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Early goal not enough
An offensive explosion the likes of which the Colorado Rapids haven’t produced in three months proved to be not quite enough on the road against the Seattle Sounders.
Wells Thompson and Jeff Larentowicz scored in the first half to put the Rapids up 2-1 at the break. Seattle came back with three second-half goals and held on after a late Caleb Folan strike to win 4-3 on Saturday.
The loss dropped the defending MLS Cup champions to 6-6-9 (27 points) on the season, while Seattle improved to 10-4-8 (38 points). The Sounders are now only a point behind the Los Angeles Galaxy for the conference and league lead.
The final 45 minutes wiped away what had been a promising start for Colorado. Thompson latched on to a poor clearance and blasted it into the goal from 18 yards out in the second minute.
The lead was short-lived as Osvaldo Alonso found a streaking Alvaro Fernandez on the right side. Fernandez held off defender Kosuke Kimura before firing past ‘keeper Matt Pickens in the seventh minute.
Thompson figured in the scoring again as he collected a long pass from Omar Cummings and fed it to Larentowicz. The Ginger Ninja banked his shot off the far post in the 42nd minute for a 2-1 lead.
The game turned into a Seattle show in the second half. Roger Levesque scored in the 48th minute to even the match before Fredy Montero and Mauro Rosales scored in the 82nd and 84th minutes, respectively.
Folan provided a measure of redemption when he knocked in a rebound in the 90th minute to set the final score.
Next Up: The Rapids get little time to dwell on the loss. Colorado returns to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for a Wednesday match with New York Red Bull. The team then travels to New England for a July 23 date with the Revolution.
Casey Off: Conor Casey limped off in the 38th minute with what appeared to be a leg injury.
Folan Strike: The forward’s goal in the 90th minute was his first since collecting a brace in a 4-1 win against D.C. United on April 3. That was also the last time the Rapids scored more than twice in a game.
Yellow Alert: The two teams generated five yellow cards in a physical match. Pablo Mastroeni, Casey and Thompson saw yellow for the Rapids. Montero and Levesque were carded for Seattle.
No Mullan: Coach Gary Smith decided against bringing midfielder Brian Mullan to Seattle. This was the first contest between the two teams since Mullan broke Steve Zakuani’s leg with a tackle on April 22. Mullan was ejected from that match and suspended 10 games.
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