Castillo Not Fazed in Debut

By Brian "Soundbite" Jennings 

Dennis Castillo has been waiting months for Saturday night to come but he sure made the most of it when it did.  Officially signed just last Thursday after training with the Rapids since arriving fresh from the SuperDraft, Castillo was called upon by Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni in the second half of the 3-1 win over Seattle.

  

In his very first regular season MLS match, Castillo said he didn’t really have time to get nervous but rather just did his job as he has been on the training pitch waiting for the opportunity.  “Just happy to get the opportunity and approach it the right way,” said the rookie from Virginia Commonwealth University.  “We were up one goal, so (Mastroeni) wanted me to stay and not go forward a lot-stay and defend in my zone and stay connected to the backline pretty much.  If I had the option and it’s clear then go, but if not then hold.” 

Dennis had plenty of defending to do initially after making his debut to a loud cheer from the home crowd.  “Big boost because when I got in they scored one goal.  We were kind of under pressure as well.  Thankfully we got one more and were able to get some rest and peace and get back in shape.”

  

That one more came as a direct result of Castillo being able to get into the space that Seattle had vacated in trying to get back in the match late.  “(Seattle’s) lines were separated so there was a lot of gap between their front line and the back line.  We had a lot of options out wide.  Especially when I got it, we had a 15 minute period where they were on us, but in the counter there was a lot of space.” 

The youngster, who occupies an International Spot in Colorado, took that open space and pushed through with possession in the 86th minute as Seattle looked to equalize.  He was released down the right sideline, carried deep towards the endline, then lofted a neat ball to the near post where Kevin Doyle flicked it in to seal the win. 

Castillo said as long as he could get the ball even close, he knew the newly returned Irishman would take care of the rest.  “We practice that a lot.  Kevin is one guy who will always make that diagonal-either front post or back post, so I just have to make sure to put it on frame.  If he’s there he’s going to get a body or something in there.  Any forward, Jermaine (Jones) as well, is going to get in there.” 

  

Colorado let a golden opportunity slip away as Shkelzen Gashi missed his spot-kick in the 67th minute, but Castillo credits the veterans, and the entire team for that matter, for not letting it ruin the night.  “The response of the team after that was pretty good.  In that case we have to give a lot of credit to the older guys on the team. In the team, anyone can have the right to speak up at any time so I think that’s really key.” 

“You’ve gotta talk, stay communicating, make sure guys are on the same page and not suffer those up-and-downs psychologically.  That’s when you lose games right there.”