Rapids vs. Timbers, Sat. June 30, 7:00 pm MDT P/I/P

15,553

It looked like a decent crowd from the recap. I was at a Japanese Obon festival and didn't get to watch the game. Go figure that every game I have watched this year we have only won once. When I am not able to watch the game we end up winning.

Funny. Every game I have watched this year at DSGP, they have lost only once. My wife has only been twice and they lost both games. I'll be missing the game on the 4th.
I thought Hunter Freeman had a great game last night, including an excellent move to lose his defender before making the assist to Castrillon. With LA losing to SJ last night, we have maintained our fifth place spot in the west. My friends attending the game from Portland were very dissappointed.

15,553 per goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/match/75036/colorado-rapids-vs-portland-timbers/preview

Outstanding game, pros:
- Finally get a best 11 on the field together with high quality subs in Cascio and Smith
- 60/40 possession (which seemed to be more in the Rapids favor than that ... good containment in their defending half)
- The crowd chanting for Jamie Smith and him responding with a goal
- Casey's play was vintage Casey ... his celebration with the fans was great
- The Colorado "Fire" banners in the terraces were pure class
- No "Sing with the Supporters!"

Cons:
- This was a bottom of the table team ... lets carry the momentum against Vancouver
- I'm guessing the LB/RB debate is settled and Kimura will be a backup ... that sucks, like him as a player and person

Kimura is my favorite player, but he left the door open with his play early this season and Freeman and Zapata took advantage. I think Freeman is clearly the best of the 3 at this point, but Kimura could force Zapata to the bench.

It will be interesting to watch how the Rapids play on Wednesday. Mullan and Rivero were all over the field last night. Mullan was the consummate box to box midfielder and was sprinting pretty much to the end. Casey was gassed in the 2nd half as well. Smith looked good and could spell Rivero or Mullan although he won't replace Mullan's full field tenacity.

I expect Cascio to start over Omar, regardless of Omar's ankle.

Certainly a solid effort by the Rapids against a team that seemed a combination of over matched, uninterested and yearning for couch in an air conditioned room.

If the Rapids keep this up for the next 7 days they could find themselves in 3rd place in the west. That's asking a lot though, including a win in Seattle.

Any pictures of the banners? We were celebrating our anniversary last night and didn't get to watch the game (but I did hear the last half on the radio driving home).

SO GLAD THEY GOT RID OF THE SONG! That was maybe the lamest activity and any sport EVER.

Jamie Smith needs his beard back. NOW.

Because he scored????? Or is it a man crush?

I got a good kick from the Timbers making their first sub at 38 minutes, and it was Class VI's target for the night that was subbed off. Regardless of reason, Class VI is putting that down as a win.

Great to see a healthy squad perform so well together.
Freeman and Mullan men of the match for me.
Enjoy watching Rivero get better and better.
Anyone else had it with Cummings? If his ankle is badly injured, then he shouldn't be on the pitch; if that isn't the problem, then his consistently lazy effort both on and off the ball should be keeping him off the pitch.

"They’re getting there,” Pareja said. “I thought Omar was great tonight because he’s still carrying a bit of pain in his ankle and you can tell sometimes he doesn’t feel 100 percent comfortable. But he came and did the job, and the same with Conor."

He didn't look sharp, but if this is how the team looks without him sharp, I'm all for throwing him back into the starting XI again next game and letting him regain his sharpness.

omar has had an ankle injury for 4 seasons now come on.

kimura broke his foot and has a toe bunion that shit huuuuuuuuuuurt's

sucks if his a back up but it'l be due to that broken foot and toe bunion just a few kicks is all it takes for it to start aching and hurting.

Positives:
+ And I thought the left side of the Rapids' defense was suspect! Portland's left side was scorched for the first 30'. Freeman and Mullan were largely unmarked, and fired off a succession of crisp crosses to Casey and Castrillon. Songo'o and Smith looked like lost sheep during that stretch, and Freeman and Mullan demonstrated solid chemistry.
+ Pickens largely had the night off, but still managed two saves. This is the first match in a while where he has been able to catch his breath between opposing attacks. He deserved a match like this!
+ Larentowicz dominated the midfield. He continually disrupted Portland attacks and generally made life miserable for them.
+ The third goal followed a spectacular build: Rivero to Cascio to Smith. The entire Portland defense ball-watched on the attack, but the play was textbook.

Negatives:
- Larentowicz snagged an unwise YC for delay in stoppage time. Was kicking the ball for delay really necessary up 3-0 with seconds remaining? He is back to being one card away from being penned.
- Zapata seemed a bit out of synch with the rest of the team throughout the first half. It looked like he was freelancing a higher line, leaving him out of position both for feeds from Larentowicz and on defense. (This seemed to be corrected at the half, and he played more consistently the second half.)
- The right side attack was far too easy. Portland played terribly, which in turn made Colorado's attack much more productive. It won't be this easy on Wednesday.

