Injuries, Referees stall the Rapids as they lose their first of the season to Dallas, 3-0

The game started with decent back and forth action between the two sides, with just a little bit of hard nosed play to go around. Unfortunately for Colorado, Nane looked like

2.0, taking a god-awful shot that missed the net by 10 feet from 30 yards out – something that no defensive midfielder not named Larentowicz should ever do – and playing the pass backwards almost every time he got it. One of Mastroeni's strengths is his fantastic ability to distribute the ball forward and the strikers seemed to expect the same from Nane as they made good runs forward trying to escape their defensive counterparts, but the balls never came. I believe I counted a total of a single through ball attempt from Nane all game and it went about 5 yards wide of the player he was going for as well as having far too much weight on it. Not a good sign for a team that has an offensive system almost completely based on getting good balls through to the strikers. As a result, the Rapids had only five shots on goal all game.

As long as Pablo and guys Conor Casey remain out, the Rapids will be tested hard by other good teams in the league like Dallas. We had better hope that Mastroeni gets well soon, or Gary Smith finds a new replacement for him because with only Ross LaBeaux and Joesph Nane behind him, that is easily the worst area of depth on the squad. This game shouldn't be a cause for concern – the Rapids rarely play well on the road in Dallas even with their squad healthy – but if the injuries start to pile up, it's hard to imagine anything good coming out of it. Injuries shredding the Rapids wasn't a concern last year and it was one of the reasons they were able to lift the cup. If their luck doesn't hold this year it could be a long one.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Matt Pickens. Had no real chance on Ugo's goal and was left to dry on the other two, other than that he made some great saves early on before the rout began.

GOAT OF THE MATCH: Joesph Nane. Oh my god, that was horrendous. I don't think I've seen a more tentative, nervous and all around untalented performance out of a Rapids player in years. If he is going to be starting for any length of time, we are in deep trouble.