The latest evidence came Sunday evening as the Rapids fell 2-0 to Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Colorado, which edged the Columbus Crew 1-0 in the wild card match on Thursday, couldn’t generate legitimate threats as Sporting spent the evening shoving them around the field.

There was a great deal of literal shoving as Kosuke Kimura, Drew Moor and Caleb Folan all departed with injuries. Moor injured his shoulder, Kimura broke a bone in his left foot, and Folan left with an ankle sprain.

This means a team that hasn’t scored more than two goals in an MLS match since July 20 would have to win by at least that margin just to get a penalty kick chance against KC on Wednesday night. Or, the team could repeat its three-goal win from July 20 and advance to the next round.

Otherwise, Kimura, Moor, Folan, Jamie Smith, Pablo Mastroeni, Conor Casey and Anthony Wallace — who will all be out with injuries on Wednesday — will have company in the training room.

Teal Deal: Teal Bunbury scored both goals for Kansas City on Sunday. The second-year player from Akron continues to make a fool of my prediction that he would be a bust when KC drafted him in the first round before the 2010 season.

Also Missing: Defender Tyrone Marshall was ejected during the Sunday match, which makes him unavailable for Wednesday’s return leg.

This ejection and the injuries leave Marvell Wynne guiding a back line of Scott Palguta, Danny Earls and either Mike Holody or a player transplanted from another spot (Wells Thompson?) on Wednesday night. This is not good news for a defensive clampdown.

Cummings was alone in the penalty area when his roommate, Kosuke Kimura, passed to him in the waning moments of the first half. Kimura, who made regular forays into the attack, saw Cummings just after receiving a pass from Brian Mullan.

The Jamaican forward then did what he had done 14 times in 2010, but only three times this season, and put the ball in the back of the net. This one tally was enough as the Rapids rode a stout defense to a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew in the second Wild Card match of the MLS playoffs.

Colorado, the defending MLS Cup champions, now gets a double date with Sporting Kansas City in the next round of the playoffs. The Rapids will host the Eastern Conference regular season champions at 5 p.m. Sunday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City. The return leg will be 6 p.m. Wednesday at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.

The winner of that two-game series will advance to the Eastern Conference final on Nov. 6 against the winner of the Philadelphia Union-Houston Dynamo series. Because of the oddities of MLS playoffs, the Rapids — the fifth-place team in the Western Conference, own the Eastern Conference title from the 2010 playoffs. FC Dallas, which lost to New York Red Bulls in the first Wild Card match, held the Western Conference title from 2010.

Facing KC: While you let the oddity of holds what title sink in, it’s time to start pondering a Colorado-KC playoff series.

The two MLS originals have met in the playoffs for seven previous matches. The Rapids own a 2-3-2 record against KC in the playoffs, but the two teams have not met in the postseason since 2003.

Overall, the two teams have met 49 times with the Rapids winning 17, Kansas City taking 10 victories and the two squads tying 22 times. Not surprisingly, both meetings this season resulted in 1-1 draws.

Crew Killer: Cummings tally gave him four goals for the season, half of them against Columbus. Cummings most recent MLS goal came against the Crew on Aug. 5 in a 2-0 Rapids win.

It will be chilly in Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for the 8 p.m. battle with the Columbus Crew. But there will be plenty of heat on the field for the Rapids. Win, and they face the LA Galaxy in the next round of the playoffs. Lose, and the team can head to the training room and join rehabilitating forward Conor Casey.

Looking Back: For this playoff edition of The Thursday List, we take a look back at past playoff performances for the Rapids. The list starts with the team’s first playoff appearance and opponent and grows from there.

1997: at Kansas City, Win, 3-0
Kansas City, Win, 3-2
at Dallas, Win, 1-0
Dallas, Win, 2-1
at D.C. United, Loss, 2-1

1998: at Chicago, Loss, 1-1 (shootout)
Chicago, Loss, 1-0

1999: at Los Angeles, Loss, 3-0
Los Angeles, Loss, 2-0

2000: at Kansas City, Loss, 1-0
Kansas City, Tie, 0-0
at Kansas City, Loss, 3-2

2002: at Dallas, Loss, 4-2
Dallas, Win, 1-0
at Dallas, Tie, 2-1 (second overtime)
at Los Angeles, Loss, 4-0
Los Angeles, Loss, 1-0

2003: Kansas City, Tie, 1-1
at Kansas City, Loss, 2-0

2004: Los Angeles, Win, 1-0
at Los Angeles, Loss, 2-0

2005: FC Dallas, Tie, 0-0
at FC Dallas, Win, 2-2 (overtime)
Los Angeles, Loss, 2-0

2006: FC Dallas, Loss, 2-1
at FC Dallas, Win, 3-2 (overtime)
at Houston, Loss, 3-1

2010: Columbus, Win, 1-0
at Columbus, Loss, 2-1 (advanced on PK’s)
San Jose, Win, 1-0
FC Dallas, Win, 2-1 (overtime)

Opening Match: In 10 previous playoff appearances the Colorado Rapids are 3-5-2 in opening matches.

