SEATTLE—The Colorado Rapids were about as happy on Tuesday night as a losing team can be.
The Rapids took an early lead before finishing on the short end of a 2-1 result in the road leg of their Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs Western Conference Championship against the Seattle Sounders. However, the Rapids noted that they’ve been in this situation before – tougher, even – and they stressed confidence they can get a result Sunday that will send them through to MLS Cup.
“What we wanted was to come here and find that goal – the road goal – and I think the guys did a fantastic job in the first half of pushing the game at times,” said head coach Pablo Mastroeni. “We sit here today in a better situation than a couple of weeks ago against LA [Galaxy].”
Colorado left the first leg of that Western Conference Semifinal trailing, 1-0, but won by the identical score in the home leg before advancing on penalty kicks, following 30 minutes of scoreless extra time.
That sent the Rapids to CenturyLink Field looking to make the math easier this time with a road goal. And they made it happen in the 13th minute when Jermaine Jones sent a pass into the box through traffic, past a sweet dummy run by Shkelzen Gashi and to the foot of Kevin Doyle. Doyle’s shot deflected off of Seattle defender Chad Marshall and past goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
“This score was very important for us,” Gashi said. “We play very good together. I think everybody played one-touch, and then nice goal Kevin Doyle. He scored very well.”
From there, Mastroeni kept his team pushing forward, later citing his belief that switching tactics at that point of the stream could be counterproductive. Both teams continued on aggressively, but the only remaining finishes came from the Sounders: Rookie Jordan Morris got the equalizer in the 19th minute, and Designated Player Nicolas Lodeiro drew a PK and then nailed the 61st-minute kick.
The Rapids were split on that call by referee Chris Penso. Defender Marc Burch – who was called for the foul – and Mastroeni tersely indicated their disagreement. However, goalkeeper Zac MacMath and midfielder Jones supported the call.
However, all seemed more interested in the business ahead.
“I think it was a great start obviously coming to this place obviously with the many variables that make it difficult to play here,” Mastroeni said. “I thought the guys handled themselves professionally. In the second half, I thought the guys executed the game plan to a 'T'. I’m very pleased with the performance.”
