I DIDN'T HEAR NO BELL!!!

Was the Rocky Mountain Cup over when the Rapids choked away a lead in the 84th minute in Sandy?  I didn't hear no bell.  Was the RMC gone when we gave up a goal in the first 10 minutes Saturday night.  I Didn't Hear No Bell.  Did we fumble the Cup away when we gave up an equalizer 3 minutes after a 2 hour weather delay?  I DIDN'T HEAR NO BELL!

The Cup was over when Cole Bassett coolly slotted away an 88th minute penalty kick to gave the Rapids a 3-2 lead in the game and a 6-3 lead in the Rocky Mountain competition.  Of course we still had to hang on for 4 minutes of stoppage and we've certainly seen games in this rivalry flip in that time but not on this night.  Post-game the team had a long on-field celebration interacting with the supporters who had waited out the lightning delay for this moment.  I've been physically present for 5 of the 6 times the Rapids have won the Cup (2020 when pandemic kept us out of the stadiums is the only one I've missed) and this is the most engaged and involved I've seen the team celebrating  You can tell how much they wanted this, particularly Chris Armas.  Surprising for a first year coach to be that hyped up for it when somebody like Pablo or Fraser, with ties to the team, weren't (maybe unfair to Fraser given his only win was that weird 2020 year where the celebrations were in the locker room).

Going back to the game itself though it was a rough start.  The early goal by the Utah Soccer Club put the team in a hole and for 30 minutes they didn't look like climbing out of it.  The long-distance shot did fool Steffen a bit with a bounce right in front of him, but he was late to read it and didn't get his arms out to stop it.  He's paid to be better than that.

It took until the 35th minute for the home side to really get into the game.  A relatively non-threatening attack changed quickly when Bassett took a Navarro pass at the top of the box and flicked it over to an unmarked Lewis who buried it for the equalizer.  Suddenly the pressure was on for the burgundy boys.

It only took 4 minutes for that to pay off.  Vines put high pressure on to win the ball and quickly poked it to Bassett in the box.  He quickly laid if off to Lewis again, but this time Johnny crossed it t Sammy who had continued his run and he finished to put the Rapids in the lead in the game, and the Cup.  Colorado kept up the pressure and got another good look before half but couldn't convert.

Then the rains came.  A normal 20 minute halftime turned into almost 2 hours.  I actually drive home to get my car away from the forecast hail, then drove back once a restart team was announced.  Once play was back on a lot of energy had gone out of the building with most of the fans.  FSL struck immediately, and there's not much more the Rapids could have done to stop it.  It was a very well placed ball with two defenders on the shooter.  After that it started to feel like another case of the home side choking away the Rocky Mountain Cup again.

In the last 10-15 minutes of the game though that pressure started to pay off.  The team had more advanced play in the FSL box and had a couple of good chances they didn't convert.  They earned back-to-back corner kicks and on the second a FSL defender was caught with his arm out chicken-wing style and the ball went right off the elbow.  Clear PK.  After Navarro took the ball like he wanted the kick he dropped it into Bassett's hands and Cole left no doubt.  After the game he said that he saw that the FSL's keeper's bottle had penalty tendencies on it for him and Navarro and as soon as he saw it he determined he was goin to go right down the middle, because he was sure the GK would dive based on his note.

Its interesting than the three goal-scorers in this game were the two longest tenured players Basset and Vines (I'm going back to Sammy's original signing) and the 5th longest tenured player in Lewis, who was traded to the Rapids a few months after Anderson signed as a homegrown and Rosemberry was traded here.  3 guys that have suffered through far too many RMC disappointments made sure we wouldn't have another one.

We go into the Leagues Cup  break on 41 points in 4th place in the West.  The Bodmer Line is 44 points so one win the the final 8 games should be enough to make the playoffs.  A home playoff game is probably 52-53 points wo we'll need 12 in 8 to pull that off.  We're currently on pace for 54.  The good news is that 6 of our 8 games are against the teams currently 7-12th in the West and the 7th is against 8th placed Toronto in the East.  The last is against the West leader and 2nd overall Galaxy.  LA, Toronto, 7th placed Portland, and 8th placed Seattle are at home, the games against 9-12 are on the road.

Before that we've got a trip to Portland for the Leagues Cup on the 1st, followed by the Leon game at the Dick on the 5th.  Mihailovic might be back for the latter of the two but it depends on well the Olympic team does.  Going to catch my breath for a couple of days and then we'll get into some late-season reviews.

Men Of The Match: The rare double-MOTM this week.  I have to choose Bassett for having the winning goal in both wins over FSL this season.  But I also have to give Lewis credit for a goal and an assist in this game.