After falling behind by three goals 50 minutes in, the Colorado Rapids faced a monstrous obstacle to overcome.
And though they could not come all the way back, the Rapids felt the fight was something important for the team to build on. Colorado fell to the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2 despite late goals from Colin Clark and Herculez Gomez.
"This team will always go down trying rather than ... just giving up," Clark said.
The fight was not enough to overcome the early hole the Galaxy put Colorado in. Alvaro Pires and Edson Buddle each scored in the first 32 minutes while Ely Allen scored the eventual match-winner five minutes into the second half.
But Colorado changed things up a bit midway through the second half when Omar Cummings and Gomez replaced Conor Casey and Rafael Gomes.
The changes helped the Rapids build possession and pressure the Galaxy goal.
"A couple subs came in and we got a little bit of a faster team out there," Clark said. "We were able to track down long balls a little bit easier. We kept chipping away and chipping away and got one and a second. It was disappointing for the third not to come."
The second half was somewhat of a turnaround from the first 45 minutes, said Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo.
"L.A. played extremely well in the first half, dominated and created chances. We had some tough times putting a couple of passes together. We struggled and I think L.A. took advantage of that," Clavijo said. "The second half it was better. I thought that we needed to, we had an urgency to go forward."
Although the Galaxy were missing Landon Donovan, the home side was still able to put consistent pressure on the Rapids, particularly in the first half.
Still, the team was no different than the one the Rapids demolished 4-0 in the season opener at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
"It's the same team," Clavijo said. "I said it all along in the beginning when we scored and we beat them, people we were very quick to criticize them. And I said they had a good team, they had a bad night but nobody gave the credit to Colorado and I thought that credit was due."
Each side finished with 10 men as Alan Gordon and Facundo Erpen were sent off near the end of the first half. On the play, Gordon tackled Erpen and the Rapids defender appeared to clip Gordon on the groin. Gordon then kicked Erpen.
However, referee Kevin Stott gave Gordon a straight red card immediately but took his time to send Erpen off. In fact, it was only after the replay of the entire play was broadcast on the stadium scoreboard.
"I thought it was very illegal first of all for the Galaxy to show the replay on the big screen which is a mandate by the league not to do that. I thought they took about five minutes for the red card to come out after the red card," Clavijo said. "But again it's given ... I did not know what happened on the play. I don't justify if Facundo Erpen did something but it's very obvious that the referee did not see it."
Ultimately, though, the Rapids went down swinging. Clavijo did not apologize for his team's penchant for trying for a victory.
"Does it matter if you tied three games or you win one? I prefer to win one. We don't play for ties. We play to win. Sometimes we get a result," Clavijo said. "We have a young team. It's hard to keep consistency. At the same time, the way the three points (for a win) and one point for the tie, I don't believe two ties are better than one loss and a win. Three points is always sweeter and that's where we are where we are right now. We are looking to get more consistency -- there is no question about that."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