The bad news for the Rapids is that this year’s wild card match is a one-and-done affair for the losers.

The good news for the Rapids is the team’s record in home playoff matches in the opening round. Counting the two-leg affairs of the past, the team is a respectable 4-3-3 through the years.

Home Openers: The Rapids have played at home to open the playoffs five times. In those games — which includes the 2010 opener against the Crew — the team is 2-1-2.

Missing: The two players who scored against Columbus in the past season will be absent tonight. Casey is out for the season with a leg injury and Pablo Mastroeni is recovering from a concussion suffered against Real Salt Lake on Oct. 14.

Present: Kosuke Kimura, who was the last person to score for the Rapids at home in a playoff match, will be on the field tonight. The right back scored a wonder goal against San Jose in 2010 that eluded a charging Omar Cummings and goalkeeper Jon Busch.

Kimura, in fact, seems to always be on the field. Team golden boot winner Jeff Larentowicz, goalkeeper Matt Pickens and Kimura were the only Rapids to appear in all 34 games this season.

You Again: Brian Mullan, a late-season pickup from Houston in 2010, makes his 11th consecutive appearance in the MLS playoffs. Mullan, a Colorado soccer product, has appeared in the playoffs every season of his career.

Defenders Tyrone Marshall and Michael Holody can only watch as Carlos Pavon fires home his second goal on Wednesday night. (Photograph by Joel Baud/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

The Colorado Rapids season ended at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

The team will still play two more CONCACAF Champions League group stage games, four MLS regular season matches and one probable playoff game, but the disappointing 2011 season ended with the final whistle in Real Espana’s 2-1 victory at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Wednesday night was a microcosm of Colorado’s defense of the 2010 MLS Cup Championship. The Rapids controlled play for long periods, but gifted two goals to Carlos Pavon. On the first, the defense failed to close down the attacker. On the second, reserve Rapids defender Michael Holody — who appeared unfamiliar with playing at altitude — headed the ball into Pavon’s path and the Honduran did the rest.

Andre Akpan brought the Rapids level with a goal out of the scrum after a corner kick in the 18th minute, and he nearly added another, hitting the post and going wide to both sides before halftime. Jamie Smith, who came on as a second half sub, blasted on goal in the 67th minute in one of the few threats Colorado managed out of its extended possessions.

Elsewhere, well-intentioned Wells Thompson played with vigor, Tyrone Marshall and Brian Mullan delivered solid, veteran performances, and Kosuke Kimura remained a dynamo at right back. None of that was enough, however, to keep alive a CCL campaign that has seen Colorado drop two of three home mathces and fall to 1-2-1.

Making the quarterfinals would take a win at a Santos Laguna side that thumped Colorado 4-1, and points at Isidro Metapan, which lost 3-2 to the Rapids in the CCL opener. After Wednesday, neither are looking likely.

This faltering in the regional competition reflects the larger difficulty in trying to defend an improbable championship. Colorado has lost five straight in all competitions and is winless in the past seven matches. The team has been shutout twice in MLS play in a dismal streak that comes just as playoffs approach.

Now, the squad is left playing out the string. A couple of points in the final four matches will secure an MLS playoff spot, but the Rapids are showing no signs of an attack that can make it past one match against a quality opponent.

Instead, it’s time to start thinking about the 2012 campaign. Does this crew have enough to be more than mediocre? The 2011 results say no.

At least the passion was there, as Wells Thompson found when he was nearly choked following a referee's whistle. (Photograph by Joel Baud/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

The latest evidence came on Saturday night as the Rapids fell to the Chicago Fire, one of the worst teams in MLS, 2-0 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill.

While it was the most disastrous result in the latest string of games, it was also further proof of the mounting fatigue for a squad battling in two competitions. Surrendering late goals are normally the key sign of a tiring team. Colorado (10-7-11, 41 points) gave up a tying goal to Real Espana on Tuesday in the 85th minute and to Chivas USA on Aug. 20 in the 86th minute.

Coach Gary Smith attempted to make the most of his flagging roster by putting sometime starter Caleb Folan up top, and resting Omar Cummings.

The move produced few chances, and Cummings ultimately came on in the 61st minute as the team sought its way out of 2-0 hole. Inserting Cummings and later bringing on Macoumba Kandji for Folan produced little.

