Chivas USA Notes (2 -2 tie vs. Colorado Rapids, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO, 8/20/11)
 
·         Commerce City, CO – The last time these two teams met it was early in the season, second week of the schedule in the middle of March. At the time little did we know that it would be the last time we would see Jimmy Conrad play a professional soccer match or that the Rapids would extend a consecutive shutout streak to four matches dating back to 2009 against the Goats. The defending MLS Cup champions came into the Home Depot Center and took the second game in the Robin Fraser era by a score of 1-0. Tonight it was more than clear that this is not the same Chivas USA club that fell to the Rapids at the Home Depot Center back in March. Tonight the Goats would not be denied at least one point with the 2-2 tie at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park which was nearly filled to capacity with 16,852 fans on a perfect evening for soccer in the Rockies. This result keeps the Red and White right in the hunt for the post season with a total of 31 points and a sixth place in the very tightly contested Western Conference.
 
·         More importantly two of the Goats recent additions to their roster showed much of what they are and shinny glimpses of what they can become. The first score in the match landed in the 13th minute by Rapids’ Forward Caleb Folan, assisted by Kimura and Mastroeni setting the match at 1-0. The first score for the Red and White and equalizer in the match would come by way of LaBrocca to Angel in the 36th minute. Juan Pablo Angel has only been with the club for 3 days and yet made it look easy and an apparent seamless transition and fit into Coach Fraser’s line-up. This would be the score going into the locker rooms at the half.
 
·         In the second half Colorado seemed poised to maintain possession of the ball for a better part of the half and broke the 1-1 tie with a goal by Jeff Larentowicz from a corner kick served up by Sanna Nyassi in the 69th minute.
 
·         As the match progressed the Goats had several opportunities they just couldn’t convert including several dangerous chances for Frenchman Laurent Courtois who was already proving to be a handful for Colorado’s defense. Courtois would not be denied and would level the score at 2 goals a piece in the 86th minute.
 
·         Dan Kennedy had several key saves in second half stoppage time to assure the Goats a 2-2 tie and a very important point to add to their total for the season so far.
 
·         In addition when Colorado scored in the 13th minute of the first half, Goats defender Zarek Valentin would suffer a left quad injury and would leave the match 3 minutes later as he would be subbed by Michael Lahoud. It is unclear how severe the contusion to Valentin’s quad is at this moment until he is reevaluated once the Goats return to Los Angeles, as well as how much time he could potentially be out of action. 
The Goats record is now 7-8-10 in the western conference with 31 points, which keeps them in sixth place. The Red and White finally finish their current road trip and move on to the fifth and final consecutive road match as they return to the Pacific Northwest and visit the Portland Timbers and the un-friendly confines of Jeld Wen Field for a mid-week showdown this Wednesday, August 24. The match kicks off at 8:00 pm PT, and will broadcast on Prime Ticket and KWHY Channel 22 as well as W Radio 690 AM. For information on the game, please visit cdchivasusa.com
 
THE WORD FROM THE TEAMS:
 
·         CHIVAS USA – HEAD COACH ROBIN FRASER
 
On the first half: “It was an extremely poor start. We, for whatever reason, didn’t put together a lot of passes, turned the ball over in bad spots, and didn’t defend particularly well. It took us a while to get into it. We were fortunate to get to the half at 1-1.”
 
On the team’s response: “I thought in the second half we came out and our energy and our attention to detail was a little bit better, and as a result we were able to turn the game a bit more in our favor. Obviously giving up a set piece goal is disappointing, but I thought the team showed great character by coming back and creating a couple chances late and obviously getting one and tying the game.”
 
·         CHIVAS USA – MIDFIELDER  MICHAEL LAHOUD
 
On the result: “It’s the amount of points that we wanted – considering the time of the year, it’s all about results. But we’ll take this draw. Coming back twice to grind out a result in a very tough place to play against a team that’s been on a hot streak. You have to take what you can get here.”
 
On what the team gets from this game: “We’re looking forward and we’re moving forward still, but one thing that we can hold our heads up high about is the character we showed tonight. At times, the game was going our way, we were fluid, and other times we were getting a lot of pressure on us, but we found a way to stay in it. We got a result, and that’s all that matters.”
 
On two newcomers scoring the goals: “For Juan Pablo, I thought he played very well tonight, and showed why he’s regarded in the way he is. Holding the ball, touch, ability to head the ball, compete, and finish. It was a great finish. And then Laurent, I think no matter what team you go to if you’re a new player, I think it’s always good to get that pressure, whether it’s pressure on yourself or pressure from outside, to kind of take it off your shoulders by getting a goal or getting an assist. It was a great finish by him tonight to get us the result.”
 
