A Tale Of Two Halves

Back to back surprising results from this team, but last night they made us work for it.  Colorado started out like many trips to Seattle, falling apart early and digging themselves a hole they couldn't get out of...until they did.

The Rapids were under heavy pressure early and it was obvious they were going to break.  The eventual goal was a weak one, a rolling shot from Vargas that Steffen moved to cover only to see it deflect off Maxso and leave the keeper sprawling.  Unfortunate but deserv3ed based on the play.  Colorado fought back and was dangers in the middle of the half, forcing Seattle's backup keeper, Thomas,  to make a couple of huge saves but as always our lack of finishing came back to bite us.  A poor backpass from Awaziem left Steffen to scramble out of the penalty area deep in the far corner.  Steffen cleared it poorly and Mihailovic was beaten on the resulting header.  That left a wide open goal for Rusnak to finish in as Steffen was slow to scramble back to cover.  Another goal conceded in the last 5 minutes of a half and the visitors looked pretty cooked entering the locker rooms.

It got worse right after the break as Seattle stormed out and found a third goal.  Rusnak was left unmarked at the top of the box and didn't miss.  3-0 and that's all she wrote.

And then Seattle fell apart.  2 minutes after going up 3-0 a bad touch in the box led to Navarro pouncing on a loose ball only to be kicked in the back of the leg ad the ref pointed to the spot.  Mihailovic stepped us and made sure we weren't going to be shut out.  And then 3 minutes later a through ball into the box was gotten to by Navarro just before Thomas and Thomas hauled Navarro down.  The ref pointed to the spot again and Bassett stepped up this time to make it 3-2.  8 minutes into the second half and Seattle went from a 2-0 lead to a 3-0 lead to a 3-2 lead.  Colorado had all the momentum at this point.

Just 2 minutes later Thomas came up with another big save to deny Cannon an equalizer.  Suddenly it was the Sounders on their heels and mentally they broke.  Roldan and Ferreira picked up yellow cards in the 72nd minute as Roldan kicked a ball away and Ferreira complained about Roldan's card.  Right after that Yapi found himself in the box 5 minutes after he came on, beat a couple of defenders, and slotted the ball home on the far post to level the score.  Seattle was sill spiraling with Kee-Hee getting a card for hacking down Mihailovic and Ragen immediately getting a card for complaining about it (to be fair, Mihailovic sold the foul and worked the ref on it).  At this point both teams were out of gas, they combined for 1 shot (by Seattle) after Colorado equalized.

• 19 days ago the Rapids gave up a 3 goal lead for the first time ever in New England, allowing the Revs to come back from a 3 goal deficit for their first time ever.  Last night the Sounders gave up a 3 goal lead for the first time ever and the Rapids came back from a 3 goal deficit for the first time in their history.
• It turned out to be a big point as the other teams in the playoff race picked up points as well.  On PPG the Rapids are on the outside looking in by 0.01 PPG behind.  FSL.  Their undefeated in 5 with 4 wins.  Meanwhile Houston has dropped off a cliff.  Its now FSL, Austin, and San Jose fighting Colorado for the last three playoff spots.  The 4 teams are separated by 0.11 PPG.  Colorado is closer on PPG to Austin in 7th than Houston right behind them in 11th.
• Lots of complaints from the Sounders about the officiating, but the penalties were obvious and the yellow card for kicking the ball away was obvious.  That said there were a couple of advantageous calls.  The decision to stop the game while the Sounders had possession and Mihailovic was still down was beneficial.  And late in the second half Steffen restarted play with a short pass to Awaziem that Chido wasn't ready for and Seattle pounced on it.  For some reason the ref stopped the play and told Steffen to redo the restart.  That was a gift.
• Awaziem did not have a good game.  That pass he wasn't ready for, the poor backpass on the second goal not great.  Unfortunately it might be his last game in burgundy as it sounds like a deal with Nantes is all but done (more on this tomorrow).
• I was all set to light into Steffen for his weak play on that second goal.  From clearing the ball to appearing back on screen it was 607 seconds and he still wasn't back between the pipes.  After the game though Armas said he was playing with illness, which certainly could have left him pretty tired by the end of the half.
• On the PKs Armas also said that Mihailovic has the call.  He took the first and he made the call on the second to have Basset take it.  It worked.  Stick with that plan going forward.
• This team needs to learn to clear the damn ball.  Multiple times, especially late in the game, they got far too cute trying to play it out of the back.  Sometimes just blasting it out of danger is ok.  Sam Vines in particular tried two short chips that did not work and immediately had Seattle coming right back at goal.  A poor night overall for him.
• Cannon  struggled in the first half, as did Harris.  The whoile right side was not in sync.  Harris never found the game and eventually came off for Yapi but Cannon settled in and had a strong second half.
• I really hate Rusnak.  You'd think some of the old-timers (Bassett, Vines) would have warned the team about how many times he burned us at FSL, instead he was left wide op on his second goal.
• Mihailovic had a goal and an assist, Navarro earned the two PKs, and Bassett had his best game in a while.  Getting those three clicking is key to the rest of the season.
• The team has 10 days off now before a game in Philly after the All-Star Game.  Nobody was selected for the ASG roster so they should all be able to get some rest.

I'll have updates on Awazime, a new loanee, and a take on the 3rd kit tomorrow.  After that, barring news, we'll also take a break for a week before the Philly game.

Man of the Match: Darren Yapi.  His equalizer might be the best goal, technically, he's scored for the club.  He's certainly making it harder for me to argue we need a quality striker backup still.