Commerce City, CO — Struggles for the Rapids continued on Friday evening as they lost their 7th straight match, this time coming at the hands of Vancouver. Two early first-half goals for the Whitecaps would be enough to hold off struggling Colorado.
The lack of chances was not a factor for Colorado, with 12 corners to just two for Vancouver. The Rapids would get off 18 shots in total in the game, while the Whitecaps had just 12. The only problem for the Rapids were only three of those shots came on target, while seven of them were blocked and 8 went off target.
After dominating possession early in the first half, a 17th-minute goal from Whitecaps midfielder Cristian Techera seemed to swing the tone. In the 39th minute, Yordy Reyna notched the 2nd goal for Vancouver.
In the 41st minute, Edgar Castillo cut the deficit to just one goal as he blasted one past the keeper off a rebound. Then again in the 44th minute, Castillo would get another shot off that was saved by Vancouver keeper Brian Rowe. Unfortunately for Colorado, this would be the last time in the match they would get a shot on target.
The second half was slow moving as Vancouver did all they could to run out time as the Rapids desperately searched for the equalizer. In the 78th minute, it looked like that would come as Shkelzen Gashi tried to get a shot off as he collided with the Whitecaps keeper. However, the ball sailed wide left across the goal for another wasted opportunity.
In the end, it was a 2-1 victory for the Whitecaps as they extended their winning streak to four straight. It’s flipped the other way for the Rapids who are still looking for their first win or draw wince their April 14th win over Toronto. This, however, is something Rapids head coach Anthony Hudson is confident will turn around soon.
“As disappointed as we are, I feel very calm in knowing that this will turn.”, said a relaxed Hudson after the match. “We’ve seen enough evidence in these games, I don’t know how many crossed we had, how many balls in the box. So, it’s going to turn for us, I feel calm about that. But we are not happy about the situation of course.”
The Rapids next two matches will come on the road, with the first one coming in US Open Cup play at Vanderbilt University where they face USL foe Nashville FC on June 6th. Then they head on down to Houston to face off against the Dynamo, before heading back home for a matchup with Chicago Fire on June 13th.
