COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – The Colorado Rapids remain undefeated at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in 2016, but Saturday night’s 0-0 draw with Orlando City SC left the hosts wanting more.
“I think personally, for our team, it’s very disappointing,” Rapids defender Eric Miller said postgame. “I think we played some good stuff tonight, especially in that first 20, 25 minutes of the second half. But [Orlando City] sort of got their legs underneath themselves as the game went on in the second half.”
Missed opportunities offensively were the story of the night for Colorado, who led the Lions 7-2 in shots by halftime and 13-7 by night’s end. But of those 13 shots, the Rapids only produced one on-target effort through 90 minutes plus an additional five minutes of extra time.
“I think we created enough to win that game,” head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. “We weren’t as clinical as we needed to be in front of goal. In order to score goals, you need to put more on target. Tonight was one of those nights. When it hits [Miller] in the knees and falls straight to the goalkeeper, you know it’s going to be a tough night.”
For all the offensive struggles however, the Rapids were able to hang their hats on another solid defensive performance. Colorado posted their 10th clean sheet of the season, their eighth at home and the fourth shutout since Tim Howard joined the club.
“I think it was a fantastic defensive performance,” Mastroeni said. “They have [Julio] Baptista, Kaká, [Cyle] Larin and Brek Shea; a fantastic lineup of attacking players, not just in MLS but worldwide. I think the guys did a fantastic job of minimizing clear opportunities on goal and really starving them of the type of football that they like to play. Defending higher up the field is what led to some good breaks and that’s why we do it.”
The Rapids will now have their work cut out for them as they embark on a three-game road trip which begins next week against rivals Real Salt Lake (Friday, 8 pm ET; UniMás in US, MLS LIVE in Canada), followed by trips to New England and Supporters' Shield leaders FC Dallas.
“We don’t need to change a lot,” said Miller. “We need to be sharper, obviously, myself included. I think any time you go on the road, you need to keep a clean sheet, which we’ve done a good job of. RSL are our big rivals, so we’ve got to get up for that game.”