Perhaps Chicago ‘keeper Sean Johnson deserves much of the credit for earning his sixth shutout. However, the Rapids dug their own hole by letting Dominic Orduro loose in the 16th minute, and failing to close down his shot. The second goal was even more egregious as Kosuke Kimura, who possesses the work rate of a draft horse, simply couldn’t continue the run to the end line for the cross that Cory Gibbs turned into the second goal.

The bottom line is that this team, which relies on outworking opponents and then unleashing the speed of Sanna Nyassi and Cummings, is showing signs of the grind. Not having another game until Sept. 9, when the Rapids travel to face the LA Galaxy, may be the best thing that can happen for this squad. The season is at a critical juncture, and this side is running on fumes.

What should have felled a team that was struggling to score instead led to a four goal outburst from Nyassi and 10 points from four games.

In the Earthquakes, the Rapids face a team at Buck Shaw Stadium that is struggling to find the back of the net, just lost its most promising scoring threat, and has another scorer still looking for his finishing touch. The toothless attack explains how the ‘Quakes are mired in a 10-game winless streak.

Colorado, however, has searched for the winning edge against San Jose since the Earthquakes rejoined the league in 2008. The Rapids were winless against San Jose the first five times the two teams met before claiming a victory at home last fall.

Long Shot: Kosuke Kimura provided the winning difference when these two teams met during the Eastern Conference finals last November. His long range pass to Omar Cummings sailed past the forward’s foot and ‘keeper Jon Busch in the 1-0 game.

Gordon Gone: No sooner had Alan Gordon joined the ‘Quakes and scored to preserve a tie last weekend then he was gone. The striker underwent surgery this week for injuries in both hips.

Mac Back: Macoumba Kandji played 78 minutes in a reserve league 1-0 loss to Sporting Kansas City on Monday and appears ready to go again. The big striker has been out since tearing his ACL on the pass that led to an own goal in extra time and the Rapids 2-1 win over FC Dallas at the MLS Cup Championship in November.

Traveling Men: Cummings rejoined the Rapids on Friday after appearing in an international friendly for Jamaica. Nyassi was due to meet the team today after playing for Gambia against Congo. Coach Gary Smith said if and how much each will play today will be a game time decision.

The Rapids have played Los Angeles 55 times and Dallas (first as The Burn and then as FC) 51. Next on that list is San Jose, which has met Colorado 46 times since that first MLS season in 1996.

The Earthquakes, who won a pair of MLS titles in the team’s original incarnation, also holds a 21-17-8 record against the Rapids. For The Thursday List, we take a look at how the two teams have battled since San Jose rejoined the league in 2008.

April 19, 2008, San Jose 2, Colorado 0
July 12, 2008, San Jose 1, Colorado 1

Sept. 18, 2009, Colorado 1, San Jose 1
Sept. 23, 2009, San Jose 1, Colorado 1

May 1, 2010, San Jose 1, Colorado 0
Aug. 7, 2010, Colorado 1, San Jose 0
Playoffs: Nov. 13, 2010, Colorado 1, San Jose 0

The Rapids were winless (0-2-3) in the team’s first five meetings with the re-entry Earthquakes. In the past two meetings, Colorado has beaten the Earthquakes on a terrible own goal mistake by goalkeeper Jon Busch off an Omar Cummings cross, and a stunning strike by Kosuke Kimura in the Eastern Conference finals last fall.

This season, San Jose has struggled to score, but with a busy schedule of CONCACAF Champions League matches and a drive to the MLS playoffs, the Rapids face a challenge at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Colorado has had a tough time with this old foe.

Looking at the 2011 roster, we go back in time to who was here in each of the previous seasons. We looked at who was on the roster at the end of the season and remains today.

2007 Roster: Conor Casey*, Omar Cummings, Pablo Mastroeni, Kosuke Kimura

2008 Roster: Casey, Cummings, Mastroeni, Kimura

2009 Roster: Casey, Cummings, Mastroeni, Kimura, Drew Moor*, Jamie Smith, Scott Palguta, Matt Pickens, Steward Ceus

2010 Roster: Casey, Cummings, Mastroeni, Kimura, Moor, Smith, Palguta, Pickens, Ceus, Jeff Larentowicz, Brian Mullan*, Wells Thompson, Macomba Kandji*, Quincy Amarikwa*, Anthony Wallace*, Andre Akpan, Danny Earls, Ian Joyce, Ross LaBauex, Marvell Wynne, Davy Armstrong

*Joined the team during the season.

