This Team Fears No One At Home

Another good performance by the Rapids at home on Saturday night.  After being taken apart by San Jose two weeks ago the team we saw this weekend was much better prepared and ready to face the Earthquakes.  That said, they were outplayed for stretches of the game, but they did enough to get the win without making it look like they were stealing the 3 points.

Random Musings:

• Odd start to the game, after the opening kick I'm not sure the ref blew his whistle for at least 20 minutes.  no goal kicks, no corner kicks, no fouls.  I'm not sure I've ever seen that at the pro level.
• We were lucky not to give a way a PK in the first 5 minutes.  The ref was pretty lenient most of the night, which balanced out between the teams.
• I'm not sure how Acosta's shot made it into the goal, its the type of shot that usually goes off target or the keeper easily saves.  A well placed ball indeed.
• Maybe the Rapids just knew SJ's keeper was weak to his right as both goals got by him on that side.
• Colorado was both unlucky to concede and lucky to only concede one.  SJ's one goal was off a bad deflection but the Earthquakes hit the post twice.
• Kamara hit the same post.  Maybe that post should have been MOTM, 3 big saves!
• Casey has won 7 of his 15 games now, and if you discount the one where he took over midweek that's essentially a 50% win record which is very good for a Rapids manager.
• The Rapids have also gone a single-season record 15 games without being shut out and are on pace for their second best offensive season of all-time.
• All that said, the road gets much much harder from here.  Of our 10 remaining games 7 of them are on the road and 8 of them are against teams currently in a playoff position.  We have the hardest remaining schedule left in the league.
• The Bodmer line is at 1.7 pts/game.  Not unreachable but unlikely.  The Bodmer Line is just an average of past seasons though, not a predictor of what the number will be this season.  Realistically its looking to be higher than average so the team would probably have to average more like 2.3 pts/game or so to make the playoffs.  That seems pretty much impossible.

Man of the Match: Diego Rubio.  A few weeks ago I complained that his theatrics on the field were barely worth it if he kept scoring.  Well, he has kept scoring.  He got the winner in this one for his 3rd game in a row with a goal.  I still don't love the attitude on the field but you can't complain about the results right now.

Inoculated City

Didn't we just see these guys?

Lets hope the city is inoculated, one disaster in the Earthquakes is enough.  Yep, San Jose again, just like two weeks ago when they ran all over us in a 3-1 win.  The difference this time is that we're at home, and Kamara isn't injured.  Is that enough to change the result?  It may be.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 7pm so the tailgate starts at 4.  After celebrating his birthday this week Marcelo will have the call alongside Fleming on Altitude for those who can't make it.

Injury Report:

OUT: D Kortne Ford; D Deklan Wynne

QUESTIONABLE: GK Tim Howard

Disciplinary Report:

SUSPENDED: D Seb Anderson

ONE YELLOW FROM SUSPENSION: M Jack Price

Yes, Seb is still suspended since he's been with the U-17s the last two Rapids games, so those don't count towards serving his suspension.  My bet is that Tim is only on the bench if he doesn't get the night off completely, no reason to push him at this point of the season.

This seems really easy to predict.  This is the first game of a three game week, so we might see some players rotated out for rest, but I bet we go all in on this one and worry about rest with the later games on the road.

Prediction: 2-2 draw, goals by Kamara and Lewis.  San Jose is still a good team and we're...not.  I think we can reverse some of the damage from the first game by just playing better and having Kamara up front but I don't think we're good enough to actually beat them.  An entertaining high-scoring game ends with a share of the points.

Rapids Make One Non-Player Move Before Deadline

The transfer window closes in 30 minutes and, as expected, the Rapids aren't making any real moves.  They did make one non-player move.  They traded the #1 allocation spot to DC for a total of $300K of GAM by next season plus Dc's #11 spot.  DC immediately used the #1 spot to acquire Ola Kamara (who has made it clear in the past he was not interested in coming to Colorado).

This is a pretty good return for a limited use item.  Since allocation order is only used for a set list of players if the Rapids didn't have their eyes on one of them then they now have $300K to sign somebody this offseason who they do have their eyes on.

