Match Thoughts: Colorado Rapids vs. Vancouver Whitecaps

Colorado's Omar Cummings and Vancouver's Alain Rochat (AP Photo)

Last time the Rapids took the field at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, they had one of their best outings of the year against the Portland Timbers.  However, they found the sledding a little tougher against the Vancouver  Whitecaps for their annual 4th of July match.  For their part, Vancouver was debuting their latest signing, former SPL man Barry Robson. 

The Scot tried out the mile high air in the 4th minute, banging a shot towards the Rapids' goal from distance that sailed well over the bar.  It would be one of only two first half shots for Vancouver as the Rapids largely dominated possession on their home field.

The men in Burgundy carved out their first significant chance of the match on 14 minutes.  Striker Conor Casey, who has been doing well working his way back to total match fitness, had a nice look from the left side of the penalty area but dragged his shot just wide of the far post.  Casey stayed active after that though, forcing a near post save out of Joe Cannon on 31 minutes.  The Rapids got one of their best chances of the night in the 39th as Luis Zapata sent a cross into the far post to Jaime Castrillon.  He nodded the ball down toward the goal, but at the last second it deflected off of Casey and out of trouble.

Then in the 43rd minute the opportunistic Whitecaps made the Rapids pay for missing their chances.  Jordan Harvey sent an early ball into the top of the 18 from just inside the attacking half, looking for the run of Darren Mattocks.  Rapids defender Drew Moor got to it, but it bounced off of him and right to Mattocks, who easily slotted the ball past Matt Pickens to give the Whitecaps a 0-1 lead at halftime.

The Rapids never seemed to get going in the second half, despite having a majority of their top attacking options on the pitch.  Vancouver was more than ready to protect their one goal lead at altitude, pulling nearly all their players in behind the ball in a well designed game of bunker ball.  Colorado just could not break them down, and for the most part seemed to lack the energy to maker a serious go at it.

In the end, the best they could do was a half chance in stoppage time.  Conor Casey got a look from a corner kick, but saw his header go way off the mark and the Whitecaps easily held on to the 0-1 win.  It was a really hard loss to swallow for the Rapids, especially after they looked so good against Portland.  In the end, the well organized Vancouver defense neutralized any decent offensive threat the former MLS Cup champs could muster.