Cross-Border Battle In The USOC

Tomorrow we take yet another shot at the U.S. Open Cup, a competition that barring our run to the final in 1999 we've never done well in, and rarely take seriously.  This year our first opponents are the USL expansion side New Mexico United from just across the southern border in Albuquerque.  Last year we went to Nashville and lost to their expansion USL side (without getting a shot on target), lets hope we don't repeat the experience tomorrow at home.  Game time at the Dick is 7pm and season-ticket holders got a chance to get a free ticket while they're $10 for everyone else.  General Admission, west side only, and enter through gate G (next to the team store).  Eighteen76 will be closed for this one.  No radio broadcast but ESPN+ has all the USOC games this year.  No idea who will be on the call.

Injury Report:
OUT: D Kortne Ford; D Deklan Wynne
QUESTIONABLE: M Jack Price

Unavailable:
F Jonathan Lewis - U.S. Nats
D Sam Raben; F Matt Hudley - Cap-tied to Colorado Springs Switchbacks after playing in an earlier round

On top of that official news we've seen some evidence on social media of other players being unlikely to play.  Based on his Instagram account Kei Kamara appears to be on vacation in Athens, Greece while MLS tweeted a video today of Tim Howard's visit to league HQ in New York City.  So its probably a safe bet neither of them will be in the 18 tomorrow.

As always I refuse to make a lineup or score prediction on our Open Cup game, because what the organization says about how seriously they're taking the competition and what they actually do come game time tend to not match up.  I assume we'll see Irwin in goal, guys like Shinyashiki, Vines, and Bassett get lots of playing time, and a couple of senior guys for some leadership but who that is and how they line up is a big question mark.

If the Rapids beat New Mexico, which they should, they would likely play their Round of 16 game next Tuesday/Wednesday before heading to Vancouver to restart the league season post-Gold Cup break.

13 points in 5 games!

For the first time since the early part off the 2016 season the Rapids have 4 wins in 5 games.  With the 5 game being a draw in Philly that's a nice 5 game undefeated streak to go into the break on.  This one was a bit different than our other recent wins, it felt more like the 2016 team which would get a goal and bunker for the 1-0 win.  Colorado only had just under 38% of the possession but actually outshot Minnesota 10-9 (3-2 on target).  A typical Kei goal got him to 8 this season, more than anyone scored last year.  He's on target to be our first player to score more than 10 goals since C+C Goal Factory put up 27 combined goals en route to MLS Cup in 2010 (14 for Cummings, 13 for Casey).

Random Musings:

• On replay that was probably a foul on Mezquida that waved off his goal.  Keepers get a lot of protection and he went in fast with studs.
• All credit to Tommy Smith for going from a waste of a roster spot to an adequate MLS CB.  I'm not sure he's worth TAM yet but he's not a liability on the field either.
• Some (a lot?) of that is due to the play of his defensive partner, Lalas Abubakar.  Its been a while since an in-season pickup has had this much positive effect on the team.
• I really like Casey making minimal changes to a successful lineup.  Only what was forced (Lewis being away, Rubio and Wynne being injured) by outside circumstances was changed otherwise he's sticking with what's working.  Which is largely "playing players in the positions they're most comfortable with".
• There isn't a ton to talk about in this game.  Colorado essentially dared Minnesota to beat them and they couldn't.  Every time they got near the box the Rapids would break up t he attack (or often, Minnesota would break it up for them with bad touches and passes).  The couple of times United came close Howard was there for the stop.
• We have next weekend off before we head to Vancouver in two weeks but between now and then we have one, maybe two, U.S. Open Cup games.  New Mexico is in town on Wednesday and if we beat them we'll likely play pour Round of 16 match the following Tuesday.

Man of the Match: Kei Kamara.  Not only for the goal, where he once again showed he can out jump any two defenders combined but also for his work rate and willingness to defend.  He had a save near the end of the game that most forwards wouldn't have been back for.

One More Game Before The Gold Cup Break

Minnesota Loons...Canada Loonie, same thing right?

