Colorado Rapids draw SKC in one of the toughest road venues in MLS

The Colorado Rapids battled to earn a point on the road in Kansas City on Saturday night.

The Rapids’ Jonathan Lewis scored the first goal to give Colorado an early lead but Sporting KC answered at the brink of halftime and the Rapids were able to hold tight from there to finish the game 1-1.

The nature of soccer and the ebbs and flows of the season allows for a team to be happy with one point. Sometimes one might even play for it on the road — not that the Rapids were about to say that.

“Really hard-fought game,” head coach Robin Fraser said. “Kansas City in Kansas City is one of the most difficult in the league, in my opinion. We had some really good moments to start the game. I thought we started off really well.

“Made a few mistakes, lost a little bit of confidence. The second half of the first half wasn’t quite like the first half was. The second half we came out and put together some good play again, but you’re never going to beat Kansas City down.”

The Rapids showed in the first half they can look dangerous against any team in MLS. They played attack-minded soccer and created multiple opportunities.

“When you look at how the game started, I think (the team) should feel confident that when they do things the right way and execute the right way that they can be really effective even against good teams,” Fraser said. “Which I think is obviously important once you get down to the end of the year and you’re into really meaningful games against really good teams.”

Once again, Lewis was sharp on the attack, with the 24-year-old scoring his third goal of the season and second in as many matches.

“It was just an opportunistic finish,” Lewis said. “We had a really good build-up play. Andre (Shinyashiki) set me up perfectly. (Graham) Zusi made a good block, but I was able to get the second ball and follow up on the rebound. Just keeping my composure when (Tim) Melia was recovering.”

Lewis has struggled to find his role with the club this season. That was just the fourth game he has started this season. With attackers Diego Rubio and Michael Barrios out of the lineup, Lewis made the most of his opportunity.

“I felt like I was going to score today and I felt like, honestly, I could’ve had more today,” Lewis said. “It’s just keeping the rhythm going and keep being aggressive, keep getting into the box and hopefully finding more goals.”

It was a tale of two halves as the Rapids in the second half played more defensively and tried to take advantage on the counterattack. It showed that this team is capable of getting the job done in multiple ways.

“When things don’t go well, through fight and determination they can keep themselves in games and still manufacture ways to win,” Fraser said. “… Obviously, you get down to the end of the year, you play against the best teams. These are characteristics that are going to be important.”

The Rapids remain in third place in the Western Conference and second place in points per game. They are four points behind the first-place Seattle Sounders with a game in hand.

The Burgundy Boys will stay on the road to take on the San Jose Earthquakes next week before coming home to face the fourth-place LA Galaxy on Sept. 11.

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