Clean Sweep

The game was more open than I predicted but in the end the result was what I expected, a 1-0 win for the good guys.  At this point we just have to accept that this Rapids team isn't going to put teams away but they have great confidence in their ability to defend a 1 goal lead late.  They have done so successfully 9 out off 11 times this season.

General Impressions:

• I was really surprised KC didn't park the bus more in this game after playing midweek.  You could see it cost them late as they were running on fumes.
• Most of the game though the Rapids did a good job of forcing KC to make the last-ditch defensive play hoping they would make a mistake.  KC did a good job of not making that mistake.
• Pappa was called offside early and it got to him.  I'm not sure if the call was wrong but Pappa has to be able to let that go.
• The other thing he has to let go is the ball.  He was far too in love with his ball-handling skills and instead of making the safe play he put the ball in risky situations that only paid off half the time.
• Gashi continues to find his rhythm after the Euro break.  He's got a breakout game coming.
• Axel was the rock in defense again.  Amazing he wasn't an All-Star.
• With Miller now returned from suspension and Burling getting healthy Watts needs to sit on the bench for a while.  He's had 3 plays that could/should have been called for a PK in 3 games, but only one was called.  He's been very lucky.
• The late PK shout for KC I thought was actually a good no-call.  It almost any other game that could and should have been called but Fischer was letting contact like that go all night without a whistle.  To call it in stoppage time for a result-changing PK would have been incredibly unfair.
• I don't know what Williams was doing with that ball on the endline in stoppage time but it was bad.  Good thing it didn't cost us.
• Howard din't have much to do (only 3 saves, none of them particularly hard) but he'll take the shoutout.
• When Hairston took his shot I was saying "Hairston has not shot, Hairston has no shot".  Oops
• With the win we're at 14 games undefeated, tied for 4th longest single-season undefeated streak in league history.  A result next week would tie us for 2nd.  Dallas has the longest at 19 games in 2010 (and we all know how that season ended for them).
• The Bodmer Line is now down to .67 pts/game the rest of the way.
• Bring on Dallas for our biggest game of the season so far.

Man of the Match: Marlon Hairston.  For a guy who I've been questioning the last few weeks the offense obviously changed for the better when he came in.  That and the goal was class.