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Super soccer weekend approaching
Since the schedules came out, every Colorado soccer fan should have been looking forward to the first weekend in June, because it will be a festival of action on the pitch.
Between 7 p.m. Friday and about 9 p.m. Sunday, a soccer fan can catch two Colorado Force W-League matches, a Colorado Rapids home game and the inaugural match of the Colorado Rush W-League team.
And if four games in a little more than two days isn’t enough, the Rush plays again on Tuesday night. As a fan, a weekend of top-flight play in two different leagues with no more than some time in the car going from field to field is a treat of the first order.
First: The Fort Collins-based Force kicks off the action at 7 p.m. Friday in the Loveland Sports Park against Seattle Sounders. The two teams tied in Washington this past Friday. It was the first game of the season for the Force, and the return will mark the team’s first home game.
Following: Next, the Rapids take on the Eastern Conference-leading Columbus Crew at 7 p.m. Saturday at Dick’s Sporting
Rapids Conor Casey (left) and Sounders Jeff Parks (right) and Steve Zakuani threaten to take control of the ball during the game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park May 29, 2010. Conor scores the only goal and the Rapids come out on top 1-0. (Photograph by Jessica Taves/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
Goods Park. The Crew is 6-1-2 after suffering its first loss of the season to Los Angeles. The Rapids are coming off a 1-0 win over Seattle Sounders FC, which could be a good omen against Columbus.
The Rapids last defeated Columbus on April 8, 2006, a 3-1 win at Invesco Field at Mile High. The Crew have won four of the seven meetings since – including the last two at DSG Park – with three draws.
Doubleheader: On Sunday, the scheduling gets a little more interesting. The Rush kick off against Seattle at 2 p.m. at Englewood High School Stadium. This will be a game of firsts, as it will be the first game and the first home game of the team’s inaugural season.
Then, the Force tangles with the Vancouver Whitecaps at 7 p.m. in Loveland. The Whitecaps got an 89th minute goal this past Sunday to beat Colorado 2-1. The Force starts its first home stand 0-1-1, which, as we know from Tom “Gunny” Highway in “Heartbreak Ridge,” is a record that can easily look better after a win. Too bad Grenada isn’t on this schedule.
Four-Course Meal: I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for months. It’s an embarrassment of riches to have this many games in such a short span of time. It’s like the perfect appetizer to the June 11 start of the World Cup. With those games, I can sit in my living room and yell at the TV all I want.
With this coming weekend of games, I get to go outside, sit in the stands, and yell. I can’t wait.
Coda: Then, just to keep the spirit of this weekend going, Rush plays the Whitecaps at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Englewood high. Is too much of a good thing possible?
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