Post-Game: DDC: Match 4 Vs. Arizona United

By: Michael Sandoval

Colorado saved the best for last when it came to Desert Diamond Cup performances, beating USL side Arizona United 3-0 last night in Tuscon.  Both teams came out with what could be considered their starting 11 which made for a pretty exciting match.  Colorado struggled to put the ball in the net throughout the tournament but you wouldn’t have known it with how they played Saturday night.  Shkëlzen Gashi got his first goal of the preseason while Kevin Doyle continued to lead by example. 

Colorado came out looking the stronger side but it was Arizona United who got the first quality chance of the game, just six minutes in.  Luke Rooney took a free kick from 20+ yards out which Zac MacMath got a quick jump on and managed to push the ball off the bar for a corner.  Former Rapids player Tony Cascio got the next chance for Arizona in the 14^th minute.  The back four for the Rapids continue to struggle with chemistry which lead to Cascio getting a free look at net from the top of the eighteen.  MacMath was equal to the strike, managing to get a foot out to stop it.  The young goalkeeper managed a series of saves throughout the match to earn his second clean sheet of the tournament.

Following the crucial save the Rapids countered, quickly moving the ball with a series of passes and positive runs up field.  The attack lead to a corner which Dillon Powers swung in,  the ball took a fortunate bounce off  United defender Julian Ringhofand and went into his own net, giving the Rapids the early 1-0 lead in the 17^th minute.

Doyle doubled the lead in 31^st minute.  Gashi found the Irishman with a great ball into the eighteen, splitting Arizona’s defense while Doyle ran off his mark.  The Irish international was essentialy alone on net and made no mistake when he calmly passed the ball by United goalkeeper Trey Mitchell.   

The second forty-five only saw one goal for Colorado but Arizona should have netted one or two themselves.  Gashi got the final goal in the 63^rd minute after being played in by a nice pass from fellow newcomer Michael Azira.  Colorado’s newest Designated Player made no mistake once he was inside the box and slotted it passed substitute goalie Jordan Stagmiller. 

While the attacking third looked greatly improved from last season, I must admit the defense looked shaky throughout the tournament.   Arizona had two or three clear looks at MacMath but sent them all high or wide.  Against better competition this might have been a 3-3 tie instead of a straight forward win.  

With this being the final preseason game Pablo kept a lot of the starters on for the entirety of the match.   It is safe to assume the starting eleven we see against San Jose will be very similar to what we saw against Arizona.  In the week leading up (can’t believe I’m saying this) the defense might need some extra work over the offense.  Even with that however, I believe we are going to see a much improved product in 2016, then we did in 2015.  

Rapids: Zac MacMath; Eric Miller, Bobby Burling (Emmanuel Appiah, 78’), Axel Sjöberg, Mekeil Williams; Jared Watts (Marlon Hairston, 55’), Micheal Azira; Dominique Badji, Dillon Powers, Shkëlzen Gashi; Kevin Doyle.

Arizona: Trey Mitchell (Jordan Stagmiller, 60’); Peter Kelly (Tommy Williams, 60’), Julian Ringhof (Brock Granger, 46’), Daniel Antunez (Damian Rosales, 60’), Kalem Scott (Nicholas Costa, 46’); Miguel Timm (Gibson Bardsley, 60’), Blair Gavin (Spencer Johnson, 60’), Sam Garza (Scott Morrison, 60’), Luke Rooney (Jose Cuevas, 60’), Tony Cascio (Jamael Cox, 60’), Chris Cortez (Brandon Swartzendruber, 57’).