A glorious 2024 campaign at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park ended as sourly as it could.
Up to the 48th minute, Oliver Larraz had been playing one of his best games of the season, particularly on the defensive end.
But one bad mistake from the 23-year old turned the game on its head. Now the Colorado Rapids’ 1-0 loss Saturday night to the Seattle Sounders means home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs is just about out of reach.
In the 48th minute, Larraz made a bad attempt at a back pass, which landed between defenders Andreas Maxsø and Lalas Abubakar. While the two miscommunicated about whose ball it was, Seattle forward Jordan Morris took the ball, touched it around Abubakar and ripped a shot on goal.
Zack Steffen made a good save, but the ball fell to Albert Rusnák, who buried it with help from a deflection by Maxsø.
In front of a sellout crowd of 18,096 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for the Rapids’ final home game of the regular season, Colorado’s best chance came in the first half on a free kick, where Abubakar got his head on a cross and put it slightly over the bar.
The Rapids, now 15-13-5, will have one more shot at points to try to avoid sliding further in the standings in a road game against Austin FC at 7 p.m. Oct. 19.
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