours went in.
• Given the starting XI this would not have been the expected result.  No Pappa, Gashi, Jones, or Burling due to injury and Doyle on the bench.
• Hopefully the injury Doyle picked up late isn't serious.
• Williams needs to take over the starting role from Miller.   His play has not been good.
• Howard came up big on a couple of saves.  Fun to see him playing in burgundy.
• Le Toux with his first assist!  Hopefully the first of many.
• Overall though, this was not a pretty game to watch.  Take the 3 points and run!
• We now have 2 wins and 3 draws in our last 5 games against Dallas, going back to the beginning of 2015.  Both wins in Dallas.  That's twice as many wins in Dallas in the last two years than the rest of the league combined (LA won there last year).
• Colorado now controls its own destiny, the only team that does so.  If we win out we win the Shield and the overall #1 seed in the playoffs.  No other team can say that.
• We are still 5 points back overall but with two games in hand we can overcome that deficit.
• We have the 3rd easiest schedule left, with no game against a team in the top half of the league.
• All that said, if I had to bet now I think Toronto is the most likely team to win the Shield.  They're 3 points ahead of us and we have 1 game in hand on them.  They also have the easiest schedule left and have 5 of 6 at home due to their road trip to start the season while the stadium was undergoing renovations.
• If Dallas wins the USOC tonight (and in the 50th minute the odds look good) there's now a very good chance that we'll get the CCL spot that goes to the Supporters Shield winner though.  A Canadian team can't get the spot (they get their entry through the Canadian Championship) and no team can claim two entries.  Any Canadian or duplicate spots go to the bet regular season team to not already have a spot.  That means if Dallas wins the USOC and the top 3 in the Shield standings (in any order) are Dallas, Toronto, and Colorado, Colorado would get the Shield spot.  Those top 3 are the most likely top 3 in the Shield, while the only team that might get in the way is LA.

Man of the Match: Dominique Badji.  While its probably fair to say Howard was the best player, we've had a solid defense for a while.  Finding a way to get a goal was the key to this game and Badji pulled it off.  We may look back at it as one of the key goals of the season depending on how things turn out.