·         COLORADO RAPIDS – HEAD COACH GARY SMITH
 
On the game overall: “It was never going to be easy. This Chivas side is much improved and Robin’s done a terrific job there. They’re much more resilient, you can see that in their play. I think some fatigue certainly had an impact in our play in the latter stages of the game. But the second goal, we scored it at a good time and I really felt that we might just hang on to that. I’m being told that the second goal was offside. I haven’t seen it again but everyone upstairs tells me that it was. So tonight, if it was, then we’ve been very unlucky. I thought we just did enough. We had some good chances. We tried to take the game to them. There were some very b right moments and some good openings, and I think when all is said and done the only other real chance that they had was when Marvell [Wynne] made a fantastic recovery challenge. Other than that, through all of their play they didn’t threaten the goal. So at 2-1 I was really looking at a win, and thinking that we could see it out. And of course, when you concede so late it does feel like a loss.”
 
On the upcoming busy schedule: “It’s not going to get any easier. My job is to try and keep the group as energetic and as fresh as possible while staying competitive. I can put the younger players out in the squad and give everyone a rest but we don’t stay competitive that way. The key is to try and keep a strong workman like positive side that has a chance to win a game of football. For all of our disappointment at the end we achieved that. We scored two goals; we looked good in our directional play. I thought there was some link play some nice creativity. Sanna [Nyassi] looked brighter tonight. In the end, it’s boiled down to the fact that maybe a linesman hasn’t quite got his job right. I’ll hold my end up if that’s wrong and say what a good finish and well played.”
 
·         COLORADO RAPIDS DEFENDER DREW MOOR
 
On playing his 68th complete consecutive MLS match: “It’s definitely an accomplishment that I’m proud of and I want to continue to play as much as I can and help this team to win championships and trophies. Results aside I’m extremely excited about tonight but I wish it would have been in a winning efforts.”
 
On the second Chivas USA goal: “They had a lot of possession the last 15 or 20 minutes. I think we conceded too much space to them in midfield. A couple of times we had difficulty tracking their midfielders coming through our back four. Marvell [Wynne] made a fantastic block on one of their opportunities and I think it was just a mental lapse. We allowed them through and it happened twice and they punished us both times.”
 
On whether some players playing 90 minutes on Wednesday affected tonight’s outcome: “I don’t think so. Chivas are a much improved side from when we played them down there in the second game of the season. They’ve gotten some great results and they’re a good team, they’ve got some good players. We knew it was going to be a competitive match and a physical match and I think our effort was fantastic. I thought we put in an effort that deserved to get three points but you can’t allow mistakes like that. I think we all leave here feeling like we were defeated tonight.”
 
 
·         COLORADO RAPIDS DEFENDER TYRONE MARSHALL
 
On the game ending in a tie: “It’s disappointing, obviously, to give up such a late goal. I think we didn’t have the patience to keep the ball and kill the game. We kept dumping it in the back and giving them opportunities to come at us. That’s a learning experience and another game that we have to learn from. We didn’t lose the game but we gave away two points here tonight. The other teams in front of us [in the standings] are winning so we have to continue winning as well. So it’s disappointing from that standpoint that it’s a home game and we need to get three points. We’ve been doing that for the last couple of games, picking up maximum points. So tonight kind of hurts a little bit, but it’s a learning experience for us going forward. We’ve been doing that in the past – correcting our mistakes and doing well the following game. We have a big game coming up now in CONCACAF and we have to change our mindset and get ready for that game in Honduras.”
           
Chivas USA (7-8-10) vs. Colorado Rapids (10-6-11)
 
August 20th 2011- Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
Scoring Summary:
COL — Caleb Folan 6 (Pablo Mastroeni 4, Kosuke Kimura 1) 13
CHV — Juan Pablo Angel 4 (Nick LaBrocca 5) 36
COL — Jeff Larentowicz 6 (unassisted) 69
CHV — Laurent Courtois 1 (Michael Lahoud 2) 86
Misconduct Summary:
CHV — Michael Umana (caution; Tactical Foul) 19
Lineups:
Chivas USA — Dan Kennedy, Zarek Valentin (Michael Lahoud 16), Michael Umana, Heath Pearce, Ante Jazic, Blair Gavin (Laurent Courtois 60), Simon Elliott, Nick LaBrocca, Jorge Flores (Marcos Mondaini 74), Juan Pablo Angel, Alejandro Moreno.
Substitutes Not Used: David Junior Lopes, Paulo Nagamura, Ben Zemanski, Zach Thornton.
Colorado Rapids — Matt Pickens, Kosuke Kimura, Marvell Wynne, Tyrone Marshall, Drew Moor, Brian Mullan (Macoumba Kandji 89), Jeff Larentowicz, Pablo Mastroeni, Sanna Nyassi, Wells Thompson (Omar Cummings 58), Caleb Folan.
Substitutes Not Used: Mike Holody, Joseph Nane, Ross LaBauex, Scott Palguta, Steward Ceus.
Referee: Elias Bazakos
Referee’s Assistants: Eric Boria; Corey Parker
4th Official: Terry Vaughn
Attendance: 16,852
Time of Game: 1:52
Weather: Sunny and 86 degrees
cdchivasusa.com