For the second year in a row, Mother Nature did its best to upstage the Colorado Rapids in their opening match at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Last year, the Rapids opened their season with a CONCACAF Champions League match at home in what would turn out to be the coldest match contested by MLS teams in history — a match that they lost, 2-0. This year, despite a host of new players for Colorado, it was the return of a frosty winter that upstaged all the debutantes.

For those of you impressed by the record-breaking freezing temperature in this weekend’s Rapids vs Timbers (18° F): On Feb 20, 2018, Colorado faced Toronto FC in a CCL Rd16 match with a 3°F temperature in Commerce City at kickoff. It’s the coldest game EVER involving an MLS club pic.twitter.com/8i6VNxzP8P — Nico Cantor (@Nicocantor1) March 5, 2019

No matter how ferocious Benny Feilhaber, Kei Kamara, and Andre Shinyashiki were in this match, Old Man Winter was the only truly overwhelming force on Saturday.

The cold and the snow — from kickoff to closing whistle around 2-to-3 inches of snow fell on Dick’s — was a part of the story, as it made movement tricky as players struggled to change speeds or direction in the slick conditions. But honestly, so much happened in this game, it was only a part of the larger picture.

Axel’s Folly

Colorado absorbed some early attacks from Portland before striking first on a fierce attack of their own in the 15th minute.

After years trying to figure out how best to deploy Dillon Serna, it sure looks like he’s finally found his best position on the field. Serna’s debut as a left-sided fullback took place way back in 2015, but to start the 2019 season, he seems to have been handed the left fullback position as well. Not only that, but it looks as if Anthony Hudson has asked his fullbacks to “overlap” — press forward in attack and serve as added attackers who can play short combinations with inside players or swing in dangerous crosses. It worked to devastating effect on the Rapids’ first goal, as Serna got far upfield and played in Kellyn Acosta on a chipped give-and-go as Acosta races through the line. Acosta slides that ball across the goalmouth to Kamara streaking for the back post for the Rapids’ first goal.

Serna is going to be a big feature in this Rapids attack this year; he may even be more productive than 2018 team MVP Edgar Castillo, one of the best left backs in the league last year.

The 1-0 lead didn’t last. Just five minutes later, Portland would create a perfect give-and-go attack of their own. David Guzman played Andy Polo in beautifully on the 1-2 before passing across the goal to the back post for centerback Larrys Mabiala. Mabiala’s shot looked destined for goal, but instead struck Rapids defender Axel Sjoberg. On the arm. Which created quite the problem for referee Drew Fisher.

This handball call on Sjoberg – I think it's incorrect.

1) A player falls to the ground – where else are his arms supposed to go except underneath him to brace the fall?

2) This is ball-to-hand. Axel's not reaching for it, he's landing and getting struck by it. #Rapids96 pic.twitter.com/zwdfMACmpX — Mark Asher Goodman (@soccer_rabbi) March 2, 2019

I could write a whole column on the rules of handball in soccer and how complicated and confusing they are. But I value your time and attention span too much to subject you to that, dear reader. So suffice it to say that, although I don’t like this decision, and I still don’t know how a player is supposed to fall if they aren’t allowed to brace their landing with their arms, I can see how Fisher made this call.

It was unfortunate, as it resulted in a penalty kick that Portland scored on, and also meant that Sjoberg was sent off with a red card. That’ll be a problem in Week 2, as the Rapids are already dealing with a number of injuries to their first-choice center backs. They really didn’t need to have the ranks of available and competent defenders reduced any further. Did I mention that their opponent next week is the Seattle Sounders, who scored four goals this week? Yikes.

Goals Goals Goals

You have to go pretty far back in the history of the Colorado Rapids to find a season opener with quite so many goals.

Last time the burgundy boys scored 3 or more in an opener was in 2011, when the team recorded a 3-1 victory at home against the Timbers in their inaugural MLS match. And you have to go back even further to find the last time they were involved in an opener with 6 or more goals — so far back that they weren’t the burgundy boys yet, as the team was still clad in a blue kit with black stripes. The date was April 2, 2006, when the Rapids suffered a 5-2 road defeat against the Houston Dynamo. It was a long time ago. The Rapids’ home field was Mile High. Coffee was a nickel. Most people got around with horse and buggy. OK, some of that may not be true.

After Kamara’s opener, Colorado scored two more goals in this one in order to emerge with a hard-fought 3-3 draw. This fantastic dribble from Feilhaber struck the net for goal No. 2…

Benny just clowning the PTFC backline, and it's 2-2. #Rapids96 pic.twitter.com/25yUDv30uY — Mark Asher Goodman (@soccer_rabbi) March 3, 2019

And then Shinyashiki scored the equalizer in stoppage time — only 17 minutes after coming on as a sub.

