Chess Vs. Checkers

The Centennial 38 tifo on Saturday was Armas beating Pablo in a chess match played on the chessboard that is FSL's kit.  We didn't know that it would be a fairly accurate portrayal of the match.  We saw the 4-2-3-1 return with Mihailovic in the middle flanked by Cole and Cabral, and as expected Yapi up front.  While the first half was largely uneventful the Rapids best chance of the game (by xG) happened in the first 10 minutes as Larraz had a great shot saved.

In the second half things picked up, largely due to Armas' subs working better than Pablo's.  In the 58th minute Pablo swapped three players including pulling Diego Luna, the only player on FSL who's scored more than one goal this season.  At that point I started feeling better about our chance to get at least a point out of the game as it seemed unlikely FSL would score.  Three minutes later Armas sent Ted KDP on for Kevin Cabral and our offense got significantly better.

In the 70th minute Cannon, KDP, and Mihailovic overloaded FSL's left side to force pressure into the box.  This allowed Bassett to streak in and pick the pocked of a FSL defender on the edge of a goal area.  He was able to play a shot pass to Djordje who switched it to his right foot and put it far post for the lead.  Notably 5 minutes after the goal Pablo subbed in two strikers after seeing that his park the bus gambit did not work at all.

Both sides had one good look in stoppage time.  Right at the start of extra time Barea got Salt Lake's best look of the night (and by xG the best look of the game by either side) but put the shot wide.  Then 3 minutes alter Sam Bassett and Calvin Harris had a great break into the box but the defense got just enough in the way that Harris had to slow up his run before he ran offside just as Sam played the ball through for what would have been a one on one with the keeper from inside the 18.  If Harris had continued his run knowing Sam could get the pass off through the defense he would have still be onside.  Other than that last minute shot every other shot by FSL had less than a 0.1 xG, while every shot by Colorado had move than a 0.1 xG.  FSL had twice the shots but the Rapids had better shots.

This was a much needed "get right" game, and with another suffering team in St. Louis coming to down we've got a chance to get back up off the mat after that 5 game winless streak.  Especially now that due to LAFC's playoff with Club America on the 31st our 3 game week next week is now just a 2 game week so rotation won't be as necessary.  The LAFC game has been moved to early July (turning that into a 3 game week).  And to win a rivalry game, one where they've taken advantage of us far too often, without two of our three best players (Steffen, Navarro) is a good morale booster for the locker room.

Speaking of the rivalry, the Rapids take 3 points into the second Rocky Mountain Cup game of the season, which will be our last road game of the year.  In order to win the Cup FSL now has to win that match by at least 2, since a 1-0 win would go to the tiebreaker of "whoever has the Cup keeps it", and that's us for once.  Plus by that point in the season who knows what they might be playing for (or what me might be playing for).  The last time Salt Lake went into the final game of the RMC behind the 8-ball needing a result was 2016 where they had to win, a draw or a loss would have given the Cup to Colorado (of course they did).  The last time they came into a game needing a multigoal win was the prior year where they needed a two goal win (thank you Juan Ramirez) and didn't get it.

Man of the Match: Nico Hansen.  Get the call as the third string keeper that you're starting in a rivalry match and put up a shutout without ever really putting a foot wrong?  That's MOTM material.  Interesting that he's apparently moved past Beaudry on the depth chart.  Now that Beaudry is back from injury it will be interesting to see who gets the nod to be Steffen's backup on the bench.