By: William Gray
Commerce City, Colo. – The founding fathers would have been proud of the charity event that occurred Wednesday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Poking home two goals in the first 15 minutes and rounding the night off with two more, Colorado soundly defeated Philadelphia.
The beleaguered Union fell to 7-13-6 as they look forward to the end of the season. For the Rapids, it’s just the opposite, as the squad is gearing up for their 2010 playoff run. The parts are well oiled and licking at just the right time as Colorado heads into its last 4 regular season games.
Cummings’ two goals were the result of excellent plays into the box, one a Smith corner, and the other a Macoumba Kandji cross. They crushed the Union early and allowed the Rapids to cruise to victory throughout the remainder of the night.[picappgallerysingle id=”9878676″]
The back four were staunch, allowing only a injury-time goal in the 90th minute, which was also the only shot on goal for Philadelphia. For the majority of the game Colorado held the ball and created chances at the opposite end. The midfield controlled the game, feeding the forwards and losing few turnovers.
As the playoff picture comes into focus, the Rapids find themselves in fine position to fill one of the four wild card spots. These go to the four teams with the highest point totals that are not in either first or second place in their respective league. As thing are now, three of the four spots will be filled by Western Conference teams.
The last four games of the regular season for the Rapids will be a test. They play all three of the top ranked teams in the Western Conference, including rival Real Salt Lake and the MLS leading L.A. Galaxy. Poor outcomes could leave Colorado out of the playoffs. The only place the Rapids can afford to look is directly in front of them.
