COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – For the Colorado Rapids, Friday night’s 1-1 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes was an all-too-familiar sight. The two sides have now drawn in each of their past four matches and Colorado continued their home winless streak, extending it to an MLS-record 11 games.
“The stadium needs an exorcism,” Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni joked with reporters following the result. “It is one of the most bizarre experiences that I’ve ever seen in a place where, in the past, we’ve been able to wriggle out of situations and do it.”
Colorado were able to wriggle out with a point however, as James Riley’s stoppage time equalizer helped salvage the result after conceding a first-half goal to Earthquakes striker Chris Wondolowski.
It marked the second straight home game in which the Rapids have come from behind to level the score. As Mastroeni and several of his players went on to explain, the team’s current run of form at home is more likely a product of slow starts than intangibles like curses or luck.
“We’ve got to start bright at home,” Mastroeni continued. “I think we weren’t sharp in that first half and it becomes a problem which infects the group. I think conceding first is tough to do especially at home. It’s that first goal that’s been the issue.”
“I don’t think the stadium needs an exorcism,” said Rapids captain Drew Moor, who made a return to the starting lineup on Friday. “We just need to be better on the field and start games better at home.”
“We want this to be a place that teams fear when they come in and it has been in the past. There’s altitude that teams start to feel in the second half. Teams start to feel it in the 60th or 70th minute but that’s only if we put the work in in the first 20-30 minutes. I know that because I’ve been a visitor here.”
While there remains urgency within the Rapids’ locker room to achieve their first win at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park this season, the team hasn’t hit the panic button yet. Riley, who displayed a sense of calm during the play that led to his goal, maintained that calm when addressing reporters postgame.
“It wasn’t a celebratory moment,” Riley said of the goal. “I wish it was a game winner.
“Obviously we’re disappointed we still haven’t won at home. But it would be a different story if we weren’t creating chances. This is my eleventh year in the league and we have honest guys in this locker room. It just takes growing pains. We need to face that adversity in battle. It’s pulling out results like this that help build that foundation of character that will help us be better in the middle and latter parts of the season.”
So while the results have not gone in favor of the Rapids in their first five attempts at home, the general sentiment is that Colorado remain in control of their own destiny.
“I say cursed but I believe that we are the captains of our ships, the masters of our souls and I believe that we will find a way to navigate through this,” Mastroeni. “But I don’t know when, and that is the mysterious part. We’ve endured a lot, but it’s going to come.”
