We're Not Dead Yet!

Believe it or not, the Rapids are still alive in the playoff race.  We're eliminated if we don't win, but assuming we do we're only officially eliminated if San Jose wins and Portland doesn't lose.  Any other results means we'll go into Decision Day technically still alive, something I would not have believed in May.

FC Dallas is in town and they're still fighting for a playoff spot.  They can't be eliminated this week but a loss would put their chances on life support, depending on the Portland and SJ results.  Of course they're used to the Rapids crushing their playoff hopes.  We've done it 5 times in the actual playoffs so far.  Kickoff is at an odd 5:30pm on Sunday, so the final tailgate of the season will start at 2:30.  Those who can't make it and still have Altitude can watch Tim Howard's final home game of his career there.

Injury Report:
OUT: D Kortne Ford; D Dillon Serna; D Deklan Wynne
QUESTIONABLE: Gk Tim Howard; D Sam Vines

Disciplinary Report:
ONE YELLOW FROM SUSPENSION: D Lalas Abubakar; F Kei Kamara; F Diego Rubio

Anyone think Tim isn't going to play in his last ever home match?  Yeah, me neither, he'll be out there at some point, even if its just for a half or even as a late game sub.  Vines being unavailable could hurt though.

Howard was reportedly training this week so I think he starts his final home game.  We'll see if he goes all 90 though.  I'm guessing Vines doesn't play, if he's available we revert to our standard back 4 and Wilson is on the bench.

Prediction: 2-1 win, goals by Kamara and Shinyashiki.  Probably one of them with a set piece assist from Price.  Dallas is going to feel the pressure while the Rapids have been playing with none for months now.  At home, bug crowd, Colorado does its part to stay in the playoff race.

F.C. Brickstand

Welcome to the intersection of LEGO and the beautiful game.  Chris Smith, a Crystal Palace fan in Manchester, started out with a goal of building all 92 English football stadiums.  After getting partway through the project his goal shifted to doing something new, and F.C. Brickstand was born.

F.C. Brickstand, aka The Builders, are an all LEGO team that plays in Chris' football pyramid.  This isn't just some fun pictures of some LEGO football players, Chris has a whole ecosystem built around his team.  They play at Brick Lane, a custom built LEGO stadium for the team.  They are currently in the Buildersliga 4 (best team name, F.C. Inter Locking) after winning promotion from the Diorama Conference last season.  They have fans from around the world who show up every week at Brick Lane to root on the Builders.

After following F.C. Brickstand for a few months on Twitter and not entirely getting it I stumbled into this interview of Chris from last year and everything locked into place (pun intended).  For a while I was wondering how some many people were interested in watching somebody stage LEGO players for whatever results he wanted to show, and why the results mattered since they were all made up.  It seems like I could go do the same thing with my soccer pieces and I didn't understand why that would be at all interesting.

What I didn't know, and the article clarified, is that the shots and results aren't made up.  During the week Smith secretly picks an upcoming game to represent F.C. Brickstand's next game, with the Builders taking the spot of the home or away team depending on their schedule.  Then the actual events and results of that game on Saturday becomes the F.C. Brickstand game he reports on Twitter on Sunday.  So not even Chris knows how this week's game is going to go until the real-life game is played and the rest of us don't know what to expect, though I see some guesses as the game goes on as to which game it was.

After seeing the article I shared it with a local Palace fan on Twitter.  Then I decided I needed to jump in as a supporter.  Chris sells annual supporter memberships for 5 pounds (about $7) and for that he'll make a unique minifig of you to place in your choice of seat at Brick Lane every week.  That local fan also joined up along with a couple of other members of Colorado Palace, so now there's going to be a Mile High contingent at Brick Lane every week.  So many people joined that the Builders announced an extension of the supporters stand this week to hold them all!