Tomorrow is the last league game before the two week Gold Cup break.  Colorado come in riding a 4 game undefeated streak while Minnesota has lost their last two.  Lets see if we can keep those two streaks going.  An odd place for Rapids supporters to be, optimistic!  Game time tomorrow is back at the normal 7pm so the tailgate starts at 4.  Fleming and 'Celo have the call on Altitude.

Injury Report:

OUT: D Kortne Ford

QUESTIONABLE: D Deklan Wynne; F Diego Rubio

Unavailable:

M Nana Boateng - Family issues in Norway

F Jonathan Lewis - U.S. National Team

The info about Boateng was in today's Backpass in the Denver Post.  That explains why we haven't seen him yet this season.  Given the long break coming up (USOC game aside) I'm guessing we don't see Wynne or Rubio and we let them rest and heal.  Given that:

This seems like the most logical choice for a lineup and I'd be pretty surprised if we saw anything else, barring an unknown injury or something.

Prediction: 2-1 win, goals by Kamara and Shinyashiki.  I think our current form and home advantage will give us enough to put us on top in this one.  Minnesota's offense is as good as ours and their defense is better, but that's heavily weighted by our horrid defense in the first 10 games of the season.  A stable back line has greatly helped balance the team and will see us enter the break on a 5 game undefeated streak.

U.S. Open Cup 2019

I didn't get to cover this during my busy week last week, but the Rapids found out their Open Cup opponent last week.  They'll host the expansion New Mexico United of the USL Championship.  Lets not get our hopes up about playing a expansion team, we saw how that went last year.  New Mexico is currently the top of the Western Conference and second overall in the Championship, so this will not be an easy match.  The match is next Wednesday at 7pm.  In a very smart move the Rapids have given a free ticket to the match to each season ticket holder, so we may see a decent attendance (relatively speaking) for this one.

Unrelated to all of that, there was a rumor this week that Mexican side Cruz Azul was interested in Diego Rubio.  From the comments it seems this is more talk to appease the fanbase than serious interest, but Diego's brother did play for Cruz Azul in 2007.  If its more than talk and there's an offer that isn't insulting the Rapids would do well to seriously consider it.  Rubio has shown flashes but hasn't settled in as much as some of our other new additions and may end up being extraneous in the long run.

Rapids Finally Move Out Of Last Place

4 games, 10 points, and out of the cellar!  A game the Rapids would have draw, or even lost, a month ago was an easy win on Saturday night.  A somewhat ugly first half by both teams ended with Shinyashiki putting just the right amount of touch on a ball to find the empty half of the net.  The second half was solidly controlled by the Rapids but a great ball over the top combined with a misjudgment by the defense led to Cinci leveling the score in the 72nd minute.  The old Rapids would have folded at that point and been happy to hold out for a draw.  These Rapids went right back down the field and took the lead back in a minute, then added to that lead 9 minutes after.

Random Musings:

• Abubakar is fearless and will run over anybody to prevent a goal (though he was one of the ones beaten on the Cinci goal).  I don't know if he's that good or he just looks good next to what we've seen this season, but either way he's clearly the defensive MVP so far.
• You never like seeing somebody have to come off due to injury, especially in the first 20 minutes.  Hopefully Wynne is ok, and Vines stepped up after a few bad touches to start.
• Acosta and Price are starting to remind me of the old Pablo/Larentowicz combo.  Pablo and Ginger Ninja were more destructive while Price and Acosta have more creativity but both duos had the same job, Sit in front of the defense, stop anything coming through the middle, and get the ball to the attackers.
• Kamara needs a goal.  He hasn't had one in this 4 game undefeated streak.  We don'tr want him dwelling on that PK miss against FSL any longer.
• Nicholson gets the crap kicked out of him, over and over.
• In each of the four games in this streak a player has come off the bench and scored.  Casey has a great read on the game right now.

Man of the Match: Andre Shinyashiki.  Seems to be a universal choice as he was named MOTM at the game and he was included in the Team of the Week by the league.  He had a great opening goal and showed some impressive soccer IQ in his distribution.