Colorado Rapids Archive

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Emory, Nelsen both wear goat horns as TFC loses another one late

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/05/2013

Logan Emory

Logan Emory

Toronto FC didn’t leave it as late as it usually does.

TFC supporters are used to seeing the Reds give up match-tying or match-losing goals in the 89th minute on. On Saturday, Edson Buddle’s dagger through the TFC heart came in the 86th.

Buddle’s goal gave the Rapids a 1-0 win in the mile-high conditions in the Denver suburbs. And Clint Irwin, who two years ago was stopping shots for Capital City FC in the Canadian Soccer League, continued his impressive run in the Rapids’ goal with a clean sheet.

The goal came like so many other late goals conceded by TFC; through a glaring error. This time, it was defender Logan Emory, who absolutely whiffed on what should have been a fairly elementary clearance of a speculative ball played into the Reds’ penalty area. Instead of heading out of trouble, the ball sat invitingly for Buddle to smash home from close range.

It was an absolute gift.
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McInerney is MLS Player of the Month for April

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/03/2013

Jack McInerney

Jack McInerney

Philadelphia Union forward Jack McInerney was named the MLS Player of the Month on Thursday.

After the ballots from the members of the North American Soccer Reporters were counted, McInerney got 13 of the 26 first-place votes. The Union striker leads MLS with six goals so far this season, and four of them came in April.

But here’s the scary stat. Through Philly’s first seven games of the season, McInerney has either scored or assisted on, ahem, all of the team’s goals. That’s right, all of them. If there is a better definition of “player judged to be most valuable to his team,” find it.
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Ryan Johnson wins Player of the Week award: The 11 gives nod to former CSL keeper Clint Irwin

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/08/2013

Ryan Johnson

Ryan Johnson

For the second time in a row, someone named “Johnson” from the Portland Timbers has won the MLS Player of the Week award.

Last week, it was Canadian Will Johnson, who scored twice. This week, it’s former Toronto FC forward Ryan Johnson, who scored two second-half goals to give the Timbers a 2-0 win over the Houston Dynamo. Johnson got the most first-place votes out of the membership of the North American Soccer Reporters.

Johnson’s two-goal game was deemed to be more Player-of-the-Week worthy than the two-goal game of another ex-TFC striker, Maicon Santos. Read the rest of this entry »

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Timber! Canada’s Johnson’s two-goal performance earns him MLS POTW honours

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/01/2013

Will Johnson

Will Johnson

Canadian national team-regular Will Johnson is the MLS Player of the Week, after his second-half brace allowed his new club, the Portland Timbers, to roar back from two goals down in the Colorado altitude and earn a 2-2 draw with the Rapids.

Johnson began the rally when he headed home a cross from ex-Toronto FC forward Ryan Johnson. Will finished the brace when he converted a penalty late in the second half.

Of course, we’re all still getting used to the site of Johnson in Portland Timbers green and white; he’s been a fixture at Real Salt Lake, and it still sounds weird to say “Portland Timbers’ captain Will Johnson.” Of course, with the years spent in Salt Lake City, the Colorado altitude would have affected Johnson the least out of anyone in the Portland lineup.
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Football fashionistas: We rate the new MLS kits

By
Steven Sandor
– 02/28/2013

impact_thirdFRONT(FORMATTED)Judging from the readership numbers — which spike every time we put up a story about new kits, redesigned kits, anything to do with kits — we’ve surmised that, to be a Canadian soccer fan, you have to be a bit of a fashionista.

If someone could create a tour of soccer stadiums and fashion weeks around the world, it’s be a smashing business.

But kits are important to fans. They want to be proud to wear the club’s colours. They want the road kits to be sharp. And marketers love it, because soccer kits change seasonally. Adidas gives us new MLS kits at almost the same pace as Marc Jacobs introduces new fashion lines.

With MLS creating a “Jersey Week,” where many MLS teams  revealed or will reveal their new kits at special events or, as they are known outside of the sports world, “fashion shows,” we thought it would be fun to play Vogue. That is, give you a one-stop look at the new kits, with our, ahem, expert commentary. With all three Canadian teams putting their new kits out there, we thought it would be fun to look at the best, the worst, the exciting and the boring of what’s already out there.

