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2014 Review: Match Five--Rapids at Toronto

We continue our look back at the 2014 season, and we get to the Toronto match. And there was NO WAY we win two games in a row in Canada is there?

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rapids were not dealt any favors in the scheduling department to start the 2014 season.  They ended up playing three teams who made Champions League in their first five games and also had to make a trip up North to face the new look Toronto FC team.  So of course the Rapids go 3-1-1 in that stretch after a 1-0 victory in Toronto on April 12.

This was a difficult game to watch.  There was not a lot of great football in this one, but the Rapids were able to do well in controlling the midfield and limited TFC to 4 shots on goal.  Edson Buddle picked up his 99th for his Major League Soccer career, and Clint Irwin grabbed his first clean sheet of the year.

Here are the relevant stats for this match:

Shots SOG BS TP PA POSS Opponent Shots Opponent SOG
at Toronto FC 8 3 2 474 74% 51.30% 12 4
2014 Averages 12.4 5 3 401.2 77% 47.98% 11.4 4

SOG: Shots on Goal.  BS: Blocked Shots.  TP: Total Passes.  PA: Passing Accuracy.  POSS: Possession

Record after Five: 3-1-1  (10 points)

Hero of the Match:  Edson Buddle.  It was more a case of right place, right time for Buddle, but he was able to put the ball in after some great interplay between Dillon Powers and Dillon Serna.  It was also Buddle's 99th goal of his MLS career which very few have ever gotten to in MLS.  With him tallying his 99th so early, it felt like it was going to be a good year for Buddle and his 100th would not be that far down the road.

Goat of the Match: A worrying offensive trend. The Rapids only put 3 shots on frame in this match and it continued the trend of fewer and fewer shots on frame.  Their offensive high for the year was in week two against the Timbers, but since then it had dropped to fewer than half that number.  As the Rapids were sitting at 3-1-1 on the year, there was not the sense of urgency that may have been required at this point.