Historic Plague Brings Historic Result

If this is what results from the plague being found in Commerce City we should have gotten sick a long time ago.  For the first time ever the Rapids scored 6 goals in a competitive match, Kamara had a hat-trick, and Montreal was not Impactful.  Probably the best game of the year so far (surpassing the LAFC game).

Random Musings:

• The last time the Rapids scored more than 3 goals was the surprise 4-0 beat down in Dallas that broke our team record winless streak in 2015.  The last time we scored 5 was against Seattle in 2013 (a game I did the coin flip at), that was also the last time we scored 4 goals in a half.
• Kamara's hat-trick puts him at 11 goals on the season, the first Rapid to pass 10 since C+C Goal Factory in 2010.  He's 5 short of Casey's single-season record of 16 goals and is currently on pace to tie it.
• Shinyashiki now has 5 goals for the season making a strong run at Rookie of the Year.  I don't think he's the leader but if he finishes with another 3 or so goals he might claim it.
• Montreal made it interesting at the beginning of each half.  First by forcing the own goal for a 1-0 lead, then after the break closing the game from 4-1 to 4-3 and making things a little nervous.
• The Rapids though, responded.  After Montreal got some momentum and pulled close Colorado immediately turned it on to score the 5th and put the game away.  The 6th was just the icing on the cake, Montreal was done when the 5th was scored.
• Credit to Casey for a good game plan.  He saw the size differential between our attackers (mainly Kei) and the small Impact back line and took full advantage.  Set pieces and crosses gave the Rapids the edge.
• Depending on how you classify it the Rapids scored 3-5 goals from free kicks.  The own goal, Rubio's goal, and Shinyashiki's goal were directly from corners.  Kamara's third wasn't directly off a free kick but the build up was a free kick passed between Vines and Price a couple of times before the cross, so it could have been a set play.  And then of course the penalty kick is technically a set piece.
• Needless to say the Rapids easily lead the league on set piece goals now.  Whatever Casey is doing in training is working on that front.
• This game is another example of what this team can do when the best XI are available and they're in their favored formation.  It works, don't change it unless its forced.
• Casey is now at 1.5 pts/game in his tenure.  That's as real solid number that if he can keep it up would be enough to earn him the job full time.  Its been against a favorable schedule though, and the schedule gets very unfavorable very quickly now.  I have my doubts we stay at that level.

Player of the Match:  Jack Price.  Yes Kamara had the hat trick and is the easy choice, but Price had 3 assists and showed how deadly he was on free kicks.  He's now up to 8 assists on the year, the most for a Rapids since Dillon Powers had 9 in 2014.  He's only halfway to Carlos Valderrama's team record of 16 though.

Rapids Season Literally Plague Ridden This Week

I realize this hasn't been the greatest season.  The famine of points under Anthony Hudson.  The freezing temps of the early season.  The multiple lightning delays of the last month.  But having a game impacted by the actual plague?  Really?  If you haven't heard by now tonight's game against Montreal was going to include one of the rescheduled (due to the aforementioned lightning delays) fireworks shows but that has been cancelled after prairie dogs in the area have been found to have the plague, spread by fleas.   The dirt parking lots at the Dick are also closed for the same reason.  Oh, and on top of that KSE is launching its new ticketing system tonight.  Try to get to the stadium at least an hour early just so you're sure you can make it in by kickoff at 7pm.

Injury Report:
OUT: D Kortne Ford; D Deklan Wynne

Discipline Report:
ONE YELLOW FROM SUSPENSION: M Jack Price

Availability Report:
UNAVAILABLE: D Sebastian Anderson - U.S. U-17 Camp

Because Anderson is still with the Nats this game still does not count towards his suspension from his red card.  Otherwise that's about as healthy/available as we've been this season, assuming there's no unreported injuries again this week.

This was an easy prediction this week.  The only real question mark is if Bassett or Shinyashiki starts in front of Rubio, but I doubt it.

Prediction: 1-0 win, goal by Kamara.  Montreal is an ok team and they're decent on the road, but they aren't a team I expect to come in and beat our first side.  We've only won one game in almost two months (LAFC), its time to break this winless streak.