long balls. We pretty much fell into their trap by playing the long ball."
• Over the final quarter of the match, Clavijo reverted to his more usual 4-4-2 scheme, bringing on Cooke and Hernandez, both of whom were not in the starting lineup for the first time on the season.
• "The second half, I don't know. I guess we switched from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2, I'm not really sure," said Kyle Beckerman. "We just couldn't get control of it. It was constantly stop and start, stop and start. It wasn't a fun game. It felt like there was no flow to the game."
• With the weekend from the league wars, the Rapids took on the Chinese national team, playing the final game of their three-game U.S. tour. Jovan Kirovski gave the Rapids the lead midway through the first half, but Wang Dong and Dong Fangzhou goals four minutes apart after the break gave China the win.
• "Our goals were number one, to give some time to players who haven't played lately," said Clavijo. "Number two, since we know that Pablo Mastroeni and Kyle Beckerman will be gone for our next game to see how Nick LaBrocca and Daniel Wasson look in the middle; and three to look at Zach Thornton in goal in a legitimate game against a national team."
• Here's Clavijo's team: Zach Thornton (Justin Hughes 63), Kosuke Kimura (Dan Gargan 72), Stephen Keel, Chris Wingert (Jose Cancela 75), Jordan Harvey, Terry Cooke, Nick LaBrocca, Daniel Wasson (Kyle Beckerman 69), Colin Clark (Jacob Peterson 67), Nicolas Hernandez (Omar Cummings 46), Jovan Kirovski. Substitutes Not Used: Conor Casey, John DiRaimondo, Brandon Prideaux
• "I thought that we ran out of gas between Wasson and LaBrocca in the second half. I thought that they did outstanding in the first half. They won the ball throughout the midfield very well, they connected, and they created a lot of chances," said Clavijo. "Jordan [Harvey] did particularly well against a quality team, and Kimura surprised us. Kimura played out of position and played extremely well. Plus he allowed (Terry) Cooke to play a better game than we have seen in the last three or four games. He opened up Cooke's game and supported and overlapped with him and covered for him and allowed him top play well. Kimura was a big surprise for me."
