COMMERCE CITY, CO: The Colorado Rapids came into tonight at the bottom of the table in 11th place but the fact that they were undefeated in their last 7 matches showed progress with Head Coach Conor Casey. Also considering that the New England Revolution were in an identical situation with their Eastern Conference ranking, the Rapids had a good opportunity to seal 3 points. The Rapids couldn’t take home the victory, however, as they fell 2-1 in front of a nearly sold-out crowd (15,000+) on their Fourth of July ceremonial night.
Well, the nearly sold-out crowd witnessed at least the 1st goal of the evening before the game was delayed in the 28th minute due to lightning. Half of the stadium called it a night after the 1 hour and 34-minute delay.
The aforementioned goal came by the boot of Teal Bunbury in just the 10th minute, driving one past Tim Howard into the far side of the net.
Once the teams returned to action, a mere 6 minutes past before another weather delay was called. This 50-minute delay plus the announcement that the firework show would be postponed for another night, the fans were all nearly cleared out. Credit is due for the loud and proud fans that stayed until the after midnight conclusion.
In the 52nd minute, the Rapids conceded their 2nd when Carles Gil hurled a free kick that found Juan Fernando Caicedo who headed it into the net. While the Revolution largely dominated on with possession, leading to several of their chances, the Rapids did light a spark in their attack after the 2nd goal.
Midfielder Diego Rubio landed a header from a corner kick taken by Nicolás Mezquida to cut the lead to 1 with under 20 minutes to go. The Rapids have scored 7 of their last 8 goals from corner kicks. This would be the last of their production, however, despite multiple solid attempts at goal.
The Revolution jumped up a couple of spots in the Eastern table while the Rapids are now tied with Sporting KC for that last spot in the West. Colorado will look to regain the stability they had developed over the last several matches when they travel to take on the Portland Timbers on Saturday, July 13th.
On what they need to do against Portland, Diego Rubio said, “It’s on us. The chances came at the end of the game when we played with more energy, but if a team slows down the game like New England did, the referees need to make sure there isn’t any time-wasting happening — it’s frustrating, especially because we want to attack, but like I mentioned earlier, it’s on us. We need to make sure we start the game with the same energy we ended the game with.”
On his team’s performance tonight, Casey said, “I wouldn’t say we were disjointed, we just didn’t look quite as sharp as I thought we would — I’m not quite positive why, but we had the breaks — we were able to get a little bit more of the game. They get the second goal which didn’t come at a very good time for us, and then we throw numbers forward and were able to create some chances — but just a little too late.”
Written by Paul Fritz
(Image Courtesy of Colorado Rapids)
