#MLSAfterDawn

You can't call a game that started at 1:30pm local, 11:30am in the road team's market a #MLSAfterDark special, but this game delivered what you would expect from that tag in spades.  Unfortunately at the end the Rapids were left holding the short end of a 3-2 scoreline trying to figure out where it all went wrong.  And in about 20 minutes of the second half it went very wrong.

Random Thoughts:

• Uh, where to start?  I guess with one of the two obvious storylines so lets go with the officiating.  It was a mess.  It was clear from minute to minute nobody knew what was a foul or yellow card.  I'm not even sure the ref know what his level was.  The lightest of touches (Ojediran) would be carded while full body slams (on Navarro) weren't even a foul.
• That said, I have no problem with the two straight red cards.  Some refs would have just given a yellow for Travis' stomp and the VAR wouldn't have overruled, but Jackson came in aggressively, late, and got the ankle.  Its hard to complain about that being a red.  Likewise the foul on Fredrick was a DOGSO red.
• The first yellow to Navarro was self-inflicted.  At that point the ref had already given two reds, a yellow, and things were chaotic.  Don't give him an excuse to give another yellow by booting the ball away, even if it was lightly and probably not something that would be carded by other refs.
• Navarro second yellow was a joke, especially with what the ref was letting go at other times on the field.   There was barely contact, nothing that rose to the level of a foul.  I agree that if there was a foul there it would have to be a card for disrupting the attack, but there was no foul there.
• In the end though, the officiating didn't cost us the game.  Zack Steffen did.  Most of the time you can't really blame a keeper for a loss, but this is one of those times.
• Getting beat near post like he did on the first goal is unforgiveable, but that wasn't the worst of his mistakes.  His inability to play the back pass from Rosenberry and giving up the own goal is an all-time howler.  I think it surpasses Jared Watts for the worst own goal in team history.
• Some people want to blame Keegan for the back pass too, and it was "hotter" than you would probably like, but a keeper has to be able to play that ball, even on frame like it was.
• As you would expect some fans are calling for Steffen to be benched for Hansen.  I think that's a mistake.  Hansen made his own set of bad choices in NYC and needs a bit more seasoning.  I do think whatever benefit of the doubt Steffen had is lost now though.  Another bad game like this and you have to bench him.
• Moving on to everything else, there was a lot to like in the attitude the team displayed being down a man (the first time).  They didn't try to turtle and bunker and kept playing their game come hell or high water.  Once the red card on Toronto equalized things the Rapids actually had some good play. A great free kick from Aaronson and Keegan's annual long-range goal.
• Right before the second red card though I started to wonder why the Rapids looked like they were playing a man down when it was 10v10.  Something had switched in their mentality and they could never flip that switch back the rest of the game.  Instead they were desperately trying to hold onto the lead, then the draw, and got nothing.
• I hope Wells learned a lesson about subbing in two center backs right before a defensive corner kick.  I'm sure the chaos of having 4 CB's on the field and everyone figuring out their roles played into Sargent's winner.
• I felt bad for Manyoma, who got in in the 74th just before Navarro's second yellow only to come off in the 84th after Wells decided to insert those two center backs.
• On the plus side, Herrington kept it from being 4 or 5 to 2 with some big saves.  I don't see how he's here after the World Cup if he makes the Aussie roster (as he should).
• Going into next week's game Travis and Navarro are suspended for their red cards.  Thompson will likely be ineligible while waiting on his visa.  Cannon will probably still be unavailable to start due to his injury.  That leaves the team with exactly 1 right back, Rosenberry, and 0 left backs.  Might we see something like a 3-6-1 with some wingers playing wing-back?  Pushing a winger back to left-back?  Oh, and Sam Vines will be watching from the other bench.
• The good news about this mess is that there was nothing systemic wrong.  It was a combination of a bad ref, a horrible game from Steffen, and a little bad luck.  Just dump it in the trash and move on.

Man of the Match: Rafael Navarro.  For not getting on the score sheet he had a hell of a match and with a different ref likely draws a penalty or a free kick or two in dangerous positions.