Beware The Ides Of March, Even 3 Days Later

It was a bad night in Commerce City Saturday.  Not only was the offense still a work in progress but after 7 minutes off the bench Jack Price went down with a non-contact injury.  The Rapids today confirmed what we all feared, he tore his Achilles and is done for the season.  That makes Saturday night a loss no matter what happened, but the Rapids also lost the game, 2-1.  Hey, at least we scored finally.

• The Rapids had 3 shots on goal in this one (and scored one!).  That's 50% of what they had in the first 3 games combined, so I guess that's improvement, but that's still not good enough.  Especially at home.
• They didn't have a shot on target after Cole's goal in the 49th minute, even after going down a goal and pushing for an equalizer.
• So this isn't all bad, the Rapids certainly had moments in this game where they looked dangerous.  They just couldn't find the final pass or shot.  They actually controlled the majority of the game, but a lot of it was passing around the edges waiting for somebody to try their luck.
• Great to see Rubio get some time, though scary that he almost injured himself hitting the post.  With both he and Yapi playing in this one I feel better about them going on National Team duty.
• Markanich looked good at LB, at least compared to Beitashour and Gersbach.  Its good to know we might have one decent option there.
• The penalty was clear, Danny Wilson left his arm hanging out and the ball hit it.  And Yarbrough still hasn't ever saved a PK that I remember.
• Minnesota's second goal was a well taken free kick that Abubakar misread.  That allowed Tapias a free header to put it in the corner (really well taken header I might add).
• That's the game, but the real story from Saturday night is Price's injury.  This team is built around him, and without him I don't know where we go.  We saw it last year when he missed half the season and we struggled.  In fact (h/t to TheWarmBurger) under Fraser the Rapids have played at 1.72ppg when Price plays...and 1.04ppg when he doesn't.  That's the difference between a top 2-3 finish in the conference and missing the playoffs completely. 
• Ronan is going to have to fill that gap on the field, and somebody is going to have to step up and fill the intangibles.  Cole Bassett seems a candidate for the latter, if he decides he's ready to be a team leader.
• We're all still dealing with this news, but its hard to find anyone in the fanbase who is feeling positive about this season.  4 games in, 1 goal, 1 point, averaging barely over a shot on goal per half, and now Price is out.  Its hard to see where this team turns it around and makes this season any more than prep for 2024.

Man of the Match: Cole Bassett.  He got the goal, easy choice in this one.