Pre-Game: Home Opener vs New England Revolution

by Brendan Wyatt

Opening day is a big deal no matter what sport it is.  I’m sure there are even water polo fans who are pumped for a new season to begin, but that’s not the sport that has me all wired the night before the season opener. 

 

I’m starting my first pre-game of the year at 3am because I keep waking up every hour hoping it’s time to start the day and it makes me wonder if any of the players got 8 hours of beauty sleep.  It’s not as if we get good sleep before our first day on the job, so how are you feeling today rookies?

As Rapids fans our anxiety level is different than last year.  Expatiation's are higher for example.  Some would say the Rapids may not have done enough in the offseason to fix what is needed, but in a way that’s blasphemy.  So we didn’t win the cup and we came in second in the Supporters Shield, but if that doesn’t make you happy after the 2015 season then you’re just negative.

 

It is in my opinion that the Rapids did ok in the offseason.  Not stellar, but the transfer market and salary cap are not easy things to work with.  The Rapids didn’t need much to bolster the roster, so they didn’t acquire much, but the ones they did will prove their worth in time.  Padraig Smith hasn’t let us down yet.

 

Oh, speaking of the puppet master, he will be joining us at the tailgate today at 3pm.  Come join us as we interview the Irishman on Jameson (whisky) night… um, day. 

 

Now on to the game at hand, the Rapids face the New England Revolution in which they have already played earlier in preseason.  It wasn’t an impressive 2-0 win, but it was a pleasing one. If the burgundy boys can do the same today, it will keep the regular season home unbeaten streak alive. 

As the Voice of C38 said in nearly every offseason podcast, preseason is a different mentality so we have to try to look at it differently.  That being said I don’t think it will be as easy of a win as it may have seemed a few weeks back in Tucson.  The Rapids are 19-15-9 against the Revs, not bad but, Coach Pablo has yet to beat Jay Heaps (0-3-0) in regular season play.   The Rapids are 13-4-4 at home against NER, but haven’t beaten them since 2013. Any wonder why we drink whiskey when the Revs come to town?

 

New England finished 11-14-9 last season after starting off the season 1-2-7 in their first ten games.  It wouldn’t hurt for Rapids fans to hope for the Revs to struggle at the start once again.  The Revs added two center backs in the offseason; Antonio Delamea from Slovenia and from Ivory Coast Benjamin Angoua and they are expected to start today.  Communication and chemistry are key when it comes to defense, this could be a great time for Kevin Doyle to get in between them and put a ball or two in the net.

The burgundy boys are 3-1-1 in the last five home openers.  Many of us won’t forget Marco Pappa’s game winner in stoppage time last year, we could be in for another stellar finish as both teams have everything to play for.

As for whom we should expect to see line up and defend the fortress that is Dick’s Sporting Goods Park we know that both Tim Howard and Dillon Serna are listed as questionable.  The Rapids announced the loan of Cody Mizell from Charlotte Independence, meaning it’s very unlikely Tim Howard will suit up at all today.  Even though the Rapids have three keepers on the roster, John Berner’s wrist is still a concern so he’s out too.

 

Other than that, we should expect to see the same guys we saw against Houston last week.  If you missed that game, you didn’t miss much, but you won’t want to miss today. 

 

Starting XI: Zac MacMath, Eric Miller, Jared Watts, Axel Sjoberg, Marc Burch, Sam Cronin, Michael Azira, Marlon Hairston, Dillon Powers, Dom Badji, Kevin Doyle.