Rapids 2 Whitecaps 2 - Actual Game Recap

OK, for serious this time.

If the Rapids had been in the playoff race, this would have been a pretty good result. Sadly, they were essentially knocked out of contention last game, no matter what the Altitude Talking Heads want to tell you. The point leaves them eight points out of fifth place with four games to go, which would require one of the most miraculous runs in the history of MLS to make it in.

That's taking nothing away from this result. The lineup out there was one of the most straight up talented rosters we had seen from the Rapids all season long and we were given yet another late look at Omar Cummings and Conor Casey up top together. You know, just to kick the tires and see if the old pairing was still able to do anything together. (This is probably the healthiest that the two have been at the same time all season, which didn't hurt.)

The Rapids offense held the ball well and created what they could in the first half. Eventually, they got a break when the Whitecaps marking completely broke down. Marvell Wynne got an easy lob forward to a wide open Martin Rivero, who was an inch from scoring just outside the box. His shot rang off the post and right to a similarly unmarked Omar Cummings, who put it away from a tough but manageable angle.

This being the Rapids though, it wasn't going to stay that way. In the second half, the Rapids defense started to fall apart as they do. After a solid if uninspiring first half, they gave up a set piece and allowed Alain Rochat to get a free shot in the box for Vancouver's first goal. (Omar and Conor were the guys covering the two Whitecaps involved in the play, so I guess we shouldn't have expected too much defending there.) Halftime sub Kenny Miller scored only minutes later as he zipped past Tyrone Marshall and Marvell Wynne for another easy shot.

Surprisingly, the Rapids managed to fight back in non-2012 fashion. Pareja subbed in Jamie Smith and Andre Akpan in an attempt to get some extra late attacking going and for once, it worked out in his favor. It helped immnesely that the entire Whitecaps defense decided to collapse like a pile of dominoes, but Smith did well to take the ball forward and not lose it in the chaos that was the defensive collapse. His shot was nothing to sneeze at either, putting one far post

It's really interesting that on the day where technically the Rapids produced the least against the Whitecaps, they got their first result of the season against them. Plenty of good signs going forward in that one even if we do get smacked down by the Galaxy next Sunday.