Get Downhill And Stay Downhill

I stole that title from Matt Doyle's weekend roundup because its a great description of this game and the Rapids in general.  Colorado kept pushing, got an early lead, gave it back, and then kept going to find a second goal.  Portland had a number of good chances, so its not like we were dominant in this game, but as always, we didn't hear no bell and eventually came out 2-1 winners.

The opening goal was a good example of Doyle's line.  It starts from a Keegan throw-in and goes through a 20 pass sequence where everyone but Navarro touched the ball before ending up in the goal through a Lewis spin and shot.  We just kept pushing the ball forward and cycling it around until the Timbers defense broke.  A nice snap shot from JLew who has certainly flourished under Armas.

Of course we still have some of the same problems we've seen against Portland this season.  Their goal was a carbon copy of ones scored in both of the prior games.  A corner kick headed on to the far post where an unmarked attacker puts it away.  Rosenberry was looking around after the goal like he expected somebody to take that player, but as the furthest outside player I kind of feel like he was Keegan's responsibility and the captain just watched him run by while focusing on a different attacker.

The winning goal was a masterclass from Djordje and Rafa.  A gorgeous free kick by Mihalovic was placed where only Navarro could get to it and he rose up and put it inside the near post where nobody was stopping it.  Very pretty.

Random Thoughts:

• The stats look fairly even in this game, but it felt like Portland had the bigger chances.  Steffen came up huge on multiple occasions when the Timbers had him one on one.  Better finishing and we probably lose this by multiple goals.
• Can we talk about Jackson Travis for a moment?  Kid balled out on Saturday.  If he keeps that up he'll push Vines for his starting spot next season.
• Conner Ronan was named MOTM and rightfully so even if I didn't pick him.  Probably his strongest game this season, he was really sharp with his distribution.
• I didn't predict Cannon would start, but I'm a little surprised he wasn't in the gameday squad.  Gotta figure he has a big role on KC on Wednesday.
• So lets talk about the biggest negative on Saturday, the Yapi red.  Needless to say it confused everyone watching either in person or on Apple.  It doesn't look like anything.  Word that I've gotten is that the ref saw a punch to the back from Yapi.  There is some kind of contact there but I can't see a balled fist or any force.  It would also be out of character for Yapi.  That said if there was a fist it take what appears to be barely a foul to a clear red.  I'm sure if the Rapids have any belief that Yapi didn't punch him they'll appeal, but if they don't or we find out the league told them they would consider the appeal frivolous (which carries some additional penalties) then there's a good bet that there was more than met the eye in that confrontation.  If they appeal and its a standard denial (non-frivolous) then it probably means there's not enough proof to overrule what the ref thought he saw.
• The Rapids will clinch a playoff spot with wins over KC and Toronto this week, or beating one of them and having Dallas and Austin drop a game.
• With two assists Mihailovic is now just one behind Diego Rubio's team record of 23 goals + assists in a season.
• With a goal Navarro is now only 2 behind Rubio's team records 16 goals in a season.  He's also only 4 behind Rubio's goals + assists record.  Both of Rubio's records were set in 2022.
• The win takes Colorado up to 3rd overall, winning the tiebreaker with FSL.  The tiebreaker is most wins where Colorado leads by 1, or in other words, by holding the Rocky Mountain Cup.
• Speaking of the Cup, some shots from the post-game drone show celebrating the RMC win:

Man of the Match: Zach Steffen.  Kept us in the match with huge saves.  Good to see him going from his hot Leagues Cup run bak into league play without a drop off.