For Bassett It Was The Best Of Times And The Worst Of Times

Saturday night was a rough outing for the Rapids.  An early defensive miscue put them in a hole and let San Jose start time wasting from the 15th minute.  The Earthquakes went what some would call "full CONCACAF dark arts" to kill the game off and Colorado didn't handle it well.  They managed to fool the ref enough to disrupt the Rapids game.  Luckily the home side managed to find a way back into the game and get a draw but it felt like 2 points left on the field.

Random Thoughts:

• Cole Bassett had some good things and some bad things in this game.  Lets start with the negative and finish on a good note.  On the SJ goal Bassett is tracking Lopez down the field.  Lopez gets a bit of separation which allows him to receive the pass.  That's ok though as Wilson has his eyes on Lopez and is stepping up to close him down.  Bassett, trying to close the space, overruns the play and puts himself right into Wilson's path.  Danny has to step around him and the delay gives Lopez the space he needs to get off the shot.  Credit to Lopez for a well placed goal to beat Yarbrough, but he shouldn't have had the time to get the shot off.
• Now the good stuff.  Bassett didn't let the mistake take him out of the game and kept pushing to drive the Rapids forward.  Sometimes he was pushing too hard but in the end it paid off.  The Rapids had a bit of sustained possession around the Quakes box and after some short passes Bassett took the ball down with his chest, cut inside, and uncorked a worm burner from the top of the 18.  The keeper was a bit shielded and that was enough to level the score.
• An interesting starting XI for the Rapids.  Benezet, Mezquida, and Shinyashiki all got the start.  It didn't really work.  The Rapids only had two shots on goal all night and Bassett's goal was one of them.  These three combined for 1 shot on goal (Mezquida).  In particular Benezet had a chance to make a case for more playing time...and wasted it.
• I really question Fraser's roster use in this one.  He only used two subs, and getting Toure his first professional appearance with 3 minutes to play wasn't about winning the game.  Pulling Benezet for Galvan was the right move, but it wasn't enough.  Why not put Rubio in to try to grab a game winner?  Fleming said on the pregame there had been some knocks in practice, I have to assume Rubio was one of them, but if he's able to suit up on the bench then we should use him to find the points.
• Strategy of this game aside, the roster use knowing we have 3 games this week is also questionable.  Why not get Wilson some rest and have Moor play the last 20 minutes?  Let Warner fill in for Price if you're not going to push for a win?
• With the disappointing draw the pressure is on for the other two games this week.  Dallas at home Wednesday night needs to be 3 points.  Then our trip to Sandy on Saturday can't be a loss.  I mean, its the Rocky Mountain Cup, it can't be a loss anyway but now we need at least a point not to lose ground.
• The Bodmer line is down to 1.04 pts/game.

Man of the Match: Lalas Abubakar.  A solid game and he gets a ton of credit from keeping Wondolowski from popping up late and scoring a game winner like he's done so many time in this league.