The roller coaster is roller coaster-ing.
A blowout loss at home, followed by a blowout win at home, then an uninspiring 2-0 away loss to the shorthanded Vancouver Whitecaps (5-1-1, 1st Western Conference) on Saturday night have the Colorado Rapids (3-2-2, 7th Western Conference) in an awkward place just one-fifth into the season.
Some nights, they have it. Others they do not. Saturday evening at BC Place was the latter.
Here are three takeaways from an insipid night in Canada:
Defense falls asleep in critical moments
Like it has all season, Colorado had some encouraging defensive moments, particularly in putting out fires. Right back Keegan Rosenberry nearly hurt himself trying to recover to — successfully — block a point-blank shot that would have given Zack Steffen fits.
On both of Vancouver’s goals, one or multiple defenders fell asleep.
The first came in the 19th minute when Brian White put himself in between left back Ian Murphy and center back Chidozie Awaziem to receive an awkward but perfectly placed header by Sebastian Berhalter. On an even more awkward shot attempt, White fired it low and to the back post in what looked like a mishit.
Murphy seemed to have lost the initial ball that set up Berhalter’s headed assist, and Awaziem was a step too late to mark White and potentially block his shot.
The second goal caught the entire back line flat-footed. Give credit to Vancouver winger Ali Ahmed, whose pass threaded the needle to Emmanuel Sabbi, who cut inward like a wide receiver running a slant in behind Awaziem and center back Andreas Maxsø.
The execution and timing were millisecond- and inch-perfect, but at least one of the three or four defenders between the two Whitecaps players could have done better to intercept or prevent the pass from breaking through.
“Both (goals) come from, you know, we let them off the side,” Rapids coach Chris Armas said. “Oftentimes we’re talking about forcing the ball wide, winning the byline, outnumbering them. They wiggled out of a few spots and then it’s that they have good passers and clever movements behind our back line.”
Turnovers halt offensive rhythm
The moment that reflected the Rapids’ offense on Saturday night came just a few minutes before they gave up their second goal of the night.
After a clearance, Djordje Mihailovic found himself the front man of a three-on-one in the Rapids’ favor. He found Josh Atencio on the right, then Atencio tried to cross to either Mihailovic or Kévin Cabral, but passed it behind them both. Vancouver scored just three minutes later.
It was the best chance of the night that never came to fruition. For the first 10 minutes of the game, the Rapids were energetic, on the front foot and looked like they would steal an early goal. The rest of the match was riddled with miscues akin to Atencio’s giveaway, just in smaller moments as attacks were building.
“It’s a different surface (Vancouver plays on turf). They’re very comfortable on the turf and it’s a new surface for us,” Armas said. “The ball is a little more lively, so some of these little transition moments — Djordje got himself in some good spots right where we wanted him — and the ball is jumpy. … Other nights, that comes off for us.”
The Rapids recorded just nine shots on the evening, none of which were on goal — in last week’s win over Charlotte, they tallied 22.
Vines encouraging in return
Rapids Homegrown left back Sam Vines finally made his 2025 debut against Vancouver as a sub in the 55th minute, putting an end to a long bout with a soft-tissue quad injury.
He tweaked it in the Leagues Cup third-place match last season at the end of August, missed all of September and returned just in time for the playoff series against the L.A. Galaxy, where he tallied 114 minutes over two games. He reinjured the quad during the offseason, and the Rapids played his road to recovery slow and methodical.
“Now, it feels good,” Vines said after the match. “I feel 100%.”
He was put in a bit of a mixer on his first defensive action of the night, but he responded well and stymied Vancouver’s attack in some instances. But his biggest impact was on the offensive end, where he turned out to be one of the bright spots for the Rapids.
He made multiple deep runs to the left corner and whipped in a couple of good-looking crosses that didn’t quite find a runner. For the last 15 minutes of the game, the offense picked up a bit and almost looked like it did at the start of the match. Vines certainly played a role in the uptick.
The Rapids return home next Saturday for another clash against a top Western Conference team and the MLS’s newest club, San Diego FC, at 7:30 p.m.
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