After this, and the back and forth on Twitter Chris DM'ed me with a picture of my minifig (below) and we got to talking.  I told him about my current aborted attempt to build DSG Park out of LEGO and he showed me his copy of Ewood Park that he took to Blackburn for pictures of it inside the real Ewood Park (also below).  If you're interested in following the Builders follow them on Twitter here.

 Minifig me.  Seems accurate.

LEGO Ewood Riverside Stand in front of the Riverside Stand

LEGO Ewood with the EPL Championship trophy

Sporting KC Wrap-Up

Well that was fun, from what I could tell.  A combination of the radio call and posted highlights is all I'm working off of.  Fix this KSE.  Some notes:

• SKC goal 1 was bad communication between Lewis and Vines on who was going to take the wide man but that wasn't the worst of the issue.  When the cross came in Abubakar was stuck in no-man's land leading to the ball getting through to Rosenberry's man.  Keegan made a good play on the ball and bad luck put the clearance right off of the shin of the KC attacker.
• SKC goal 2 was just a mess of defending.  Smith and Abubakar let two SKC attackers get behind them unmarked.  Smith scrambled back to make a play but put it in the net himself.
• A great job getting back into the game led by Price and, surprisingly, Smith.  A Price corner led to what should be (if it weren't for Atlanta ballot box stuffing) the Goal of the Week, a likely Goal of the Year, and the second best bike in Rapids history from Kei Kamara, who was getting mugged on the play.  I saw at least one ref say they would have called a PK had Kei not scored.
• Smith touched a ball back to Rubio for the second goal, leading to both former SKC strikers scoring against SKC.
• Then Price hit another great corner into the box for Smith to redeem himself with, giving us the win.
• With those two corner kick assists Price now has more set-piece assists this year than anyone in league history, with the caveat that Opta has only kept "free-kick assist" stats since 2010.  Still, if you consider the great free kick specialists who have been in the league in that time (Beckham, Lopez, etc.) that's impressive.
• With Rubio's goal that gives the Rapids two 10-goal scorers for the first year since C+C Goal Factory led us to MLS Cup in 2010.
• Shockingly this is currently our third best season since we lifted MLS Cup (2016, 2013).  That did not seem possible a few months ago.
• Robin Fraser now has as many road wins as Rapids manager as Anthony Hudson did.
• Simple path to the playoffs:
• We beat Dallas and LAFC
• SKC beats Dallas and loses another game
• Houston loses a game
• Portland or San Jose loses all their games
• We can be officially eliminated tomorrow night if both Portland and San Jose win.  We can be essentially eliminated if neither one loses as our only hope would be a goal differential tiebreaker that we're at least 6 goals behind on with two games to play

Benny's Back!

The Mummy (1999)  - Great movie

That's right, the Rapids are in KC tonight seeing their former teammate Benny Feilhaber.  You know, the one that demanded a trade out of Colorado earlier this season because he wanted to go to a team where they're prepared to win championships or some such?  Let me look at the table...or right, with a win tonight the Rapids would move ahead of SKC into 9th place (admittedly KC would have a game in hand).  Maybe Benny should have watched the Mummy and learned the lesson about how greed led to the death of his namesake.  Anyway, game time is at 6:30pm.  If you still get Altitude you can watch the game there, otherwise there's always the radio call.

Injury Report:

OUT: D Kortne Ford, D Kofi Opare, D Dillon Serna, D Deklan Wynne

QUESTIONABLE: GK Tim Howard

Disciplinary Report:

ONE YELLOW FROM SUSPENSION: F Kei Kamara

Nice to have everyone back from international duty and off suspension.  Given his less than stunning behavior last time we were in KC its probably best Irwin gets the start and Howard rests for the home finale.  No defensive depth, but none of those players have had much playtime this season anyway.

This is fairly obvious, the only question is Shinyashiki over Lewis.  I figure Fraser will ride the hot hand but I wouldn't be shocked if he doesn't.

