August 16, 2007 9:04 PM

Rapids blank the East's best: New England

With their 3-0 victory over Eastern Conference heavyweight New England on Thursday night at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, the Rapids did a lot to reverse some bad trends.

What did they do?

The Rapids won.

The Rapids won two consecutive games.

The Rapids scored.

The Rapids scored more than one goal.

The Rapids scored more than two goals for the first time this season.

Jovan Kirovski scored.

Jovan Kirovski scored two goals.

No, folks, this ain't make-believe. But for all the folks who have had a difficult time digesting all the bad news to come out of Commerce City for the past 10 weeks or so, it may seem like it.

Kirovski has been a frequent target. Perhaps that's why he gets the nod to take the PK ...

The word fire has been used in relation to Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo so often that casual soccer fans (perhaps those in Utah, maybe?) probably think he coaches the MLS franchise in Chicago. But with Thursday's win, Clavijo now has a modest two-game win "streak" going, and the team has picked up nine points in the past seven MLS games.

These two victories don't erase all the ills of June and July.

But perhaps the team can build on this small measure of success. A victory on Aug. 26 against the Los Angeles Beckhams would show that this team is pointed in the right direction. And if Clavijo and the Rapids can manage that, setting their sights on the playoffs would not be an unreasonable goal.

Of course the Rapids probably would be one of the lower seeds and would play at the home of one of the highest seeds. But who wouldn't want to see the Rapids travel to Dallas again for the back end of another playoff?

PLAYOFF FORMAT: FC Rocky hasn't discussed the playoff format recently, for good reason. But here it is: Eight teams will qualify for the playoffs, the top two teams in each conference plus the remaining four teams, regardless of conference, that have the most points in the standings.

A GOOD TREND CONTINUES: Goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul and the defense have now allowed only four goals in the Rapids' past seven MLS games.

SO CLOSE: Kirovski narrowly missed a hat trick in the 63rd minute, beating New England keeper Matt Reis — but not the post.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Despite Kirovski's two goals, the Rapids chose the active Colin Clark. Sounds good to me.

TWO STEPS FORWARD ... No sooner did the Rapids sign Tony Sanneh to shore up a patchwork defense than Dan Gargan, himself returning to action recently after an injury, was carted off on a stretcher in the 23rd minute. Gargan suffered a knee injury and was replaced by Sanneh. This is a serious blow — because of the team's lack of depth at the position and because Gargan played so well against Houston.

SMALLISH CROWD: The smallest crowd of the season for an MLS game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park — announced as 10,677 — missed what may have been the team's strongest performance. The Rapids outshot New England 17-5 (including a 7-1 edge on frame). And the Rapids had four corner kicks to the Revs' one.

PABLO CALLED UP: Rapids captain Pablo Mastroeni has been selected to the 19-man roster of the U.S. national team, which will face Sweden on Wednesday in Göteborg. The game is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. local time and will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel. Galavision airing the match live and delayed.

Posted by George Tanner at 9:04 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack