COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Blame it on the Boy Scouts. To accommodate a national Boy Scouts centennial celebration with a simulcast at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the Rapids bumped forward their normal evening start time for their match against FC Dallas to 2 pm MT (4 pm ET).
The scorching hot conditions dramatically affected the pace of the match and left the Rapids in a 1-1 draw against FC Dallas that keeps Colorado winless over their last seven matches.
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The Rapids were already missing striker Conor Casey to lingering symptoms from a head injury suffered in last week’s match against Seattle, and midfielder Jeff Larentowicz was limited to 27 minutes after participating in the MLS All-Star Game earlier in the week. But the heat also took the Rapids greatest strength – their speed – off the pitch, serving as an equalizer.
“It does affect the game,” said Colorado head coach Gary Smith about the earlier start time and the hot conditions. “It affects the pace of the game. It affects all the players, not just ours.”
And though the weather never makes for a good excuse when both teams are subject to the same conditions, the Rapids feel their speed and pace is an advantage on their mile-high home pitch, and they clearly felt that advantage had been neutralized in the stifling conditions.
After dominating on possession in the first half but heading to the changing room even at 1-1, the Rapids lost a little momentum in the second half as Dallas adapted well and forced Colorado out of their rhythm.
“Better possession, balls through, maybe it would be a different game in the second half,” said Omar Cummings, who shifted to the striker’s role in Casey’s absence. “They did a good job of closing down our midfield. Guys were getting tired. It was a hot day, and that slowed us down a bit, which benefited them I think.”
The Rapids have been slowed down in the final third in all five matches they’ve played in July, scoring a total of four goals. Matched with the fact that they have conceded goals in each game during their seven-game winless streak, Colorado are left with a lethal combination. The club’s last three wins were a trio of consecutive clean sheets from May 15-June 5.
“We got good possession of the ball. It’s been the case since the start of the season,” defender Julien Baudet said. “Now it’s that final goal. We’ve had good chances, good opportunities over the past few weeks, and we didn’t put it away. And we concede goals. It’s not a good combination at all at the moment.”
Baudet had a hand in the first concession, defending in the box against Atiba Harris. He intercepted a pass headed to Harris’ feet, but misdirected it into the net for an own-goal in the 22nd minute.
“You go for a tackle, and your foot angles in and up,” Baudet explained. “Positioning could have prevented that ball coming in. [I slid], it hit my feet and went in and up.”
Colorado bounced back quickly, taking advantage of a Dallas penalty in the box and hitting the net on a Mehdi Ballouchy penalty kick in the 26th minute.
Ultimately, the draw at home was frustrating for a Colorado side increasingly desperate to pick up points.
“For us it means another home game has gone by disappointedly without a win, and we don’t break that seven games now without a win,” Smith said. “There’s still some huge positives within the group. There’s a lot of good football. I’m certainly not despondent about the way that we’re playing. What I would like to try and address are goals. We need more goals.”
The one point the Rapids picked up keeps them in the eight-team playoff picture for now, but time is running out as they seek to solidify their standing.
“Hopefully, it’s going to kick in fairly soon, because 10, 15 games ago we were saying we’ve still got time, and now we’re going to find ourselves in the same position that we were in last year when we’re going to run out of games and we’re going to need that final five or six points,” Baudet said. “At the moment we’re dropping vital points. We need to make it right. We’re going to work hard and go forward. It’s going to be up to us.”
