Warning! Whitewater Ahead!

The wettest fixture in the league happens tomorrow as the Whitecaps and Rapids face off in the rainy Pacific Northwest. Its also the final game in what has been a somewhat soggy season for the Rapids. Colorado has clinched a playoff spot though, and with a win they will clinch home field for the wild-card round. Kickoff of the game is at 5pm and will be on Altitude 2, which is channel 105 on Comcast in the Denver area. Class VI and the Pid Army will be watching from the Celtic in LoDo.

Injury Report:

OUT: FW Conor Casey (L Achilles tear); Anthony Wallace (R knee arthroscopic surgery)

QUESTIONABLE: Pablo Mastroeni (concussion); MF Jamie Smith (R hamstring strain / R calf strain)

PROBABLE: GK Matt Pickens (R groin strain)

Disciplinary Report:

SUSPENDED: Drew Moor

Vancouver has 5 players questionable or worse, and having already been eliminated from playoff contention they're just trying to avoid ending with the worst record in the league. After our game in Mexico on Wednesday and our playoff game next Wednesday its hard to know what our starting XI will be. Here's my best guess though:

Pickens

Kimura - Wynne - Marshall - Earls

Mullan - Nane - Larentowicz - Smith

Cummings - Nyassi

In this group only Kimura, Wynne, and Larentowicz started in Mexico, and seem to be the ironmen that will hopefully be able to keep playing into the playoffs. Really though this is a crap shoot depending on what Smith wants to focus on.

Playoff Scenarios: The Rapids can clinch home field in the wild-card round a number of ways:

A win on Saturday

OR

a Houston loss on Sunday

OR

a draw and a Columbus loss on Saturday or a Houston draw on Sunday

Key To Look For: Are there any offensive ideas? Lately its been pretty barren beside get close tot eh goal and hope it goes in.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Larentowicz. Vancouver is a bad team, but the Rapids seem bereft of ideas right now and would be lucky to get more than a goal. Given that the team is tired with their second road game in 4 days I don't see more than a draw and hoping for other results happening.

Rapids CCL Run Ends In 2-0 Defeat

Colorado went to Mexico hoping that they could steal a win. Santos obliged them by starting their reserves. Then we found out the Rapids started half of their reserves and that was the end of that hope.

Colorado controlled play for much of the first half, but every time the ball got to the attackers it died. Kandji and Folan had no real idea what to do with the ball when they got it, and the few times they got a good look they couldn't put the ball on target. At halftime I was optimistic that the Rapids could steal a win, but that ended quickly with a great volley by Santos in the 55th minute to go up 1-0, and then they doubled the lead in the 67th minute with another good volley. After that Colorado was done.

Colorado had one final hope tonight, if Isidro Metapan and Real Espana played to a draw the Rapids would get through. Unfortunately Metapan won 3-2 and claimed second place in the group. The Rapids failed to advance because their reserves only got one point against Real Espana, the weakest team in the group. A win in either game would have been enough to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals.

Other Observations:

• Why does Gary Smith continue to try to put out the minimum lineup he thinks he can get away with? There was no reason to fly Nyassi and Cummings all the way to Mexico, then bring them off the bench after we're down 1-0.
• I appreciate the effort Kimura made at right mid, but he's far too defensive for that role unless your other midfielders are attack minded (and last night they weren't).
• Folan, still awful.
• Ceus had no chance on either goal and put in a solid night.
• In general the defense and midfield got their jobs done, the attack just died whenever it got much past midfield.

Player of the Game: Jeff Larentowicz. Solid night leading the team but he couldn't get it done without attacking help.

Colorado Tries To Qualify for CCL Quarterfinals

Tomorrow night the Rapids play their final group stage game of the Champions League in Torreon, Mexico against Santos Laguna. With a win Colorado will clinch 2nd place in the group and a spot in the quarterfinals. With an extremely unlikely 4 goal win they will win the group. A draw or loss does not eliminate them, but it leaves their fate in the hands of Real Espana and Isidro Metapan who play on Thursday. A draw between them would allow the Rapids to finish in 2nd regardless of their result against Santos.

Colorado got beat down 4-1 in their home match against Santos with a lineup that was half starters and half reserves. The Rapids have brought most of their starters with them to Mexico. Other than Pablo and Smith, who are recovering from injury, the only other starters that didn't travel were Mullan and Pickens. There are still enough reserves on the trip that none of the starters have to play, but on first appearance it seems like Colorado is going all out for the win.

It won't be easy though. Santos clearly out-played the Rapids in September. Even though Colorado didn't play well the Mexicans would have beaten any MLS team on that night. If that team shows up again the Rapids stand no chance, regardless of who they use. There are two pieces of good news though. First, Santos Laguna has just moved to the top of the table in their domestic competition and has a good chance to extend that lead on the road this weekend. Second, they've already qualified for the quarterfinals of the CCL and they'll win the group as long as they don't lose to the Rapids by 4 or more. Since the Rapids only need a win to qualify they won't risk the result and try to score more if they get a comfortable lead. This may lead the home side to start some reserves and/or not put a high priority on the result.

