Rapids vs. Impact: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Colorado Rapids made their first trip to Montreal on Saturday to take on the Impact and came away with an improbable 4-3 victory. Goals from Atiba Harris, Dillon Powers, Deshorn Brown and Tony Cascio paved the way for a season defining win for the Rapids.

Here is the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly for the Colorado Rapids, Week 18

The Good: The Result. The Rapids were in free-fall. They had dropped three in a row and were winless in four. Their season was on the precipice of disaster and somehow, someway, they pulled out a victory. This match could be the one that propels them back into playoff position. With a tough game against New York Red Bulls on Thursday and another game on Sunday against DC United, things were looking bleak. But the boys came through. Hendry Thomas, Nathan Sturgis and Powers were very solid in the midfield and gave Montreal fits.

The Bad: Clint Irwin. I want this to be clear: I am not advocating that Irwin gets replaced by Matt Pickens after this game. But Irwin did not have his best afternoon. He demonstrated poor hands and positioning during the match--and both of those are tough on a goalkeeper. The timing is slightly unfortunate with Pickens back to health and ready to reclaim his spot. The New York game is critical for Irwin. If he has another bad game, people are really going to begin to wonder if Pickens should be put back into goal.

The Ugly: The defense--Right now the Rapids defense is leaking like a sieve. For the second game in a row, three goals went in for the opposition. No one seems especially comfortable in the back and with a 2.5 GAA in the last four games, the Rapids are in some trouble. The team is not going to be scoring four goals a game (and Montreal's poor defense did help) so the defense has to get fixed and fast.

The three game road trip is over. The Rapids ended it on a high note and now look forward to three in a row at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The games are all winnable, but the Rapids need to play more consistent defense and not give up cheap and avoidable goals. In addition to better defense, the offense needs to continue to take shots and put them on frame. New York has a defense that can be scored on (only two teams in the East have given up more goals) and with the Rapids defensive holes, the boys are going to need to score to beat the Red Bulls.