COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Looking to carry the momentum of last week’s 1-0 road victory over league leading FC Dallas, the Colorado Rapids returned home looking to maintain an unblemished record at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Saturday night’s game against the San Jose Earthquakes ended less favorably, with both sides coming away with a point in a 0-0 stalemate.
It was another disappointing home draw for Colorado, despite another added point in the standings.
“It keeps us ticking over and moving on, but I think we left a little bit of meat on the bone," said Rapids captain Sam Cronin. "It was a great opportunity with Dallas tying for us to jump them a little bit, so I think we’re pretty disappointed with the tie.”
It was a match of two of the top three defensive teams in the West, one which Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni compared to a battle of prize fighters.
“Every game moving forward, it’s going to be two boxers that are throwing jabs, but are scared to throw a right hook, in fear of getting stuck,” Mastroeni explained.
That was the case for both sides. While able to create chances, neither was able to secure the opening goal to turn the tide of the match. Early first-half opportunities from Marlon Hairston and Dominque Badji nearly gave Colorado an opening lead, but finishing lacked as the game remained scoreless.
“If you bury one of those, San Jose needs to come out in the second half and really throw caution to the wind,” Mastroeni said. “That’s when you can get your second, that’s when you can get your third. It’s that first one that you have to land.”
Badji continued to threaten in the second half, with a chance in the 56th minute which went wide of the mark, and another in the 68th minute which went straight at ‘Quakes goalkeeper David Bingham for the save.
“I think we created two of the best opportunities that we’ve had all season tonight,” Mastroeni said. “Credit to Badji for his movement, but it was really unfortunate not to finish those.”
Had the shots gone in, it could’ve been a Man of the Match effort for the 23-year-old striker, who slotted in at the No. 9 position for an injured Kevin Doyle (ankle).
“Badji was a handful all night,” Cronin said. “The next step for him is to finish those chances and be ruthless in front of goal, but I feel he was the best player on the night for us.”
With six regular-season games remaining, Colorado will be looking to regain sharpness as the Rapids jostle for top positioning in the West.
“These are the games at this point of the season where it really gets contested. I’d like to see us more aggressive and really looking forward,” Mastroeni said. “All things being equal, it was a fair result, but I keep going back to those two opportunities.”