Because of the huge question marks around both starting lineups I'm not going to try to make a prediction. If Santos rolls out their starters there's little to no chance the Rapids win. If they go with a largely reserve lineup though, there's a opening for Colorado to take advantage of. Their best chance is to score early and shock Santos Laguna. If the Rapids can get an early lead and keep the pressure up Laguna may fold up shop and just do enough not to finish 2nd in the group.

Rapids Do Enough To Clinch Playoff Berth But Not RMC

Colorado was the better team and controlled play for most of the game, but for the first time in Rocky Mountain Cup history there were no goals to be had in the game and both teams got a point. With it FSL maintains control of the Cup for a 5th straight year.

It was really a tale of two halves. In the first the Rapids had almost complete control of the game. They dominated possession and created multiple chances. Their best chance was within the first 10 minutes as Wells Thompson had an open net but somehow kicked the cross from Cummings behind him. The Rapids also created a great chance for a PK, but Nyassi chose to avoid the contact and take a dive instead of going through Rimando to get the easy call. Rimando was forced to come up big to block another Thompson shot right before half.

The second half was just ugly soccer. Neither team looked good and it was mainly poor midfield possession for 45 minutes. The Rapids did create a couple of good chances. Drew Moor needed his right leg to be about an inch longer as he got on the end of a free kick looking at an open net, but his stretched food could only knock it over the bar. Caleb Folan forced Rimando to tip one over the bar off a header from the top of the box, then minutes later slammed another header off the bottom of the bar only for it to hit the ground on the line and bounce out. FSL never got a shot on goal the whole game, but Colorado couldn't get one into the net.

My key to the game was just win baby. Nope.

Other Observations:

• The draw, combined with Kansas City beating New York on Saturday, clinched a playoff spot. The Rapids will be the #2 or #3 wild-card. The #2 team hosts the #3 team in the wild-card round.
• Pablo suffered a mild concussion when he was hit by Olave. This was the first time he didn't play the full 90 in an RMC game he appeared in.
• Hard to say much about the defense and Pickens as FSL never really threatened. The couple of times they did they were up to the challenge.
• Thompson has to finish that early chance. There was no reason for him to botch it that badly.
• For the first half Mastroeni and Larentnowicz were able to set up inside the FSL half and it seemed like they were pumping ball after ball back into the attacking third. Nice to see, would have been nicer to see some finishes.
• The Rapids had 26 crosses towards a defense that was larger than our attackers. We might want to re-think that strategy after the first 10 or so.
• The next FSL fan who wants to talk about the Rapids being "thugs" and stuff it. FSL was fouling at a 2-1 clip and they weren't exactly minor taps.
• Along those lines the Rapids are in line to have the second lowest total of fouls committed this year. Some thuggish play huh?

Player of the Game: Caleb Folan. Odd for a sub, and a forward, to get this in a scoreless game but Folan created 2 good chances which is more than anyone else did.

Final Home Game Of The Season Means RMC Time!

Tomorrow its on. Rapids - FSL with the Rocky Mountain Cup on the line! Need I say more?

OK, I will, but only because the tailgate is almost as impressive as the game. About 5 hours from now the crack Class VI/Pid Army chefs will be arriving at the Dick to start the grill on the biggest tailgate they've ever done, a full pig roast! It will take more than 16 hours for it to be ready for the final blowout of the season (barring a home playoff game). The tailgate starts at 5:30 with kickoff at 8:30. Anyone who's unlucky enough not to make it to the party can watch the game on ESPN2.

Injury Report:

OUT: FW Conor Casey (L Achilles tear); Anthony Wallace (R knee arthroscopic surgery)

QUESTIONABLE: Caleb Folan (L ankle sprain)

PROBABLE: GK Matt Pickens (R groin strain); MF Jamie Smith (R hamstring strain / R calf strain)

Disciplinary Report:

SUSPENDED: Miguel Comminges

SUSPENDED AFTER 1 MORE CAUTION: FW Caleb Folan; MF Brian Mullan; FW Sanna Nyassi

SUSPENDED AFTER 2 MORE CAUTIONS: MF Ross LaBauex; MF Jeff Larentowicz; DF Tyrone Marshall; MF Pablo Mastroeni; DF Drew Moor; MF Wells Thompson

FSL has 6 players questionable or worse and 2 players suspended, including 6-time Rocky Mountain Cup winner Kyle Beckerman. Obviously that favors the Rapids. Folan's new addition to the injury report shouldn't hurt much. My guess at our starters:

Pickens

Kimura - Wynne - Marshall - Moor

Mullan - Pablo - Larentowicz - Smith

Cummings - Nyassi

I think the Mullan - Moor combo is more likely than Moor - Earls to replace the suspended Comminges. Otherwise I don't see any reason that the standard starting lineup won't be in place. There is the Santos game next week, but with this being a Friday night game that gives the starters another day of rest.

Rocky Mountain Cup: The Rapids need to win by 2 to reclaim the Cup. A draw or a loss means FSL wins it, and a 1 goal wins leaves the teams even on points and goals so the Cup is not won, but it stays where it is (in the hands of the FSL fans). Just a reminder:

Key To Look For: There's no "key" to this game. To honor the late Al Davis, "Just win, baby".

Prediction: 2-1 win, goals by Nyassi and Cummings. I hate to predict this, because it leaves the RMC in the hands of FSL, but I don't think the Rapids have a two goal win in them. They'll take the lead but give one back before getting the winner and clinching a playoff spot.