Prediction: 2-1 win, goals by Kamara and Rubio.  This is a game where I look at the teams and their recent play and think, maybe for the first time this season on the road, yeah, we're the better team, we should win this.  Our attack is better and our defense is barely worse but that's heavily weighted towards the awful first part of the season.  If we show  up and play like we've played in every other game under Fraser (and many of the Casey games) we should win.

Expansion Draft 2020

I know we're not through the season yet but the league just announced the rules for this year's expansion draft for Nashville and Miami entering the league next season.  In short:

• Each expansion team will get 5 picks
• No team can lose more than one player
• Teams that lost players to Cincinnati last year can't lose a player this year
• Teams can protect up to 12 of their players (an increase from the normal 11)
• Homegrown players 25 years old or younger and Generation Adidas players who have not graduated are automatically protected on top of the 12 protected players
• Teams must protect at least 3 internationals, unless they have 3 or less, then they have to protect at least all but one
• All players on the roster at the end of the season count as on the roster, even if they've already been told they're cut for 2020
• Retired players don't count but if a retired player is not protected the team loses their rights to them should they un-retire

So, based on that, here's my take on who the Rapids should protect, for a couple of different scenarios:

Automatically protected as homegrown players 25 years old or younger:

Anderson, Bassett, Ford, Hundley, Raben, Serna, Vines

Automatically protected as GA, if he doesn't graduate from the program:

Lewis

Required 3 internationals protected:

Mezquida, Price, Shinyashiki

Remaining 9 protected slots if we sign Abubakar before the draft:

Abubakar, Acosta, Irwin, Jackson, Kamara, Nicholson, Rosenberry, Rubio, Smith

Remaining 9 protected slots if we don't sign Abubakar before the draft:

Swap out Abubakar for Rwatubyaye

Remaining 9 protected slots if we sign Abubakar before the draft and Lewis graduates from GA:

Swap out Jackson for Lewis

Remaining 9 protected slots if we don't sign Abubakar before the draft and Lewis graduates from GA:

Swap out Abubakar for Lewis

This leaves the following players unprotected, and at most we could lose one of them to either Nashville or Miami: Blomberg, Howard, Opare, Rawls, Sjoberg, Wilson, Wynne, plus possibly Jackson and Rwatubyaye

I would say most of these decisions are self explanatory.  Blomberg is gone and Howard is retiring.  Opare, Rawls, and Wynne are MLS bench fodder where ever they play so there's no point in protecting them.  Sadly at this point Sjoberg falls into that category as well.  Wilson is just far too expensive for what he brings so there's no threat he'll be taken and if he were it would actually help us.

That leaves Jackson, Rwatubyaye, and, IMO, Smith as the three players fighting for the last 1-3 slots depending on the statuses of Abubakar and Lewis.  I ranked Smith as the most valuable because of a change in the expansion draft rules.  Smith is on a team option for 2020 and in the past if a player on a team option was selected in the expansion draft it meant that the expansion team was automatically exercising the player's option.  This year the rule changes and the expansion team can decline the option and keep the player's rights to renegotiate his contract.  That makes Smith more valuable if an expansion team thinks they can get him to take a lower number.

Jackson versus Rwatubyaye is a bit of a toss up but I prioritized Jackson as he has shown some ability to play in MLS, Rwatubyaye hasn't gotten a shot yet.

The expansion draft will be held on November 19th.

TFC Wrap-Up

Sadly, due to the fight between KSE and the TV providers, my view of the Toronto game was janky at best.  So its hard for me to draw many conclusions from the match.  It was great to see the fight back from the team, less good to see Kamara missing great chances like the PK.  Altidore should have seen red for taking Abubakar out like that.  You could justify a yellow but given his track record the refs just keep letting him get away with things.  Sam Vines hadn't practiced since Tuesday due to illness and it showed, he was caught out of position more than once.

On to KC and another game not easily available.  My game recaps are going to be pretty slim the rest of the season unless they solve this, except for the home Dallas game.  If they haven't solved it by next season I'll figure out a more reliable way to watch going forward.

