Colorado Rapids road draw more than just a point
Colorado Rapids continue to climb
The latest evidence of the Colorado Rapids staying power came this weekend with a 1-1 result at Sporting Kansas City. Any doubts about the Rapids ability to compete against the very best in MLS were washed away with this result.
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A 17th minute goal by Jonathan Lewis and seven saves by steady and reliable goalkeeper William Yarbrough lift the Rapids to a sixth straight match with a result. It is yet another strong result for a team that shows no signs of slowing down.
The draw keeps the Rapids in third place in the Western Conference (11-4-5, 38 points). They are now four points behind the Seattle Sounders for top of the conference and hold two matches in hand.
“I think two things stood out to me. One is when you look at how the game started, I think [the team] should feel confident that when they do things the right way and execute the right way that they can be really effective even against good teams, which I think is obviously important once you get down to the end of the year and you’re into really meaningful games against really good teams,” head coach Robin Fraser told reporters after the match.
“And then the other part of it that came out of it, even when things don’t go well, through fight and determination they can keep themselves in games and still manufacture ways to win games. I thought both things were on display tonight. Obviously, you get down to the end of the year, you play against the best teams. These are characteristics that are going to be important.”
Why Saturday matters for the Colorado Rapids
Perhaps what sticks out the most about Saturday’s result was not just the quality of the opponent – Sporting Kansas City is third in the league on points and second in the Western Conference – but the fact that the Colorado Rapids got another result on the road.
In 10 away matches this season, the Rapids have secured 17 points. That is an impressive run and one that is certainly beneficial for a team that is fully capable of making a playoff run.
“Kansas City in Kansas City is one of the most difficult in the league, in my opinion. We had some really good moments to start the game. I thought we started off really well. Made a few mistakes, lost a little bit of confidence. The second half of the first half wasn’t quite like the first half was,” Fraser said.
“The second half we came out and put together some good play again, but you’re never going to beat Kansas City down, and surely enough, they came back and came back really strong. It was a very, very wide open game at times. Very back and forth. As I said, it’s one of the toughest places to play. They’re one of the best teams in their stadium in the league. I was really proud of how the guys fought and created some really good chances and gave ourselves a chance to win. That’s one of the things about this team is that we—through our fight and determination—we’ve lately been giving ourselves a chance to win every game.
“That’s really a great position to be in, where you feel like going into every game you have a chance to win. Certainly, we got tested as much as we are going to get tested by a very good Kansas City team, but I was really proud of the effort, again.”