Having lost their previous four games, the Colorado Rapids came into Washington, D.C. on Thursday night set to revive their floundering season in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPN2. With both squads missing regulars to injury or representing their nations at Copa America, the Rapids had a solid chance of reversing a quickly disintegrating season.
However, despite a good first half where they took an early lead on a beautifully placed header from Jacob Peterson, the Rapids eventually fell 4-1 to D.C. United when the hosts put the match out of reach with two late goals after a 30-minute lightning delay, dooming the Rapids to their fifth consecutive defeat.
Additionally, the Rapids now have to deal with a potentially serious injury to central defender Mike Petke, who was inadvertently stepped on by United forward Nicholas Addlery early in the first half.
"Petke is on the way to hospital, and hopefully it is not broken, but he is in a lot of pain right now, too," said Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo afterwards.
After silencing the RFK Stadium fans with the first goal in the 19th minute, the Rapids let United back into the match when defender Greg Vanney was called for a handball as he fell to the turf attempting to stop Nicholas Addlery from hitting a shot inside the box.
Christian Gomez knocked home from the penalty spot, and from then on the Rapids were on their heels for much of the night - especially after central midfield enforcer Pablo Mastroeni went out with a knock midway through the second half - until Addlery put the hosts ahead for good in the 71st minute with his first career MLS strike.
"I thought in the first half we played pretty well. We had a couple chances, made some mistakes, gave a penalty, then little by little, Petke went out, Mastroeni went out, and we tried to compensate. I am disappointed right now, very very disappointed," Clavijo said.
In an evenly matched first half, Peterson proved to be a handful for the United defense, first slamming the ball into United goalkeeper Troy Perkins' chest from point-blank range only to finally put one in the back of the net just moments later to open the scoring. Peterson continually made darting runs at the United backline, but was unable to capitalize on a few opportunities to give the Rapids a lead entering the second half.
"It was a good save [by Perkins]. I was just trying to keep it on frame; he's a good goalie. But, I should have had a couple more. I've got to finish those, that's what I get paid to do," Peterson said.
While singling out the stellar play of some of his younger, more inexperienced players, Clavijo also acknowledged the importance of veteran leadership.
"Colin Clark and Jacob Petersen both played well in the first half. But, when you lose people behind them like Pablo Mastroeni, Mike Petke, you start adding more younger players, which is always an issue," Clavijo said.
With United mounting increasing pressure on the visiting Rapids in the second half, exposing the inexperienced back line and midfield, the dam eventually broke when Addlery connected on a header from a corner in the 71st. Minutes later, lightning struck nearby the stadium, the rain started to come down in sheets and officials called a delay.
After the teams reemerged from the locker rooms some 30 minutes later, Clavijo replaced Daniel Wasson in the midfield with Panamanian striker Roberto Brown, who had just arrived back from national team duty in the Gold Cup. Brown seemed a good choice, as he scored the game winner in the season opener between the teams. The tactic, however, backfired as United dispossessed the Rapids on numerous occasions and were off to the races with numbers on the break.
"We tried to push people forward [after the lightning delay] and have an opportunity to tie the game," Clavijo said.
Said Peterson: "I definitely think that after the rain delay, we didn't come out with the same intensity."
Brazilian midfielder Fred notched his first MLS goal for United in the 82nd, and minutes later countryman Luciano Emilio knocked home another for a goal in a fourth consecutive game, rounding out a 4-1 defeat that was more competitive than the scoreline suggests.
"We were down 2-1 and we figured we'd try to go for it and tie it up at least and get a point. We risked and tried to get forward and create some offense, and get a goal, but sometimes when you do that you send too many guys forward and the other team counters, and that is exactly what happened. We made a couple of mistakes and they punished us," defender Brandon Prideaux said.
With their fifth consecutive defeat, the Rapids won't have much time to reflect on the mounting losses and injuries, as they play three more games in the next 10 days, beginning with a game in Chicago on Sunday.
"We lost Conor Casey [to injury] and Ugo Ihemelu to a red card suspension. We know that Kyle [Beckerman] and Herculez Gomez are out [with the U.S. national team at Copa America], but we need to give more opportunities to the young guys and hopefully expect them to perform," Clavijo said.
Prideaux, who was traded in the offseason by United to the Rapids, had hoped his return to the nation's capital where he played for five seasons would have been more successful. But he trusts that his new team can get back on track and challenge for a playoff position later in the season.
"I would have liked to come back [to D.C.] with a better result -- [but] it's tough times. But that's life. You've got to move on and rebound, and we'll see our character on Sunday against Chicago. We've got a good group of guys, and we just have to believe in each other and rebound from this," Prideaux said.
Jordan Brown is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
