Vancouver Whitecaps 3 Colorado Rapids 0 - OK, Actual Game Recap This Time

OK, I have to do an actual game recap for that debacle, as unfun as it may seem. (I got through the complete 2012 season, I can do this!) Colorado had just about everything that could possibly have gone wrong go wrong on Sunday night during a 3-0 loss to the Whitecaps. It was essentially a highlight reel of every bad trait that the Rapids have had at any point this season, all bundled up into a neat and tidy little package.

The game set itself up from the get go as a match that would see the Whitecaps on the front foot. They had all the momentum behind them, after all. Camilo was seeking the golden boot, several members of the team were playing for roster spots next year and it was the emotional send-off for Y.P. Lee on top of everything else. Despite Vancouver holding the majority of the possession though, the Rapids honestly didn't have a particularly bad first half. They were great at playing diagonal balls through the midfield, and both Hendry Thomas and Nathan Sturgis did their jobs about as well as they had done at any other point in the year.

Unfortunately, a 2012-esque roster decision by Oscar Pareja had Edson Buddle playing as a lone forward with Gabriel Torres as a roaming trequartista type behind him, a plan that flat out didn't work. Without Dillon Powers and Vicente Sanchez, there was little linkage between the back of the midfield and the front line, which meant that play on the ground wasn't coming as often as it perhaps should have.

The few big chances that Colorado did create were scuffed, most often by Buddle, and they were punished as usual for their inability to finish in the 43rd minute, when Camilo bagged his first goal of the match on a penalty that was earned by Kekuta Manneh. It was an awful mistake by Marvell Wynne that led to the penalty, choosing to slide in on Manneh despite the speedy youngster having almost no angle to shoot at in the six-yard box.

Colorado opened the second half down a goal but in high spirits, with a Martin Rivero substitution bringing an extra bit of spark to the proceedings. Now able to effectively link back to front, the Whitecaps were finally on the back foot. Unfortunately, once again, there was no finishing to be found and the Whitecaps were able to snag a second goal, once again from Camilo, in the 73rd minute. After that, it was all but finished as the Rapids played out the stretch with Dillon Serna (!!) on the field.

We'll be watching the Rapids in Seattle next time up on Wednesday, and hopefully the Rapids will treat this game as it should be treated -- a demon cleanser.