Rapids To Hold Memorial For Colin Clark Tomorrow Night

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (September 16, 2019) – Colorado Rapids will hold a memorial service in honor of former player, Colin Clark on September 18, 2019 at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park.  The service will be open to the public.

WHAT:  The Colorado Rapids will hold a memorial service for the family, friends, and fans of Colin Clark, a former Rapids player and Colorado native.  Clark passed away on August 26, 2019 at 35 years old.  The midfielder made 138 appearances (97 starts), scored 15 goals, and garnered 13 assists over his eight-year career in Major League Soccer. Clark played for the Colorado Rapids, Houston Dynamo, and LA Galaxy as well as registered one cap with the U.S. Men’s National Team in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

WHO:  The service will be open to the public.

WHEN:  Wednesday, September 18, 2019

                Doors open at 6:30PM

Service at 7:00PM

WHERE:  DICK’S Sporting Goods Park

                  6000 Victory Way, Commerce City, CO 80022

                  Event Entrance through Eighteen76 on south side of the stadium

                For those unable to attend, the memorial will be streamed live on ColoradoRapids.com/live

ATTIRE:  Soccer gear attire; attendees who have Colin Clark jerseys are encouraged to wear them

CONTACT:  For questions or inquiries, please contact RapidsCommunications@ColoradoRapids.com  

Please Note:  Anyone with still images, footage of Colin Clark are asked to share these pieces with the club to be used in tribute to his memory and career at the Memorial.

Rapids In Colorado North, aka Toronto, on Sunday

There are a lot of links between the Rapids and Toronto.  Obviously it was the sight of our greatest triumph.  Also the only person missing from the Gallery of Honor, Drew Moor, is still playing in Toronto.  Clint Irwin is returning to Toronto after coming back to Colorado this year.  One of the biggest is, of course, our new manager.  Robin Fraser had spent the last few years in the great White North as an assistant before taking the Rapids job 3 weeks ago.  All of that comes together on Sunday as the Rapids travel north for their final trip across the border this season.  Game time is 3pm, and the game is on Altitude, which doesn't mean much for most of us.  There is a rumor that there might be a workaround available at the Celtic for people who want to watch the game, otherwise I'll leave it up to everyone to figure out which solution they like the best.

Injury Report:
OUT: D Kortne Ford; D Deklan Wynne
QUESTIONABLE: GK Tim Howard; M Jon Lewis

Disciplinary Report:
SUSPENDED: M Jack Price (yellow card accumulation)
ONE YELLOW FROM SUSPENSION: D Danny Wilson, F Kei Kamara

Apparently the Rapids and the Chilean FA arranged it that Rubio could be in Colorado for one of the last two games (I think it was Saturday's) so he could serve his suspension.  Nicely done getting that arranged.  There's been no updated injury report for a week but Ford and Wynne seem to be done for the season and Howard seems to be perpetually questionable at this point so I felt comfortable making my own.  Lewis pulled up with a hamstring injury on Saturday that reportedly wasn't significant but he wasn't in the 18 on Wednesday so I added him as Questionable.

This seems logical, though asking Smith and Abubakar to go 3 full games this week in the middle might be a bit much.  We might see Wilson instead of Smith or something.

Prediction: 2-2 draw.  Goals by Kamara and Shinyashiki.  I'm feeling optimistic right now and I think even on the road we can get a point.  Both teams have good offenses and average or worse defenses so I expect a high scoring game.  I think Kamara comes back after a long break and starts scoring again and I'm not sure who can slow Shinyashiki down right now.

Zlatan Who?

The Rapids finally got a look at Zlatan for the first time in a while and, well, meh.  He certainly didn't look as good as Andre Shinyashiki.  That, combined with some great goalkeeping on both sides and maybe a little of help from the officials got the Rapids their 3rd straight victory, though they did concede their first goal under Fraser in route to the 2-1 win.  That's 9 points and a +5 GD in the 3 games Fraser has been in charge.

