I Think We've Been Here Before Too...

Well, any hope we had turned a corner in Sandy over the weekend were dismissed by the Rapids play last night.  A 4-1 loss and a second half where the team was just run over means that we failed in reaching the bare minimum of 7 points in the 6 Phase 1 games and we're currently no longer in a playoff position.  We now need 5 points in the upcoming 3 games to get back above the Bodmer Line.

The first half had some similarities to the Houston game, as a fan in the Facebook discussion pointed out.  Colorado had good control of the match, made some chances, but couldn't finish.  And much like the Houston game Dallas got a goal against the run of play to take a lead into the locker room.

The second half was a lot like the first FSL game, where we just folded.  Dallas got two goals in the first 15 minutes of the half and that was the game.  Shinyashiki got one back for the Rapids, giving fans slight hope, but Dallas closed that door with another goal about 15 minutes after it.  Colorad outshot Dallas 22-15, but Dallas had the edge in shots on target 7-5.

This game featured a new core in defense. with Trusty and Moor starting in front of Irwin in net.  It didn't work.  A number of fans have suggested Trusty should be starting over Wilson and/or Irwin should be seeing more time.  Last night t hey showed why they weren't getting much playing time.  Irwin was slow to react and had questionable positioning, while Trusty didn't add much either on defense or going forward.

Not that they were only to blame.  They didn't get much help from the midfield in front of them.  Somehow Jack Price, who carries a reputation for a bit of a harsh tackle, didn't get called for a single foul all night.  I don't remember the ref swallowing his whistle either.  For whatever reason Price was standing off far too much last night, and Acosta wasn't doing much better.  Meanwhile in the attack Namli had the quietest night we've seen so far and Lewis was ineffectual as a starter.  He is much better as a super sub off the bench where he can use all his energy in a limited time than trying to pace himself for 90 minutes.

Its off to LA to face the Galaxy on Saturday, then home to see KC and SJ.  We need a win and two draws or two wins to stay in the playoff hunt.  We need to win all three if we're going to live up to the "Rapids Way" mentality we were promised in 2020, but at this point, at the middle of the rearranged season of 23 games, its pretty clear we're not getting that.

Man of the Match: Andre Shinyahiki.  Yeah, I took the easy route on this one and picked the goal scorer.