(AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Michael Paulsen)
The Rapids never seemed to have it in them to beat the odds on Sunday. For all sorts of reasons, it was Houston's time. They were due. They were better.
First, not many teams in MLS will go winless for very long. That point was driven home as Houston beat the Rapids for their first win. Up the road Dallas beat Toronto FC for their first win. On Saturday the New York Redbulls beat Real Salt Lake for their first win. Of all the team in MLS only Columbus and the L.A. Galaxy have yet to win a game. L.A. truly looks lost while Columbus look snake bit.
The odds even out over time, and on Sunday the odds caught up with Houston. The game was similar to last weeks game in Columbus, coming down to two key plays. The first was an unlikely goal scored by Ching. The second was a an excellent save made by Pat Onstad on Conor Casey's penalty kick.
Everything seemed to go right for Houston on Ching's goal. Stuart Holden made a routine field switch to a wide open Brad Davis out on the left wing. Davis rather than taking the ball deep or feeding Wade Barrett's overlapping run sent in an early cross that found Ching near to the top of Burpo's penalty area. Ching blindly flicked the cross with the side of his head towards Burpo's goal finding the upper right hand corner.
Burpo was late in reacting on the goal, which appeared to catch him by surprise. Burpo's comment on MLSnet, "I can't imagine that Ching meant to use his back or shoulder on that. Good for them," sums up how unlikely the shot appeared from Burpo's point of view. Ching's good but it would take eyes on the back of his head for him to truly claim that he had picked the corner.
As with the game in Columbus the 82nd minute was the Rapids chance to even up the score. This week it was a penalty kick opportunity awarded to Conor Casey when he was taken down in the box by Geoff Cameron. Cameron fouled Casey as Casey was making his way towards goal having dribbled through several Dynamo players.
On the penalty kick Onstad guessed correctly diving to his right. Casey's shot was hard and about 5 feet off the ground. Onstad's dive took him below Casey's shot, but Onstad demonstrated tremendous concentration by reaching back up with his left hand to parry Casey's shot away. The play continued with the Rapids storming in on goal to get at the blocked shot. In the melee the Rapids had their chance when Terry Cooke took a shot from close range. It wasn't to be though as Onstad had recovered from his dive, stormed across the goal, and blocked Cooke's effort.
Houston was due. Both events that defined this game required some luck. They also took a great deal of skill. Houston's a good team, better than the 0-2-2 record that they started this game with. For the second year in a row Houston has started the season off slow. For the second year in a row it's the Rapids that have been the team that Houston has used to come out of their funk. Houston finished first in the west last year, and it appears that they're still a contender.
Depending on how the season unfolds this may have been a crucial loss. Yes, it was on the road after two other league road games and an Open Cup game. That was always going to be a problem. The four points the Rapids return home with are a point short of a very good road tally but not bad.
The reason yesterday's loss may be crucial was that it came at a moment when all the other results went the Rapids way. A win would have catapulted them into second place in the western conference. A tie would have moved them a point clear of Kansas City in the league. Either would have put some space between the Rapids and the teams behind them in the tables. Instead the Rapids are where they always seem to be, right in the middle of the pack. That's not a terrible place to be this early in the season. It does make for a steeper climb towards seasons end.
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