Also this.  In 43 games in charge Hudson earned 33 points.  In the 21 games since then with Casey and Fraser in charge they've earned 34 points.  if you ever doubted the importance of coaching in MLS, don't.

Random Musings:

• Both goalkeepers were on fire last night.  On a different day that's a 4-3 game and I'm not sure who wins.
• With Kamara out the last three games Shinyashiki is making his claim to the Rookie of the Year award.  I still think he comes up a little short but he's looking more mature than his age.
• Danny Wilson and Tommy Smith as our centerbacks was a recipe for disaster last year.  This year we start them against Ibra and somehow the Lion is more like a mouse.  Again, coaching matters.
• In 4 games against Zlatan's Galaxy the Rapids have 3 wins and 1 draw
• Zlatan only played in 2 of those 4 games, in those games he had a combined 8 shots, only 1 on goal.
• Apparently Fraser called Abubakar into the office yesterday to ask if he had ever played right back.  Lalas said no, and Fraser told him that due to Vines being sick he was playing their last night.  At times he looked more like a winger than a right back but it worked!
• Price's late yellow means he won't make the trip to Toronto on Sunday.
• How about Sjoberg getting an appearance just to mark out Ibra for the last part of the game?  That has to be huge for the Swede.
• Ok, lets talk about the calls.  I think the Rapids got one more beneficial call than the Galaxy.  The Rapids PK, the reversed red card, and the non-LA PK were all on the light side.  I think you call all three or you call none of them.  The ref called one (our PK).  I think, if you set the bar that the touch on Shinyashiki is a foul then the hack on him later is clearly a red and Wilson's boot to the face is a PK.  But if you decide that Andre flopped originally all three fouls get downgraded to no call (or a yellow for the foul in the corner).
• That said. the Rapids have gotten their fair share of bad calls this season.  Barring a hand of God (or 5th Down for you CU fans) I tend to think calls balance out over the course of a season.  The LA fans who have "lost faith" in the league over last night are a joke and shows just how long the Galaxy have had "favored child" status when it comes to officiating.

Man of the Match: Clint Irwin.  Had a spectacular night and saved us on more than one occasion.

Will We See The LA Zlatans?

Tomorrow night the Galaxy are in town and the big question is, will Zlatan make his first appearance in the Mile High City?  While Sweden appears to be better without the Lion the Galaxy most certainly are not.  Zlatan has been involved in 27 of LA's 41 goals this season (23 goals, 4 assists).  Without him they're a damp squib, though their recent acquisition of Pavon does change that balance somewhat.  Zlatan has been suspended for the last two matches against the Rapids, matches that we won.  Sadly there's no reason to think he won't be in the starting XI tomorrow.  Kickoff is at 7pm so the tailgate starts at 4.  Those who can't make it and still have access to Altitude can watch the match there.

Injury Report:
OUT: D Kortne Ford; D Deklan Wynne
QUESTIONABLE: GK Tim Howard

Disciplinary Report:
SUSPENDED: F Diego Rubio (Yellow card accumulation, must be served when not on international duty)
ONE YELLOW FROM SUSPENSION: D Danny Wilson, M Jack Price

International Call-Ups:
D Seb Anderson (U.S. U-17s); M Cole Bassett (U.S. U-20s); F Kei Kamara (Sierra Leone); F Diego Rubio (Chile)

Its possible any number of our callups could be back for tomorrow's night, everyone but Rubio finished their games by Monday while Rubio is playing in Honduras tonight.  My bet is that if we see any of them Kamara (who's had since Sunday morning Denver time to get home) might be on the bench.  If the Rapids can get Rubio home from Honduras in time to be in the lineup they can count tomorrow's game as his suspended game, making him available for Saturday's game in Toronto.  Otherwise he'll miss that game as well.  If it weren't for his suspension I'd assume we wouldn't hurry him home and maybe meet up with him in Canada.

