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Rapids complete another comeback to lift first MLS Cup

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

By AVI CREDITOR

TORONTO – The MLS Cup is staying put in the Rocky Mountain region.

Extra-time substitute Mac Kandji's close-range shot ricocheted off George John for an own goal in the 108th minute, lifting the Colorado Rapids to a 2-1 victory over FC Dallas and their first MLS Cup title on a bitter-cold night at BMO Field.

Kandji received the ball on the right side of the FCD box after a cross from Conor Casey, who was named the game's Most Valuable Player. Kandji slipped by Jair Benitez and found space to put a shot on frame from a tight angle. Dallas keeper Kevin Hartman seemed to have it lined up until John re-directed the ball into the goal for the game-winner and the third own goal in MLS Cup history.

"As soon as we came to Toronto, I had a good feeling," said Kandji, who was sent to Colorado by the New York Red Bulls in a midseason trade.

Kandji entered the game in the 98th minute for an injured Omar Cummings (thigh), but he suffered a left leg injury on the play and had to exit the game after the goal despite the Rapids having already exhausted all of their substitutes.

Playing with a man-advantage for the final 12 minutes and change, FC Dallas had numerous chances to tie the game and force penalty kicks. John nearly made amends for his miscue in the final moments, but he was denied by a sprawling Matt Pickens, who touched away the centerback's low shot.

"It was just a reaction," said Pickens, who made five saves. "Luckily I came out on top."

Seconds before the final whistle, Drew Moor cleared a Jeff Cunningham shot off the line.

"We've got a hard-working crew," said Casey, who was denied a penalty after appearing to be fouled by Benitez in the box in the 27th minute. "It feels like we really earned it. Our backs were against the wall for a lot of the game, but we just showed our resolve."

Colorado fell behind in the 35th minute when reigning league MVP David Ferreira opened the scoring. He latched onto a superb Marvin Chavez cross from the right and touched home a one-timer from the edge of the 6-yard box to put Dallas in the driver's seat.

Ferreira's effectiveness was limited after that, though, through a stout, team defensive effort. Central midfielders Jeff Larentowicz and Pablo Mastroeni headlined the effort to contain Dallas' sparkplug.

Their physical play, along with that of Casey, a true battering ram up top and while tracking back, stunted Dallas' possession- and passing-oriented attack.

"If you're going to stop FC Dallas you're going to have to knock us out of our rhythm or our attack," FCD coach Schellas Hyndman said. "The thing with physical play is it's disruptive. If that was their game plan, it was perfect."

The Rapids found the answer to Ferreira's goal in the 57th minute through Casey, who scored a gritty goal from his backside to breathe new life into his team.

Zach Loyd's failed clearance attempt to the left sideline afforded winger Jaime Smith the space to attack and cross. Both Hartman and Benitez dove to defend the cross by the near post, and the ball squirted behind Benitez where Casey, on the ground, managed to sweep home a shot into the vacated net.

"There's always mistakes in the game, you just hope they don't end up in the back of the net," Hyndman said.

The Rapids followed rival Real Salt Lake as the second consecutive Western Conference-based Eastern Conference champion to win MLS Cup.

For midseason acquisition Brian Mullan, the championship was his fifth. Conversely, for the longtime field general of the team, Mastroeni, and for the majority of the Rapids' roster, the championship was a first.

"This has been a beautiful ride, capping it off with a win," Mastroeni said. "This has been the most exciting day of my professional career."

Added Casey: "I've never won everything ever, and to do it with someone like Pablo, who has had such a storied career and never won and has given so much to the club, no one deserves it more."

Comments

  1. Conor Casey is a oaf. He should have been sent off with two yellow cards. Not sure why he was the MVP, were they scared to NOT name him the MVP?

    I can’t believe the Colorado Rapids are the MLS Champions. Were they the best team this season? No way Jose Canseco!

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  2. Yeah, that’s a good point. I’m not trying to kick Toronto (lovely city and a lovely stadium and a great fan base). And I know MLS likes to show off new stadia and also throw a bone to franchises/fans that may not have a championship (kind of like the NBA does with the all-star game hosting). But a neutral site seems to work in some locations and not others–I won’t go into why (I’m just be theorizing–no hard data). So I don’t see that decision (continue or discontinue with neutral site) as being cut and dried.