Just as a disclaimer — The 11‘s editor HAS judged fashion shows before. Seriously.

We’ll start with the Canadian teams:
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The Super-Duper MLS preview, 2013 edition

By
Steven Sandor
– 02/28/2013
Philip F. Anschutz Trophy, the big prize at the end of the season

Philip F. Anschutz Trophy, the big prize at the end of the season

With the MLS season moved up to its earliest start ever, forgive us if we don’t feel 100 per cent totally prepared for First Kick. Judging by the way many MLS teams finished preseason, with tentative matches and still looking at trialists with a week to go before the games count in the standings, a lot of coaches aren’t quite ready for the early start, either.

And that could be telling. The teams that got the jump and have their ducks in a row could have a real advantage in these March matchups; and they could find some bonus points that could help them in the fall.

Steven Sandor, Editor of The 11 and contributors Randy Davis, Aman Dhanoa, Mark Polishuk and Gavin Day all submitted their picks. We tallied the scores and we present our picks below.
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Six ex-TFC players change addresses in second stage MLS Re-Entry draft

By
Steven Sandor
– 12/14/2012

Eric Avila: Selected by Colorado

If Friday was your first day following MLS, all you’d need to do is look at the second stage of the Re-Entry Draft to comprehend just how many players have called Toronto FC home over the club’s relatively short six-year existence.

Of the 14 players taken in the second stage, six can claim that they’ve spent part of their careers at Toronto FC.

From the 2012 roster, TFC lost central defender Ty Harden and midfielder Eric Avila. Harden, who began the season as a starter in central defence, spent the majority of the second half of the season on the TFC bench. He moves to San Jose. And Colorado chose Avila with the sixth pick overall.

Conor Casey, who played with TFC in 2007, went to the Philadelphia Union. As the main scoring threat in Colorado, Casey was named MVP of the 2010 MLS Cup, which was held at BMO Field. New England nabbed Chad Barrett, the ex-TFC forward who spent part of last season in Oslo, teaming with Canadians Lars Hirschfeld and Tosaint Ricketts at Valerenga. New England also got Hunter Freeman, who spent part of the 2008 season with TFC before heading to Scandinavia.

Dan Gargan, the master of the long throw who was a fan favourite in Toronto, was picked up by San Jose, where he and Harden can swap TFC stories, provided they both come to contract agreements with the Earthquakes.
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CMNT regular Johnson moves to Portland; Whitecaps deal Harris

By
Steven Sandor
– 12/03/2012

Will Johnson

Will Johnson has moved to Portland.

Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson has confirmed that the Canadian national-team regular was part of Monday’s MLS trade frenzy, a day that also saw the Whitecaps send little-used forward Atiba Harris to the Colorado Rapids for an international roster spot.

Johnson moves from Real Salt Lake to Cascadia.

“Welcome @WillJohnson08. Hated playing against you, cannot wait to watch you play for us!” tweeted Paulson on Monday.
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Wondolowski continues MVP march with another POTW award

By
Steven Sandor
– 10/08/2012

Chris Wondolowski

In the news business, we are supposed to write about man bites dog. Things that are expected to happen don’t really constitute news.

So, according to the basics of Journalism 101, the fact that Chris Wondolowski was named MLS Player of the Week isn’t a news item. The San Jose Earthquakes striker scored his 23rd, 24th and 25th goals of the season in a 4-1 win over the Colorado Rapids — and was the easy winner of the vote from the members of the North American Soccer Reporters.
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Defensive mistake allows Rapids to snatch late draw with Whitecaps

By
Martin MacMahon
– 09/24/2012

A late Jamie Smith equalizer undid what looked as if it would be a first win in six for the Vancouver Whitecaps, as the club drew the Colorado Rapids 2-2 at BC Place Sunday night.

The Scot latched onto a miscommunication from Lee Young-Pyo and Alain Rochat, taking possession of the bouncing ball before curling a shot past Brad Knighton with four minutes left to play.

“This is an easy, easy ball that you can just clear,” Rochat said following the match, accepting responsibility on the play. “I missed it because of – first of all, from the losing streak – all the easy passes, easy control, became hard to do.
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