First Of Three At Home

The Rapids finish with the next 3 games at homed followed by a final trip to Seattle.  Tonight we have Montreal in Commerce City.  With Wednesday's result we're officially eliminated from the playoffs and we're now two points behind LA (with a game in hand) in last place.  Two years ago when we were eliminated from playoff contention MacMath got the rest of the starts while Irwin backed him up, will we see the same thing tonight with MacMath and Howard?  Game time is 7pm with the game being on Altitude.

With Doyle's retirement on Thursday the only player not available for either team is Montreal's Oyongo which honestly is a bit surprising at this late state of the season.  Its unusual to have two healthy teams not deal with suspensions after 30 games.  Right now the Impact are 4 points behind NYRB for the last playoff spot in the East and NYRB have a game in hand.  They are going to be pretty desperate for a result.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Badji.  Montreal has a horrible defense and an above average offense.  Combined with the Rapids decent defense and horrible offense, plus the fact that I expect the Rapids to experiment even more with the lineup now that we're officially eliminated, makes a draw likely.  Both teams can score but neither team is really going to control the game.