    Maybe the answer is to decide what you want the playoffs to be. And if you want to reward teams for a great regular season, than you do away with neutral site and the top-seed hosts. If it’s to “spread the wealth” than you continue to do neutral site and you pick the newer SSS or clubs that haven’t been successful lately. If it’s to make a big deal out of the championship, than you chose warm weather sites at locations that seem to either have a diverse enough fan-base to draw no matter who shows up or have a proven track record drawing fans for events without their team (all-star, international matches, foreign club preseason). But right now, it seems like it’s a hodge-podge of everything. So we have a playoff system that kinda rewards the higher seed but only for the conference final, a first round that sells tickets (2 games) and gives exposure but rewards weaker seeds, and a final that spreads the wealth but may not bring much passion to the match.

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  3. Get your facts straight. SF had the 5th best record in MLB this year (out of 30). Regardless, even if it happened once in a while in other sports, it happens repeatedly in MLS.

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  4. The 8th best team in baseball won this year and the 14th best team in hockey nearly won last year, lets all get over our selves and recognize this happens in all major sports, did anyone really think the dutch were the second best team in the world with two thugs at holding midfield? Also, this game was about as pretty as the world cup except we had 3 goals, some great saves, a dramatic OT and no obvious red card in the 20th min.

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  5. For all the lead up talk of “Toronto always has a great atmosphere”, the event was lifeless. I could almost hear the crickets on TV. I also found it amusing that people left the stadium way before the 85th minute. And by extra-time the stadium looked half empty.

    Granted, the play on the pitch wasn’t great but you could sense that both teams were trying their hardest to win the match. You can’t fault either team for their effort.

    This was not a worthy spectacle of a championship game.

    With that said, Congrats to the Rapids for their 1st MLS Cup.

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  6. Some thoughts:

    I thought Conor Casey deserved the MVP. He worked hard all night, scored one goal, and set up the second. Also, Casey’s possession and hold-up game killed Dallas late in extra time. Colorado had a surprising amount of possession with ten men, and the big bald guy played a huge role in that.

    I found myself wishing that Dax McCarty could have been with the National Team in South Africa. That kid was everywhere tonight.

    I didn’t have a problem with the game’s quality. It was a hard-fought contest in bitter weather. I like physical soccer.

    Congratulations to both sides. Both should be proud of their achievements this season. Now fill up those stadiums!

    Ten playoff teams? European schedule? No thanks.

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  7. I agree, it was disgraceful. I also can’t understand the logic. Do they not understand the image/welfare of the league they are hurting impacts them DIRECTLY?

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  8. I concur, but PHP is only about 30min north of Dallas which makes it even less of an excuse. It takes that long to get anywhere around here.

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  9. Well wasn’t that quite a farcical…I mean final. The ugly team wins over the better team thanks to cruel fate. Then we learn that MLS is gonna take steps backward next year…

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  10. Stopped watching right after the David F. goal because the game had no energy. I left thinking Dallas would put it away with another. Surprised to see Colorado come back and win. If the trends hold true then I guess we can expect a different two teams next year as these two will be stretched too thin by CCL and other tourneys.

    RSL can make some serious noise in CCL quarter finals. Seems as though winning that competition would mean as much as MLS Cup at this point.

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  11. I have been to 2 MLS Cup Finals at the Home Depot Center and 2 at RFk and all were near sellouts. I don’t think it is a matter of playing at a neutral site that is the problem it was just THIS site that was a problem.

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  12. A bit tangential, but when was the last time the winning team did not have a sponsor’s name/logo emblazoned across their jerseys? And will this result finally change that for Colorado? (or for Dallas, for that matter?)

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  13. That was one of the ugliest MLS games I’ve ever seen. Let’s watch all the players bitch after every call! Let’s watch Conor Casey get the MVP award for head-butting and running over everything in sight! And it all went down in one of the most dismal atmospheres I’ve sever seen in an MLS Cup final. Too bad.

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  14. Toledo was crap, but I was OK with Casey not getting the penalty because he fouled Benitez (who seems to love kicking out) first. I am, however, not OK with the playoffs expanding. Ugh.

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  15. Agreed all around. It all just feels wrong. And expansion will make the playoffs feel less, not more, meaningful. Heck, at this point I’d prefer limiting the playoffs to the top two in each conference and making the semis and finals each THREE legged total goals series with the higher seed getting two out of the three at home. But that’ll never happen.

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  16. Baby steps! 🙂

    But seriously, wasn’t it more troubling, from the perspective of the league and the playoff system and the sport’s image and all that, when a sub-.500 team won it all? And anyway it’s always disappointing when the winners are decided on PKs.

