The Rapids earned their first home victory of the season by defeating Toronto FC 3-1.  Conor Casey scored two penalty kicks, one in each half, and Jeff Larentowicz scored the game winner off a free kick.  Dwayne DeRosario converted a penalty for the visitor’s lone tally.  Although the game had its ups and downs, the Rapids dominated a majority of the play and were clearly the superior team.

The Rapids improve to 2-1-1 (7 points) and move up to second in the West, tied with Houston.  Conor Casey now has 3 goals this season, all from penalty kicks.

Match Recap by Nick Thomas: Rapids Defeat Toronto 3-1 at Home

Player Ratings:

Pickens: 6, not much to do, didn’t have to make a single save, was put in a bad situation when he conceded the penalty kick.

Kimura: 6, got up the field well and played solid defensively

Wynne: 8, another solid display. He’s improving and getting more comfortable in the center back position.

Moor: 8, solid as a rock, the leader of the backline and always reliable.    for not stepping up and keeping Cronin on side for the penalty kick.

Earls: 6, defended well but showed some great ability moving forward into the attack.

Clark: 6, looked more active and is getting more confident but needs to be more dangerous.

Mastroeni: 7, another solid performance from the captain. Completely frustrated the DeGuzman and Saric.

Larentowicz: 7, along with Mastroeni, owned the middle of the field.  Scored the game winning free-kick.

Smith: 5, had moments where he looked good but overall he disappointed a little. The talented winger failed to connect with his final ball and just wasn’t making the impact everyone expected.

Casey: 7, a fantastic performance by Casey, so far his best of the season.  Still hasn’t scored from the run of play but his confidence must be at an all time high after scoring a cheeky chip shot on his first penalty attempt and coolly finishing off the second.

Cummings: 8, the only thing missing was a goal of his own. He was dangerous all game and created plenty of chances including the first penalty.

Subs:

Thompson: 7, stepped on the pitch and brought the team to life.  He ran at defenders and created the free-kick opportunity for Larentowicz’s game winner.

Amarikwa: 6, similar to Thompson, he brought the team and the crowd to life with his play.  He got into some tough tackles but needed a little more composure on a few plays.

Palguta: n/a helped close out the match as a late game sub.

Post match quotes:

Rapids Head Coach Gary Smith

On the performance of the subs:

“Wells and Quincy came on and I thought they just gave us a little bit of extra energy, Wells certainly showed some flashes of real good wing play, ran with the ball well. Quincy really, I thought, gave not just the players in the side a lift, I thought he gave the crowd a lift, they got behind him.”

On the play of Kimura and Earls:

“The fullbacks, I thought injected a lot more into the game, and that was asked of them. I couldn’t give them enough credit.”

On the play of center backs Moor and Wynne:

“Marvell was absolutely fantastic again, as was Drew. Defensively, I thought the pair of them were outstanding.”

On Conor Casey’s play:

“Great, I thought his general play, was his best performance by far of the season. No doubt. He showed very good quality, he moved the ball quickly, he drew pressure, played round it, he showed more intensity, he was more physically dominating, there was so many good things about his game.”

Moving forward, the areas that need improvement:

“Our final ball on many occasions was not nearly good enough. The players know that, its part of that process moving forward.”

Rapids right mid, Jamie Smith

On his performance:

“I was at 75% or so, so I still have a bit to go, so hopefully the more minutes I get on the field, the closer I’ll come to feeling 100%.”

On the teams overall performance:

“I thought we dominated throughout, there was a spell at the start of the second half where they got the penalty and that gave them a chance of getting back into the game. But I thought the first half we dominated, and then after they scored the penalty we dominated again, it was a deserved win.”

Rapids Forward Quincy Amarikwa:

On his reaction to the fans applause and his overall performance:

“They were pretty happy with me running around out there. That’s my style. That’s how I play. I enjoyed it, I would’ve liked to have gotten a little more settled in, my brain was running 100 miles per hour.  It will come more hopefully as I play more, I’ll settle in a little bit more, but that will come.”

Rapids center back Drew Moor

On the penalty kick:

“Yeah, I think Kosuke stepped up and you know if a defender steps up like that to put pressure on the ball everybody has to step up, and myself and maybe Danny were slow to step up, which kept them on side.”

“Kosuke did the right thing to step up, we need to step up to.”

The Rapids defense today:

“I think overall it was a good performance defensively, we limit guys like De Rosario, Chad Barrett, de Guzman to four shots during the run of play that’s not a bad performance. “

Rapids midfielder Wells Thompson

On coming in as a second half sub:

“I was ready to play, they just scored so I was kind of pissed off, I play a little bit better when I’m a little bit angry.”

On almost scoring:

“Oh man! It was a gift, it was such a gift, I’m kicking myself. I thought I could catch him off guard and just hit it one touch. I just didn’t hit it well enough.”

