The Colorado Rapids played 18 games this season at Dick's Sporting Goods Park entering the final leg of their Western Conference Championship showdown against the Seattle Sounders on Sunday. They didn't lose a single one of those contests, going 12-0-6.
In game No. 19 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, however, the Colorado Rapids finally dropped one. The Seattle Sounders defeated the Rapids 1-0 on Sunday, winning the series on aggregate 3-1 and ending the Rapids' season one game short of the MLS Cup.
Jordan Morris scored the lone goal of the game in the 56th minute. He poked the ball over a diving Zac MacMath.
It was one of Seattle's five shots all game, and one of only three on goal. It was enough to send the Sounders into the MLS Cup.
For Colorado, the lack of offensive firepower that sometimes plagued it during the regular season was its undoing. Yes, the Rapids outshot the Sounders 16 to 5, and they won the possession battle by holding the ball 64.4 percent of the time. But all that resulted in were half chances.
Colorado didn't muster a single shot on target.
The Rapids leaned heavily on their MLS-best defense throughout the year. The unit allowed 39 goals in 34 regular season games. In the two legs of the Western Conference Championship against Seattle, Colorado allowed three goals.
It was just too much to overcome in the end. The Rapids needed goals — plural — after Morris scored in the 56th minute. That was never going to happen.