Three game week would normally call for squad rotation but given how many players are unavailable I think we see largely the same lineup as Saturday and we'll see a large number of changes in Toronto.  The two changes I'm expecting are Lewis sitting out after tweaking his hamstring on Saturday and Howard coming back for one of his last two home games, and then possibly not travelling to Toronto.

Prediction: 2-2 draw, goals by Mezquida and Shinyashiki.  The Rapids actually have a better attack than LA, even with Zlatan, and of course a worse defense.  A draw is a little optimistic as LA is rested after having the weekend off, but at the same time they are missing a couple of big pieces.  I'm having a hard time getting a read on this game though, anything other than a blowout for either team seems possible.

Second Verse Same As The First

In two games Robin Fraser's team has scored two goals in each, with one player getting both goals in each game, and posted shutouts in each game.  I could get used to this pattern.  One of the more dominant wins of the season, though with the caveat that Seattle was missing 10 players to international callups.  Still, you can only play who's on the schedule and the Rapids did what they needed to do.

Random Musings:

• This game could have easily been 4-0 or worse except Stefan Frei had a blinder of a game to keep his team in it until late.  Right before our second goal he had was will clearly be a candidate for save of the season.
• The first goal was some nice ball movement and a great shot from Andre.  It came after some sustained pressure and was a good way for the team to go to the locker room.
• The second goal was a perfectly executed 3 on 2.  Mezquida held the ball long enough that at least one of the Sounders defenders had to step up on him, at which point he laid it off to Rosenberry.  As the defenders shifted to their right to cover Rosenberry Keegan realized he plays right back for a reason and instead of taking the open look played the ball back across the box to the now unmarked Shinyashiki on the defender's left and Andre had all day to place it past Frei.
• Seattle had 5 shots, 2 on target.  Colorado had 24 and 8.  The defense didn't have to do much and what they did have to do they didn't struggle with.
• Seattle did have 57% of the possession though, but they were behind for the whole second half.
• With the two goals the Rapids have now had their third best offensive season with 47 goals.  They're 3 behind 1998 for second best but the 62 goal record from 1997 is likely out of reach.
• With 3 more points in the final 5 games Casey and Fraser will have combined for as many points in 2/3rds of a season as Hudson earned in a season and a third.
• Since Hudson left the Rapids have earned points at 1.55 pts/game.  That would be 5th in the West (barely) over the course of the season. 
• Right now the playoff line is looking to be about 48 points, which is the max the Rapids could reach this season.  The Bodmer Line is at 2.0 pts/game, but I don't think 43 is going to make the playoffs in the West this year.
• Our internationals have had good results in the second game of their trips.  Anderson got another start for the U-17, Bassett got another goal in the U-20s win, and Kamara scored for Sierra Leone.  Sadly a last minute penalty that would have sent Sierra Leone into the next round, taken by their captain, was saved and they were eliminated from qualifying for 2022.  Kamara sent out a strong tweet in support of his captain after the game.  That was yesterday, so there's a chance he could be back and available for Wednesday's game against LA.

Man of the Match: Andre Shinyashiki.  I mean, 2 goals, MLS Team of the Week, MLS Player of the Week, and up for MLS Goal of the Week.  Could it be anyone else?

Bomb Cyclone Reschedule

This is the makeup game that was cancelled due to our bomb cyclone in April.  Much better weather is expected in Commerce City tomorrow night.  We're already hearing some whining from Sounders fans for having to play during an international break with 10 callups, but in reality the number of available dates for a reschedule was fairly low with this compressed season.  The Rapids are going to be missing 5 players to callups themselves, including both starting strikers.

