Carson, Calif. – Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park could define the Colorado Rapids season. A Donovan Phillip goal led the way to a two goal lead. For the second straight game, they had a two goal lead to protect. It was time for them to finally show some grit.
Both Colorado and LA Galaxy were dealing with international duty absences and injuries.
Matt Wells chose to start four of the five fullbacks on the roster. Reggie Cannon and Jackson Travis were in their natural positions. Miguel Navarro was in a central midfield role, to the right, with Keegan Rosenberry going forward and exchanging with him. Donavan Phillip started up top. Chris Aquino and Jonny De La Fuente got the call-up from Rapids 2.
For all the weirdness, it worked. Colorado pressed well and negated LA’s left flank. There was good rotation to control the midfield. They were on top of the ball and kept the Galaxy in front of them. At times it was a back five. Going forward, it was more of a 4-1-4-1.
Just four minutes in, Phillip validated his start. He beat Jakob Glesnes in a footrace to a through ball from Josh Atencio. He then shot far upper side netting to beat goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski. It was his second goal in two games, in just his ninth MLS appearance.
Galaxy responded with a period of sustained pressure. They had a few corners. Their best chance was a Harber Miller goal that was called offside in the build up. There was also a jailbreak counter where Loïc Williams intercepted the critical pass. Rob Holding and Atencio were excellent when pressed.
In the 39th minute, Holding delivered a ball over the top. Paxten Aaronson muscled his defender to score on a breakaway. The half ended 0-2. Phillip could have had a hat trick with a breakaway later in the half.
LA raised their level in the second half. In the 54th, they made it 1-2 off an own goal. A set piece from distance saw Justin Haak head the ball towards the back post. João Klauss challenged Cannon in the air. Cannon played it off balance into his own net. The goal stood despite a delay for Haak potentially being offside.
Minutes after the goal, goalkeeper Nico Hansen played the ball to Navarro. He was picked off, nearly leading to a goal. That was a warning sign.
In the 66th minute, Nico Hansen made his biggest mistake of the season. Receiving a back pass, he squared the ball straight to Klauss for a tap in.
Inevitably, Galaxy scored the winner in the 74th. Haak found a gap and delivered a thumping header. Hansen got a piece of it, but it found the back of the net. The match ended 3-2.
Blowing a two goal lead, again:
The Rapids have had this narrative around them since the second half of the season. It started as home form vs road form. Then scoring first vs conceding first. With the Open Cup failure and last week against Seattle, it’s now clearly about how they react to conceding.
This team’s mentality is poor. They’re lacking grit. They still have not gotten a result after conceding first all season. In MLS, that’s unheard of. And ironically, it wasn’t a tactical breakdown like against Seattle. From the run of play, between the boxes, it looked similar to the first half. It was two set pieces and a goalkeeper howler. This team has a deeper issue beyond Wells’ game plans. And you can’t tactics your way out of a mentality and leadership issue.
“It’s only us who can solve that… We need to do a better job of sticking to our identity. Good on the ball, everyone wanting it. When it gets a little bit difficult, we aren’t as willing. That will solve everything,” Aaronson told Burgundy Wave.
Season defining? Playoff implications?
The last two games have been bad. Dropped points to the two teams directly below you. Still, Colorado are four points above the playoff line. Only Seattle has a game in hand on them. They have seven games left to play. Three unconvincing 1-0 home wins might be enough to make playoffs.
That said, things do need to get better for them to do that. The word is out on how to beat this team. If you’re a pressing team, you can find pressing triggers to cause mistakes. Coming to Colorado and parking the bus will not work. When you do score on them, push the envelope. They will fold.
Even if the Rapids make the playoffs, it’s hard to see them doing anything against a top seed. The new players haven’t made a quick enough impact. Ibrahim Sadiq isn’t even here yet. This team might be better on paper than they were in the spring. But the window was handled such that the fruit won’t ripen till 2027.
“It’s not a common pattern. In three key moments, we gave three really poor goals away. You end up feeling the pain,” Wells said postgame.
About the goalkeeper:
Nico Hansen has had a good year. This was his worst performance of the season. All three Rapids goalkeepers now have a blooper howler mistake for a goal. Zack Steffen’s own goal at Toronto. Adam Beaudry in the Open Cup. Hansen tonight. And this had been coming for Nico. He’s had a number of close calls.
Wells said there will be coachable moments out of tonight. Maybe there need to be some tactical switches to de-risk those situations.
This is where signing a veteran journeyman for $300K GAM would have been useful. Raise the floor and give an alternative while Steffen’s shoulder recovers. To say nothing of allowing Beaudry to go back on loan to get minutes and develop.
In praise of Donavan Phillip:
Phillip was great. Could have had more than one goal. He’s brought offense to a team that’s needed it from the depth. He should absolutely be on the team next year. Great draft pick, great college scouting.
Thank you for reading Burgundy Wave. Support us via our Patreon starting at $5/month. You can also make a one-time contribution via Tip Jar. We’re always looking for new talent. Let us know if you’re interested in covering Colorado Soccer.
Spencer Baldwin 