Rapids Get First Preseason Win

Colorado faced Chivas USA in a scrimmage at the HDC today.  A late Qunicy Amarikwa goal from a Steven Emory assist gave the burgundy boys a 1-0 win.  Of course its preseason so its meaningless but wins are always better than losses.  The starting XI (trialists makred with a *):

Angulo* - Cummings - Mullan

Larentowicz - Castrillon - Mastroeni

Zapata* - Marshall - Wynne - Kimura

Pickens

After subs the team finished with the the following lineup:

Cascio - Amarikwa - Akpan

Thompson - LaBauex - Emory

Freeman - Palguta - Guido* - Ababio

Joyce

Guido is a local player playing with the team while they're in California.  The starting XI is pretty close to the expected starting lineup.  Angulo is trialing in place of the injured Casey, Moor tweaked a hamstring in the scrimmage on Sunday so Marshall started in his place, and the left back spot seems up for grabs.  Otherwise that's the group I expect to see on March 10th.  Great to see Koz back and playing already!

Some roster notes, Kohei Yamada finally arrived today from Japan after getting his visa paperwork taken care of.

All the MLS Japanese players in one place!

Also Tim Hinchey tweeted that the visa paperwork for the new Argentine #10 has been completed and he's expected to join the team by the time they get to Hawai'i in a couple of weeks.

Fan Initiative Announced Today

Today the Rapids had a fan event on the 16th St. Mall to announce their new initiative and club slogan.  The new slogan is 'One Club' and to celebrate it they announced that anyone who buys season tickets for the 2012 season by March 1st will have their name printed on the authentic home player jerseys in 2013 and 2014 (example above).  To kick it off they had the old giant jersey that appears in the stadium at the event and had fans sign the jersey.  They also gave out some swag like a free t-shirt.  Conor Casey was at the event since his injury prevented him from travelling with the team to California and happily signed autographs on the shirt.  Casey was also interviewed live on 9News to make the announcement.

Essentially this is all a sales gimmick for season tickets, but as gimmicks go its a good one.  Not only does it get people to buy season tickets but it will also get them to buy jerseys in 2013 since their name is on it.  I like the out of the box thinking by the Front Office on this announcement.  The actual event still suffered from typical Rapids execution but at least they're taking steps in the right direction.

First Friendly In The Books

The Rapids played their first friendly of the preseason today against the Ventura County Fusion at Oxnard College in California.  The game was a scoreless draw and with no coverage its hard to draw much of anything from the result, but here are the starting lineups for each half (* denotes trialist):

1st Half:

Cascio - Amarikwa - Akpan

Thompson - Nane - LaBauex

Freeman - Marshall - Palguta - Zapata*

Ceus

2nd Half:

Angulo* - Archer* - Armstrong

Thompson - Nane - Guido*

Huazo* - Marshall - Palguta - Ababio

Joyce

Obviously this was a game for some of the reserves to try to make their mark in competing for a starting spot.   The only one of these players likely to start on March 10th is Hunter Freeman.  I'm not sure who Huazo or Guido are, possibly local trialists.  Jefferson Angulo just joined the team from Colombia.  I'm sure we'll hear more about them soon.  Casey, Smith, and Wallace did not travel with the team, staying here in Denver to continue their rehabs from injury.  Kohei Yamada will finally be able to join the team on Tuesday, arriving from Japan after getting his visa paperwork taken care of.  Issac Cowles and Aaron Pitchkolan were also cut from camp before the team left.


The updated camp roster:

underline = unsigned trialist

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne
Luis Eduardo Zapata

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Jefferson Angulo

Sam Archer

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Macoumba Kandji

Colorado Cuts Ties With Caleb Folan

There's been murmurs all week that Folan was looking for a a new club in Europe.  Today the Rapids made it official, releasing him from his contract.  Anyone who read this blog last year knows I was no fan of Folan, mainly due to the lack of effort he displayed on the field.  This move frees up around 200K of salary cap space, possibly to go after that rumored Argentine midfielder.  With Casey still recovering from injury I'm not sure who's going to start with Cummings up top but we'll see if there's another move coming.

Trialist Draymond Washington was also released.

The updated camp roster:

underline = unsigned trialist

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Issac Cowles - out injured

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne
Luis Eduardo Zapata

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane
Aaron Pitchkolan

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Sam Archer

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Macoumba Kandji

Rumors And Trialists

Last night the Rapids held a Supporters Forum at Fado's in Lodo.  I was unable to attend, but the big news that came out of the forum was that Colorado is pursuing a young #10-style Argentine midfielder.  No details have been leaked on his name or his background but there may be a new arrival from South America in Commerce City soon.

One arrival from that area is a new Colombian trialist.  Luis Eduardo Zapata is a left back most recently with Wilstermann in Bolivia.  He'll travel with the team when they leave for California on Saturday and participate in the game against San Jose and Chivas. The updated camp roster:

underline = unsigned trialist

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Issac Cowles - out injured

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Draymond Washington
Marvell Wynne
Luis Eduardo Zapata

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane
Aaron Pitchkolan

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Sam Archer

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Caleb Folan

Macoumba Kandji