I'm also expecting a large Seattle travelling presence tomorrow, at least if you go by Sounders Atlantic writer Matt Pentz.  You remember him, he;s the one who called out the Rapids fanbase for not travelling to Seattle for the second game of the season.  Well, now its time for the Seattle fanbase to put up, or for Pentz to shut up.  One person who traveled further than any Sounder for tomorrow's game is long-time Italian Rapids fan Lino de Rosa, who will be attending his first ever Rapids game in person after flying in to Denver this afternoon.  For the last 6+ seasons Lino has been getting up in the early hours in Italy and watching streams of the Rapids game, now he finally gets to see them live.  He'll also be out at the tailgate tomorrow, which starts at 4pm.  The game is on Altitude at 7pm for those of you who can't make it and still get Altitude, but I'm guessing that's a small number at this point.

Injury Report:
OUT: D Kortne Ford; D Deklan Wynne
QUESTIONABLE: GK Tim Howard

International Call-Ups:
D Seb Anderson (U.S. U-17s); M Cole Bassett (U.S. U-20s); F Kei Kamara (Sierra Leone); F Diego Rubio (Chile)

Tim Howard is currently in New Jersey being honored on his retirement by the U.S. National Team before USA-Mexico tonight, so safe bet he's actually out (or "called up" in some ways) for this one.  All four of our international absences got solid playing time with their teams over the last couple of days, with Anderson and Kamara getting a start, Rubio being a halftime sub, and Bassett scoring for the U-20s (I don't know if he started or subbed in).  Also D Abdul Rwatubyaye, who's been on loan in the Springs all season, was called up for Rwanda and started in their World Cup Qualifier this week (Kamara's game was also a WCQ).

This assumes we go with the 4-5-1 we used in the second half last week and most of the season.  If we go with the 5-3-2 we started in last week then I see Lewis and Shinyashiki up front and Serna at wingback in place of Wilson.

Prediction: 1-0 win, goal by Lewis.  I think both teams are going to suffer offensively with their international absences, but the Rapids have their full defense available while the Sounders are signing emergency callups from the USL for their left back.  That will be the difference in what will be a low-scoring game.

Fraser Starts Off On Right Foot

A surprising result out of New Jersey on Saturday as a stiff-enough defense and Jon Lewis' shooting gave the Rapids an unexpected 2-0 win over one of the better teams in the league.  The Rapids apparently are getting a second new coach bounce this season.  The night was only marred by DirecTV dropping Altitude just at kickoff instead of the expected 7 hours later.

Random Musings:

• At halftime Fraser shifted from the 5-3-2 we started in back to the 4-5-1 the team has been using most of the year.  This was in response to the control RBNY showed over the match late in the first half.  It worked.  RBNy had 12 shots in the first half, only 7 in the second.  Meanwhile Colorado went from 5 shots in the first half to 7 in the second.  Its been a long time since we've seen a coach make a significant in-game adjustment like that, and it was only Fraser's first game.
• Also I'm not suggesting the 5-3-2 we started in was a mistake.  Given our depleted personnel a formation switch was not that shocking.  We "won" the half 1-0 and it was working, but it was also leaving RBNY in control.  I was a little surprised they didn't score before half.
• Quite honestly that could have been a 3-2 or 4-3 win with some of the looks both teams got.
• Late in the second half Cole Bassett had a great chance to put the game away (before Lewis' second) and Badji'ed it.  One on one with the keeper with some time to place his shot and he didn't even make Robles sweat much.
• That wasn't even the worst miss.  A few minutes later the combined Colorado attackers had Robles beat with the ball behind him, and couldn't get a shot off.  I really thought not capitalizing on one of those two opportunities was going to cost us 2 points.
• Sam Vines had a hell of a tackle in front of our net at one point.  I wasn't sure about our plan to rely on him all season but at this point I'm feeling fairly confident going into 2020.
• Tim Howard didn't have to do much in his final game in his hometown but he had one big save late to keep the shutout going.
• Rubio picked up his 5th yellow, which means we won't see him for a couple of weeks.  He's going to miss the Seattle and LA games while with the Chilean National Team, then will serve his suspension the following game.
• Robin Fraser already has more points in 2019 than Anthony Hudson.

Man of the Match: Jonathan Lewis, obviously.