NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Colorado Rapids

Preview: Orlando City v Colorado Rapids

June 24, 2015 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Colorado Rapids News Release


The Colorado Rapids are on another road trip.

When April was just turning to May, Pablo Mastroeni's men had to travel a6,000 miles in six days - Denver to New York, New York to LA, LA to Denver.

They picked up a point at the Red Bulls and the Galaxy, which was considered a satisfactory haul at the time.

However this trip is more arduous and more urgent - Orlando on Wednesday, Sporting KC on Saturday and then, in the US Open Cup, Houston the following Tuesday.

By the time they return, we'll be beyond the midway point of the season and July will be upon us. And too many ties - such as the one against Dallas on Friday - have put a premium on victories now.

THE OPPOSITION

Orlando have made a solid start to life in the MLS. They are third in the Eastern Conference with 20 points from 16 games and had a five-match unbeaten run ended by Montreal Impact at the weekend.

Cyle Larin returned for that fixture from international duty with Canada after missing the previous three games. The opening pick of the 2015 Superdraft has five goals in 778 minutes of soccer this season. That is a better ratio that Kaka, who has seven, plus two assists, in 1430.

However, the Brazilian is much more than that. He is the side's captain, penalty-taker, free-kick specialist, face, name and talisman.

The former AC Milan midfielder heads most of his side's stats this season - games played, games started, minutes, goals, assists, shots, shots on target, corners and fouls suffered.

That said, Orlando are not a one-man team. In the off-season head coach Adrian Heath added solid MLS experience to their roster in the form of Brek Shea, Tally Hall, Donovan Ricketts and Aurelien Collin.

They opened the season in front of 62,000 at the Citrus Bowl for the visit of New York City. Since then, crowds have mostly hovered around half of that number.

But that is still excellent start. Orlando is purposefully purple right now.

PABLO MASTROENI SAYS

"The game against Dallas at the weekend took out a lot of the guys. But we are taking healthy bodies so it is just about getting a gauge of who is fit and ready to go.

"Travelling is one of the rigors of the League but these places in particular are hot and humid too.

"The other challenge is synthetic turf. There are a couple of guys who have adverse reactions to that. We'll see where we are at but the majority have recovered well.

"Orlando have been a very good team so far. They like to get forward and play entertaining football. Kaka has been good for them too.

"When I was playing players like Carlos Valderama and Marco Etcheverry had the same type of influence on our teams as Kaka. He has brought in his style of play and imposed it on the team.

"Also the type of passion and commitment the fans have in Orlando makes them unique and it will make them successful in the future."

Team news:

Orlando: Cascio (back), Molino (knee), Paterson (knee), Collin (hamstring)

Rapids: Sjoberg (knee), Ramirez (hamstring)

Referee: Silviu Petrescu

Check out the Colorado Rapids Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board...

Major League Soccer Stories from June 24, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central