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The Colorado rapids have achieved one of their main goals of 2013. That was to qualify for the MLS playoffs. However, the club has nearly backed itself into the postseason after some unconvincing road losses leading up to the Western Conference Play-In game. Despite home wins that included a 5-1 thrashing of Seattle and a 3-2 victory over Vancouver, the Rapids still have questions going into the playoffs.
Colorado (14-11-9) finished with an identical record with San Jose. However, the Rocky Mountain club has benefited from the 'goals scored' tiebreaker (the first tie-breaker was total wins, which the two clubs were tied on). The Rapids finished with 45 goals, while San Jose only had 35 goals. Therefore, a postseason berth was basically clinched after the Rapids claimed a win over Vancouver at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on October 19th.
Seattle (15-12-7) earned a home playoff game after drawing 1-1 with LA Galaxy at CenturyLink Field on Sunday evening. Clint Dempsey scored his first goal for the Emerald City club while Robbie Keane equalized and helped Los Angeles earn a playoff date with Real Salt Lake. (We won't talk about LA's other 'goal'.)
Seattle earned the right to host the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday night after the Rapids fell victim to a Vancouver side that had already been eliminated from the postseason a week earlier. Whitecaps striker Camilo Sanvezzo scored a hat-trick to lift the British Columbia club over Colorado 3-0. The Brazilian Camilo subsequently won the MLS Golden Boot with 22 goals. Despite the defeat, the Rapids will have to win in a stadium where they have never won in order to advance in the MLS playoffs.