So, what does this list tell us? Soccer is a volatile sport, especially when you aren’t winning. Only three current players –Cummings, Mastroeni and Kimura — were on the roster when DSG Park opened 4 1/2 years ago. Only Mastroeni was a regular on the field, with Cummings making 11 appearances as a substitute and Kimura starting four games for an erratic defense that season. Add Casey from Toronto FC during 2007, and those four are the quartet of Rapids that started the DSG era.

It also tells us that while the team was missing the playoffs in ’07, ’08 and ’09, it was only in that 2009 season that the side started to come together. Looking at the players who came and went, ’08 was as dismal as it seemed. Fernando Clavijo departed as coach two-thirds of the way through the season and Gary Smith took over. Only the Casey-Cummings-Mastroeni-Kimura quartet continued from the depths of ’08 to the heights of the 2010 MLS Cup and beyond.

In ’09, the team added two starters — Pickens and Moor — and a third, Smith, who would start if not for nagging injuries. In ’10, the team added starters in Larentowicz, Mullan and Wynne, with Thompson, Earls and Wallace all seeing significant minutes.

Just in the way that a season is fleeting, so is time on the field for Rapids players. Now, Kimura is a constant at right back, Cummings is flourishing after early season injuries, Casey is out for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon, and Mastroeni continues to turn back time as he approaches his 35th birthday on Aug. 29.

So, The Tuesday List wants you to remember these names because you never know how many more times you’ll see them on the field.

No amount of pleading can change the fact the New England Revolution snuck out of Dick's Sporting Goods Park with a point on the road. (Photograph by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

For the Colorado Rapids, it was the old sinking feeling that comes from letting points slip away at home to a poor side that has mustered only one win on the road. The fact that the tie came after Kosuke Kimura scored a ludicrous goal made the 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution only that much more unsettling.

The Rapids moved to 7-6-10 on the season after taking the lead but failing to put away the Revs.

Benny Feilhaber opened the scoring with a shot against the run of play in the 25th minute. It appeared that the Revs goal was enough to unhinge a Colorado side that was dominating play for the first half, but unable to break through.

Caleb Folan put the Rapids on the board from the penalty spot in the 65th minute. His goal came after a one-two with Sanna Nyassi and Omar Cummings that ended with Chris Tierney upending Nyassi in the box and getting an early trip to the showers via a red card.

While Colorado kept pressing, the goal that put the Rapids up came from an unlikely source and an unlikely goalkeeping error by Matt Reis. Kimura sent a long pass from inside his half toward the New England penalty area. Reis got caught out of position and watched the ball bounce over him and into the back of the net in the 82nd minute.

Three points eluded the Rapids in the 90th minute when Kenny Mansally went down in the penalty area as he jockeyed with Scott Palguta for position. Shalrie Josephy calmly slotted the spot kick past Matt Pickens for the draw.

Up Next: The Rapids travel to Philadelphia to play the Union on Friday.

All-Star: Coach Gary Smith rested Cummings for the first half in anticipation of the forward’s appearance at Wednesday’s All-Star Game at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.

If a tie is like kissing your sister, then what is six draws in a row?

Can you be both winless and undefeated over a month of games?

These are questions for the ages, but the reality is that the Colorado Rapids have now set an MLS mark with six consecutive draws. Now the team takes that record on the road to Portland next Saturday. The Timbers, who fell 3-1 to the Rapids to open the season, have gone 5-1-0 at home. A tie there would be a first for Jeld-Wen Field.

Colorado returns home to face the Los Angeles Galaxy on June 18. The Rapids and the Galaxy took turns beating one another at home during the 2010 season.

Here at ColoradoSoccerNow.com, we decided to take a look at scenes from six consecutive draws. We’re doing this as a form of visual therapy as we try to figure out whether to cheer or curse the team’s fortune.

In one of the highlights, Conor Casey picked up his first goal of the season in the fifth of six consecutive ties when he rounded the Sporting Kansas City 'keeper on May 28. (Photograph by Joel Baud/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Kosuke Kimura, plucking the ball out of the air in front of Philadelphia's Sebastien Le Toux, can lay claim to the "Fittest Player in the MLS" after performing tirelessly at right back and right wing in the midfield during the streak. (Photograph by Joel Baud/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Matt Pickens, cradling the ball in a 0-0 draw with Toronto on May 22, picked up a shutdown and has a goals against average of 1 during the streak. (Photograph by Joel Baud/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Pablo Mastroeni, here charging at the Fire, has been a force in the midfield throughout the streak. (Photograph by Joel Baud/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Jeff Larentowicz, in action here against LA in 2010, scored both goals in a 2-2 draw at New York. The "Ginga Ninja" and the Rapids face LA in the next home match on June 18. (Photograph by Jessica Taves/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)