#COLvVAN Recap: Vancouver Whitecaps 2, Colorado Rapids 1

It was a beautiful evening in Commerce City to watch the beautiful game, but an ugly ending as the Colorado Rapids dropped their seventh straight at the hands of the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1.

The Rapids controlled most of the first half with numerous opportunities, but unfortunately gave up two: the first on a counterattack after Jack Price missed the challenge in the Rapids offensive half, and Vancouver was off to the races. Whitecaps’ forward Cristian Techera had a nifty move to ditch two Rapids defenders, and Vancouver took advantage of a rare opportunity up to that point to put the Caps up 1-0.

The second goal came from a double deflection, with Yordy Reyna being the beneficiary—putting the Rapids down 2-0, as Rapids keeper Tim Howard was frozen.

In the 41st minute, Edgar Castillo gave Rapids fans some hope after he blasted a rocket off the outside of his foot from an assist from Johan Blomberg to bring the Rapids within one.

The Rapids were inches away from equalizing when Shkelzen Gashi put the ball just wide in the 78th minute. Dillon Serna swung the ball on on a cross, with a Caps defender deflecting it into the path of Gashi who was going far post. One wonders if Gashi had tried to extend with a header if he would have had more success.

The bright spots were there. Seeing Sam Nicholson on the wing in place of Nana Boateng provided some energy and nice interplay between he and Blomberg. And, again, the Rapids provided good pressure on goal in the first half as evidenced by the 12 corners the Rapids produced—but just struggled to put the ball on frame and get past the Whitecaps Brian Rowe.

But the only stats that matter are (1) the scoreboard, and (2) the standings. After 12 games, the Rapids are now 2-8-2 and sitting at the bottom of the league, with a US Open Cup match coming up on Wednesday, June 6th at Nashville.