    What’s more depressing than that comparison is the prospect of slipping backward to the previous kind of situation again, with 10 teams heading to the playoffs next year…

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  17. I personally don’t like the MLS being played at a predetermined stadium. While neither Colorado nor Dallas is really a super draw at their stadiums, you aren’t really helping fans by moving it somewhere else. This isn’t the NFL that will draw wherever it wants to in the United States. There is no point in making it harder on the hard core fans.
    As for the game, the only interesting thing was the second half of overtime. I don’t really care how brutal the soccer was. It was flat out fun.

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  18. wow. that was one of the chippyest games I’ve ever seen. if it was officiated by la liga refs I think you would have seen about 6 players on each side by the end. Even premier league refs would have called more yellows. while i appreciated the passion and commitment of two team playing their hearts out, the beautifull game does not happen with all that pushing, tripping, agressive tackling

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  19. Yeah but that tool Casey paid it back in full later didn’t he haha.

    I agree tho that was a fairly clear pk. I thought Toledo was terrible in general today.

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  20. I think you’re right that the briefness of the playoffs is an issue. I would at least make the league semis two legs and see if that makes the playoffs feel a little more meaningful.

    I remember two years ago when the Red Bulls made the run to the final after a relatively mediocre season, it felt weird. I was happy, but it didn’t feel quite right to have done just OK for 30 games and then all of a sudden be playing for it all after 3 good games. When the Red Bulls finally win it all (knock on wood), I want it to come after a season where we’re strong all year long.

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  21. You folks worried about the playoff situation and this result should take heart. I mean, this year the #7 team at the end of the regular season, with a 12-8-10 record, won the final without going to PKs, after also winning the conference final without going to PKs.

    By contrast last year it was of course the #8 team, with a _losing_ record in the regular season, who won the final, and who did so only on PKs after also winning the conference final on PKs.

    Progress! 🙂

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  22. Exciting Cup! End to end soccer, and a crazy 2nd overtime.

    Congratulations to the Colorado Rapids, 2010 MLS Cup Champions!

    We won the cup! We won the cup! 🙂

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  23. Okay someone has to say it…Shame on all those TFC fans who were “protesting” by leaving (or not even showing up). Where is the logic in that?? You think MLSE cares how many ppl show up for the MLS Cup? THis wasnt a TFC game, this was a championship game. You guys contributed to a horrible atmosphere. Go “protest” those TFC games instead. It seems you guys like bitchin about alot of things just for the hell of it. First its the All-star game where you guys complained cuz barely any of your crappy players were represented and now this???

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  24. Lalas is a proponent of the supporters shield being the true championship. I agree with him. MLS Cup is just a small tournament to see who’s hot in November.

    MLS Cup champions – win 3 out of 4 matches

    US Open Cup champions – win a minimum of 4 matches

    MLS Season – perform consistently well over 30 (now 34) matches.

    Even the World Cup isn’t just a 7 match tournament. You have to qualify by playing 15-20 matches.

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  25. Pizza Hut Park is actually a decent stadium. It’s just the location (an hour north of Dallas) and the supporters (or lack thereof) that is the problem.

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  26. I, too, tend to agree it sucked in the middle of a fan protest. But I seem to remember everyone thought it would be a good showcase for Toronto last Spring, but failure to make the playoffs and the ticket price issue killed any momentum. Look, these fans haven’t been in the Stadium for almost a month.

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  27. That’s three years in a row the Eastern Conference Champion has won the Cup. The Western Conference teams really need to step their game up 😉

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  28. Casey is just so awful to watch. That he’s the standard-bearer of MLS is a real drag. And I agree that we might need to rethink the “neutral site” game. Toronto is a fantastic city, but — not to be chauvanistic — but you need a passport to get there, and I don’t see that many passport-holders in the Big D. And possibly Colorado. It was embarrassing to see a half-empty stadium…

    And it has been said elsewhere: The referee quality is what is holding MLS back. They should really address this in the off-season. Maybe DP referees??

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  29. Have to agree with most. I tuned in to watch as a soccer and MLS fan whose team wasn’t in it and kind of had to gut it out to get through the game. The play was so ragged, it was disappointing. The atmosphere was really weak. Have to agree with everyone on that.

    One more nit, I just surfed over to ESPN and the game is like the 7th article in their top events box. Yeesh. The MLS championship is below who the Mets are going to name as their next manager. Sad. Just sad.

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