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Ralston PK rescues Revolution
Despite scoring in the third minute, putting eight shots on goal and taking 10 corner kicks, the Colorado Rapids were held to a tie by the injury-riddled New England Revolution on Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass.
Steve Ralston’s penalty kick 18 minutes into the game was enough for the Revs to salvage a tie. New England played without starting goalkeeper Matt Reis, striker Taylor Twellman, defenders Chris Albright and Gabriel Badilla and midfielder Mauricio Castro. Shalrie Joseph was slotted in as the team’s lone forward.
Colorado could not get the ball past goalkeeper Brad Knighton, a 24-year-old who had not made a Major League Soccer appearance before this season.
So was it all bad news for the Rapids? No. As so many ties are, this one was full of minuses and pluses.
The team did play well. The offense was on the attack more than the Revs’ offense, except for maybe 20 minutes in the middle of the second half. The defense did not break. Mehdi Ballouchy was aggressive and creative. Matt Pickens looked comfortable in net and communicated well with the defense. Cory Gibbs returned. The team picked up a point on the road. There were many, many positives for Colorado.
And one big negative: not winning.
The Rapids left two points on the field. Colorado was the better team but could not get the second goal to prove it to the Revs and their fans.
However, is viewing this tie as a bad thing such a bad thing itself? It may be that feeling disappointed with the result is a signal that the Rapids should be held to a higher standard than we’ve seen in the past few years.
Usually it’s only the underachiever who feels good about a draw. The Rapids were not that on Saturday — or in many games this season. The only thing stopping them from being overachievers in the eyes of MLS is that elusive next goal.
So what about the goal the Rapids did score?
Just before Conor Casey put Colorado on the board, Nick LaBrocca started a scoring chance for the Rapids. Early in the third minute, LaBrocca’s right-footed cross from the right wing split the New England defense and sailed cleanly to the left edge of the penalty box. Knighton hesitated to intercept the ball, which in turn landed at the feet of Colin Clark on the left wing. Clark one-timed the ball back toward the right, and Ballouchy hammered it on goal with one touch. Knighton made a fine save, and the defense cleared the ball to the left touch line.
That throw-in led to Casey’s goal.
Still in the third minute, Jordan Harvey chipped a high ball that looped from the left wing toward the middle. The steep, slow pass was the kind that typically does not produce a goal because the striker cannot head it hard enough to get it past the keeper. But this pass gave Casey a chance to position himself. Casey saw Knighton out of position at the near post, and he headed it to the unattended far post.
THE HINKY RALSTON PK: Colorado Soccer Now loves Stevie Ralston, but Colorado Soccer Now didn’t like that little stutter step he did before his penalty kick. Didn’t that give him an unfair advantage? The rules of soccer state the goalkeeper must stay on his line until the ball is kicked. Pickens did that. But by the time Ralston made contact with the ball, Pickens had left his feet. Both feet off the ground. That’s an advantage for Ralston. Then the rules state that the kicker may not start his run toward the ball then stop to fake out the keeper. Ralston started his run then put on the brakes — and technically didn’t stop. That allowed him to see Pickens dive to the right post, so Ralston easily shot toward the left. Again, an advantage for Ralston. This play tiptoed around the idea of “sporting.”
CORNER-KICK DUTIES: Ballouchy and Clark shared the job of taking corner kicks for the Rapids. And the unusual thing was seeing them take kicks on different sides of the field. Usually one player will take all the kicks, regardless of which stick the ball is sitting by. Sometimes a team will have a specialist for the right side and one for the left. But on Saturday, the two traded off depending on what type of bend the play called for.
MAN OF THE MATCH: I’d give it to New England’s Emmanual Osei, a defender from Ghana. Because the Rapids pressed on offense through much of the game, the Revolution defense was under attack all that time. New England let Casey get loose for the Rapids’ lone goal, but Osei was a presence at the back. He snuffed numerous chances and was the most visible player on either team. He may have been the busiest player on either team. He played a larger role in his team earning the draw than any of his teammates did. Ralston had his usual above-average night. Chris Tierney turned in some strong passing, including a wicked cross that put Ralston in a position to earn the PK. Jay Heaps and Kevin Alston were active on defense. But Osei, playing a criticial position, was the most stubborn on Saturday.
SAVE OF THE GAME: Pickens on Joseph, point blank in the 67th minute.
STYLES OF THE GAME: Gary Smith was rockin’ a maroon jacket in the first half. He usually wears a light gray or white. Then, after halftime, he went with a heavier, dark gray coat.
GIBBS RETURNS: In the second half, we got a look at what the template for the Rapids defense may be for the near future (until Julien Baudet shows up). Smith removed right back Kosuke Kimura and subbed in central defender Cory Gibbs. Then Smith moved Ugo Ihemelu from the middle of the defense to Kimura’s spot on the right. So, from left, the back line was Jordan Harvey, Scott Palguta, Gibbs and Ihemelu.
WITH APOLOGIES TO DAVID LETTERMAN: Alston, Ralston; Ralston, Alston.
ATTENDANCE ISSUES: It looks like the Revs sell tickets to only one side of Gillette Stadium plus the end zones. The seats opposite the cameras had a smattering of fans, and the seats on the cameras’ side of the stadium were empty. The official attendance was 10,677.
WORST SOCCER MOVIES: And, folks, don’t forget to e-mail me with your nominations for the worst soccer movie of all time. Tell me who you are, where you live and why the movie you’re nominating is the pits.
George Tanner is a former writer and editor for the Rocky Mountain News; the Greeley Tribune; The Daily Independent of Ridgecrest, Calif.; the Durango Herald; and the Boulder Daily Camera. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado and an associate professor at Metropolitan State College of Denver. E-mail him at ColoradoSoccerNow@gmail.com.
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