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Rapids fall to Wizards
Colorado’s undefeated start came undone Saturday night against a Kansas City Wizards team that made the most of a tight field and a well struck re-start.
The Wizards beat the Rapids 1-0 on a goal that highlighted not only the importance of set pieces, but also their crucial nature in the tight confines of CommunityAmerica Ballpark. The converted minor league baseball park sometimes makes the 11 men on the field look like 13.
Even two extra defenders would have been necessary to have stopped the lone goal. Kei Kamara timed his jump perfectly to send a looping ball over Matt Pickens in the 47th minute. The ‘keeper was a few paces off his line, but the ball was perfectly struck.
From there, neither side was able to find the back of the net, and the Rapids (1-1-1) finished with 10 men. However, the lack of an 11th player didn’t seem to effect the Rapids on a field with so little available space. In fact, for the sake of game play, it might be better to play 9-on-9 in KC.
All night, the Rapids seemed to have trouble adjusting to the smaller field. Passes weighted for the altitude and size of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park sailed out of bounds. The Wizards (2-0-0) made the most of what the field gave the team.
However, in the 59th minute, it looked like Colin Clark would open his account as he found himself alone inside the penalty area. His blazing shot was cleanly handled by KC ‘keeper Jimmy Nielsen.
There weren’t many opportunities for either side in the first half, but the Rapids got the best of those few. Omar Cummings strength and speed got him free on the right wing in the third minute of first half stoppage time. Cummings pinched in toward the goal with Conor Casey crashing the far post. Looking up, Cummings fed the ball to a trailing Mehdi Ballouchy, who proceeded to chip the sphere into the parking lot. Everyone knew he could have done better.
And, by the end of the game, every Rapids fan was wishing he had.
Streak Intact: The win preserved KC’s dominance of the Rapids at home. The Rapids have not won in Kansas City since Sept. 14, 2002. In the 10 games since, the Wizards are 7-0-3. With the league’s balanced schedule, the Rapids won’t get a chance to break that streak until 2011.
Seeing Red: Julien Baudet received a straight red card in the 71st minute. The central defender, already carrying a yellow card from the first half, will miss the next game, when Toronto FC visits Colorado on Sunday, April 18.
Yellow Flurry: The first half ended in a chippy mess with a flurry of yellow cards. Kamara and Ryan Smith for KC, and Baudet and Pablo Mastroeni for the Rapids each picked up yellow cards.
Smith and Smith: For about 15 minutes in the second half, Jamie Smith for the Rapids and Ryan Smith of the Wizards faced off in midfield. Jamie Smith’s touch still looked a little rusty as he continues to make his way back from a hamstring injury. Ryan Smith came off in the 76th minute for Teal Bunbury.
Open Cup: Does the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup now take on added importance? The Rapids face KC at the University of Missouri Kansas City field in an Open Cup play-in game on Tuesday night. A win would allow the Rapids to move on to the next round, plus ease the distaste of Saturday’s loss. Also, the UMKC field is larger than CommunityAmerica, a possible advantage for Colorado.
Rapids Starters: Pickens, Kimura (Amarikwa, 82), Wynne, Baudet, Moor, Ballouchy (Smith, 61), Mastroeni, Larentowicz, Clark (Thompson, 69), Cummings, Casey.
Wizards Starters: Nielsen, Espinoza, Conrad, Besler, Harrington, Kamara, Arnaud, Auvray, Jewsbury (Rocastle, 82), Smith (Bunbury, 76), Wolff (Myers, 70).
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