Nine games into the 2015 season, the Colorado Rapids have proven that, if anything, they are road warriors.
Playing the second leg of a four-day, two-game and nearly 5,000-mile long road trip, the Rapids recorded another 1-1 draw in Saturday night’s match against the defending MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy
“We’re brave,” Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni said postgame. “If I have to be critical, I can’t. I can’t ask guys to fly in the back of a plane six hours across the country after a gut-wrenching performance against New York and two days later to play the best team in the history of this league and put together a performance like that. That’s who we are.”
The draw gave Colorado its seventh road point in five matches. But there could have been more.
“Tonight I felt like we could have had three [points]. In New York we could’ve had three. Against Dallas we could’ve had three,” added Mastroeni. “But it’s not for lack of desire. It’s not for lack of effort. The most important thing is to continue building off of the previous performance. That’s the one thing you can control.”
Gabriel Torres’ goal in the 40th minute put the visitors in front and it also put the three points within reach of the Rapids. It marked the fourth goal in the past five games for Torres and the second of the road trip.
“I think Gabby has been exceptional on this road trip and exceptional in this early part of the season,” Mastroeni said of Torres’ performance.
After L.A. manager Bruce Arena started the game with a handful of youngsters in the lineup, the veteran coach turned the tide of the game with veteran super subs in the second half, sending in Juninho
(58th min.), Stefan Ishizaki (69th min.) and Alan Gordon (72nd minute). The moves worked, with Gordon scoring the equalizer just three minutes after subbing on.
“Juninho, Gordon and Ishizaki are players that make a difference when they start. When you bring them into a game where there’s fatigue and tired legs, they’re going to be more impactful,” Mastroeni said. “It’s a home game [for LA] and momentum starts to swing for the home team as the game goes on.”
Saturday night’s game also marked the return of Homegrown player Shane O’Neill to the lineup. The 21-year-old made his first start at centerback since going the full 90 in a 0-0 draw against NYCFC back in March.
It was a mixed bag from O’Neill, helping the Rapids defense maintain a clean sheet in the first half, but later getting bullied by Gordon in the box on the play that led to the equalizer.
“That corner was really poor by me,” O’Neill described. “Other than that, I think it was alright. We kept it fairly tight at the back. They had a couple of dangerous chances but nothing crazy.”
The play ultimately proved to be the difference for both sides, with Colorado limiting the Galaxy attack to just nine shots total in the game (three on target).
“I thought we did really well to minimize clear opportunities and really made it difficult for them to find clear chances,” Mastroeni said of the effort. “I think a draw is fair and we’ll move forward.”
Marco Cummings covers the Colorado Rapids for MLSsoccer.com.