Rapids defensive midfielder Jeff Larentowicz

What he thought when de Guzman jumped out of the wall:

“I say thank you, and then I watch it go in the goal.”

Toronto FC Head Coach Preki:

On the loss:

“I honestly thought a 0-0 would have been a fair result to end the first half.”

“I think they had nothing, and we handed them 3 goals.”

On playing 3 games in 7 days:

“I wouldn’t even use this as an excuse, that we had the three games, because we should’ve gotten something from this game. We honestly made the silliest mistakes that you can make and we better learn fast.”

Moving forward from the loss:

“We just have to make sure we aren’t just running we have to start thinking and stop making silly mistakes.”

“It’s just the process, I think we were working hard but I just told them it’s not just about working hard but you have to start thinking as a group. We have to be disciplined; we have to make good decisions on the field.”

Match Recaps:

Rapids disappointed for not finishing off Fire

Chicago earns tie in Colorado home opener

The Little Things:

The Rapids tied the Chicago Fire 2-2 in the Rapids home opener.  The Rapids looked like the better team in the first half and went into the break with a 2-1 lead.  In the second half the Fire made some adjustments and were able to equalize after Wynne fouled Nyarko inside the penalty area.  McBride converted and Rapids spent the rest of the match searching for the game winner.

It was a tough result, considering the momentum the Rapids had coming of their season opener at Chivas.  In the end it was the little things that made the difference.

Wells Thompson believes that the Rapids didn’t make huge errors but it was the “little things here and there. There are new guys on the team so we are still learning how to work together and how to play together. Little things we’ve been working on in practice, just movement and positioning.”

Although Coach Smith doesn’t argue with the referee’s decisions in the match, he notes that things could have gone differently.

“From where we were sitting, the little decisions, even right at the end was it Colin that goes driving through the center of the field, no sorry Omar, into the penalty area, the center backs recovering,  he is never going to get there, he leans into him and stumbles, for me it’s a free kick, Omar is away from him even by half a yard, he’s the wrong side of the defender . . . I just thought the little decisions at home didn’t go our way. ”

Coach Smith adds that Wynne was a little unlucky to get called on the PK.

“I thought there was a coming together of bodies, last week we got away with it. At home I thought we might get away with it, I guess not.  We’re splitting hairs here, and that is the difference between getting and win and not.”

Coach Smith doesn’t blame the refs but feels his team got lucky in the first game and not quite as lucky this time around.  Ultimately the team needs to clean things up and not tempt fate.  Coach Smith thinks that allowing Chicago to score off set pieces is the real issue and is unacceptable. It is something the Rapids need to remedy before the next match.

The players need to keep moving forward and progressing.  In perspective, four points in their first two games is much better than many teams in the league.  Wells Thompson sees that the team needs to move forward but can’t help but feel a little down about not getting the win.

“It’s disappointing to tie, there were some good things some bad things, I think everyone felt that we wanted that win and a tie was settling. It was just a little unfortunate. We were a little off here and there.  We just got to stay positive. I think we are going in the right direction. We need to stay positive and move forward.”

Jamie Smith found some positive in all this. The Scottish winger is battling a hamstring injury and wasn’t able to participate in the match.  Smith believes the fact that everyone is disappointed is a good sign.

“I think everyone is disappointed, but I think that Chicago is one of the big teams, one of the better teams in the league. When the guys are disappointed about not beating them, it’s a good sign. That shows the expectation level in the group and the staff. I think the season is still very early.”

In the end, the Rapids committed one too many mistakes and came up with too few ideas to find the game winner.  The coaches will be happy to know that there weren’t too many glaring errors defensively.  The Fire didn’t create many clear opportunities but capitalized on the few they did create.

Offensively, the Rapids couldn’t create too many opportunities in the second half but there is a light at the end of that very dark tunnel.  Winger Jamie Smith is working his way back to health and new signing Claudio Lopez is also waiting step in and help the Rapids attack.  Both are very talented wingers and should add a new dimension to the Rapids.

The Rapids next league match is at Kansas City on Saturday April 10th.

Player Ratings:

Pickens: 6, not much to do and didn’t have a chance against the PK or header.

Kosuke Kimura: 6, the right back played better, even forced Nyarko to switch sides

Marvell Wynne: 4, lost his mark for the first goal, committed the foul for the PK

Drew Moor: 7, played well and kept the back organized

Danny Earls: 6, he’s improving and created some dangerous opportunities

Mehdi Ballouchy: 5, started brightly but faded again

Jeff Larentowicz: 7, controlled the middle and frustrated the Fire

Pablo Mastroeni: 7, dominated the middle and is looking sharper

Colin Clark: 6, willing to attack and go at players, but still not ready

Conor Casey: 5, did well to get ball but did little when he had it

Omar Cummings: 8, a threat the whole game and scored a brilliant goal

Subs:

Wells Thompson: 5, worked hard but couldn’t impact the game

Julien Baudet: n/a great to see him get some time