Other comments:
= The Rapids were only whistled for 6 fouls. (Portland only had 10.) Penso called a consistent match, and generally allowed a bit more contact than some of the other refs this season.
= When Spenny yanked Songo'o well before the half, the two looked like they got into it a bit after Songo'o came off. Alexander made an immediate impact by giving support to Steven Smith and closing off the Freeman-Mullan pipeline. Portland's best stretch of the match came after that substitution, through halftime.
= Pareja's substitutions were timely and all performed well. Cascio fed Smith for the third goal and Thompson's fresh legs shut down Portland's last attempts to push the ball forward.
= Portland seemed tired very early in the match. Jet lag? Altitude? Heat? Frustration over their poor defense? Early realization that they couldn't come back from 0-2?

Here are the stats, updated to reflect the Portland match.

Thug Stats:

This match: Fouls, Portland 10, Colorado 6. Bookings, Portland 1 YC (Chara), Colorado 1 YC (Larentowicz).

Season totals: Fouls, Opponents 205, Colorado 179. Bookings, opponents 29 YCs, 1 RC, 2 mustard-and-ketchups; Colorado 22 YCs, 0 RCs, 2 mustard-and-ketchups.

Rapids Front Office scorecard:

This match:
+ Protected starters = 2 goals (Casey, Smith), 1 assist (Mullan), 1 booking (Larentowicz, YC).
+ RFO throwaways = 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 bookings.
+ Newbies = 1 goal (Castrillon), 3 assists (Freeman, Rivero, Cascio), 0 bookings.

Season totals:
+ Protected starters = 10 goals, 6 assists, 11 YCs, 1 mustard-and-ketchup, 1 own goal.
+ RFO throwaways = 3 goals, 2 assists, 6 YCs, 1 mustard-and-ketchup.
+ Newbies = 11 goals, 12 assists, 8 YCs, 1 own goal.

Saw this tweet right before game from rapids
Casey/Cummings shared field in only 5 games last year, a combined 307 mins. They scored 4 goals with 1 assist in those games

Game report lists this YC for the foul, not the time wasting. I'm not sure I believe that but if so it makes it slightly less stupid.

Just caught the last 15 minutes of the first half on the replay currently on Altitude. During that time Balboa pointed out Cabrera getting off the bench and telling Zapata to get back.

Woohoo! What a win! I'm glad people are giving Freeman proper respect. Somebody near me made the comment that on the first goal that Castrillon could have just been a traffic cone and that would have been a goal. Obviously, it is an exaggeration, but it exemplifies just how great Freeman's move to get free and cross were. I like that a former Rapids draft pick has returned and is contributing so well.

I'm also glad that Pickens got a shutout. He wasn't overly worked, but he did make some fine saves and I loved how pumped he was from stopping the deflected shot that was ruled offside. I would love to see him represent the Rapids and MLS at the All-Star game.

Conor Casey was also a beast. I don't think that game plays out like that without him in there.

I hope everyone can get recovered and that we don't see too many guys start cramping up on Wednesday night with the heat and short week. We need some good momentum to finish the season out strong and get into the playoffs.

I think that was more "pissed at his D" than "pumped".

Can I say both?

Normally I would agree, but on that one I thought he actually had more of a "Yeah that's M******F******* right I just saved that!"

Could be wishful thinking. That is actually the one thing that I get tired of with Picken's is his constant pissed-offness anytime a shot gets through. During the Euros I have seen Buffon at times after a save have more of a positive reaction and be excited that he stopped the shot rather than getting pissed at his D and I think it helped give his defenders more confidence. When I have seen it I found myself wishing that Pickens would occasionally do the same. So yeah maybe it was wishful thinking...

I didn't have a camera ... they were basically fire symbols/crosses (like the Chicago Fire patch) with the Colorado Flag filling them. They also had fund raising for the Colorado Firefighter's Association going on to include a pre-game message from Conor Casey. Pretty cool.

or maybe not so cool!

Forest Firefighters are brave men & women from every state not necessarily from Colorado and not necessarily affiliated with the Colorado State Fire Fighters Association (CSFFA). The CSFFA is a Colorado state organization protecting local Firemen not the Federal Forest Firefighters. Whereas, CSFFA afiliated Firemen do laudable work they are well compensated in their jobs. However, It would seem that the notoriety of our current fires offered a great opportunity to collect charitable contributions. The largest forest firefighting agencies are the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Other agencies that hire forest firefighters in smaller numbers include the National Park Service & the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department..

Somehow I doubt the lack of distinction in the Pid Army signs or the message from Casey really mattered to the firefighters that saw it.

Thanks for the link. My bad...Papi knows best!

I thought that Drew was an absolute ' Air Marshall ' by winning so many headers.