Andre Shinyashiki's first professional goal.

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Well, that was quick. pic.twitter.com/s5oL47gL2y — Mark Asher Goodman (@soccer_rabbi) March 3, 2019

That goal came from a rebound off a Dillon Serna strike. Jeff Attinella pushes this ball away to the best of his ability, but nobody was marking University of Denver product and MLS rookie Shinyashiki, and he had a tap in for his first career professional goal.

Understanding the tactical side

It’s going to be a while until we fully understand how Rapids manager Anthony Hudson wants to play in this 4-4-2 diamond system. And the weather made “tactics” less important than “not falling down in a snow bank.” But there were some early examples of what “The Hudson Diamond” plays like. And since it is our first actual video-streamed game in 2019, it is a good opportunity to think about how this offense is supposed to look.

12' Bing-bing-bang passing from Wynne to Mezquida to Rubio to Kamara. #Rapids96 #COLvPOR pic.twitter.com/r0sS3NXZj1 — Mark Asher Goodman (@soccer_rabbi) March 3, 2019

This is probably the platonic ideal of a rush that Anthony Hudson will show on a loop this week in training. It has all the things that you can accomplish in a diamond. It starts with a line-breaking pass, as a center back (Deklan Wynne) smashes a ball *past* the midfield and up to the attackers. It continues with deception, as Diego Rubio runs to the ball, but lets it keep running, as he continues his run upfield. Then the ball skitters on to Nicolas Mezquida, but rather than haul it in and slow its progression, he pings it on with one touch right to Rubio. And then Rubio unselfishly lofts the ball wide and right, into the onrushing path of Kamara.

It’s like watching the Harlem Globetrotters do the 3-man-weave, and it’s something fans of the Rapids haven’t seen since … ever? I don’t remember passing like this ever out of this team. Kamara didn’t convert this opportunity — he decided to unselfishly float a cross into the box rather than take the shot himself — but it doesn’t matter. If a team can create like this and can do it more than a couple of times a game, and the opposition has to try and defend this over and over again, it’ll spin their heads so often they’ll inevitably break down. There’s a reason the Globetrotters always beat the Washington Generals.

Dazzling Debuts

Kei Kamara, Benny Feilhaber, Andre Shinyashiki, Diego Rubio, and Nicolas Mezquida all got their first start in burgundy and blue on Saturday.

Here’s the Benny goal:

Benny just clowning the PTFC backline, and it's 2-2. #Rapids96 pic.twitter.com/25yUDv30uY — Mark Asher Goodman (@soccer_rabbi) March 3, 2019

Those first three all had goals, while Rubio did yeoman’s work in dragging defenders out of the way for other players. Feilhaber also led all Rapids midfielders in defensive actions with 1 tackle, 4 interceptions, 2 clearances, and 2 blocked shots, and very much did the dirty work of harassing in the midfield that allowed the other players to get free and play upfield for an attack. Mezquida was the quietest of the newbies, completing 33 of 40 successful passes. Six of those successful passes occurred in the final third, but Mezquida had only one errant shot and zero “key passes” — a pass that leads to a good scoring opportunity. That’s the way it goes sometimes with attacking midfielders. Sometimes they help move and recirculate the ball for everyone else to succeed, sometimes everybody else is there to facilitate their creativity. We’ll wait and see.

To have five new players shine in their debut is pretty fantastic. Colorado’s new pieces have gelled quickly and to great effect. Now let’s hope they can do it consistently.

Your baby ain’t sweet like mine; he’s got sauce

It wasn’t exactly a debut, but 17-year-old Cole Bassett got his first opening-day start, an auspicious occasion for any athlete to be sure. He made runs, completed passes, occupied defenders and had this shifty take-on dribble:

Suggested rule for a 2019 #Rapids96 drinking game: drink everytime @FlemingSport mentions @colebassett19 and the word 'shimmy'.

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Kid's got sauce. pic.twitter.com/ou4N6lp74Q — Mark Asher Goodman (@soccer_rabbi) March 3, 2019

I’ll do my best not to turn this column into a weekly Cole Bassett appreciation blog. But it’ll be hard if the kid keeps doing fun stuff every week.

Shkëlzen Gashi and the Sunk Cost Dilemma

There was a lot going on this week. Did I get to everything? No? Oh, right, I forgot to mention that Rapids Designated Player Shkëlzen Gashi was placed on waivers on Friday, right before the MLS roster compliance deadline. The Rapids will pay all of Gashi’s 2019 salary, which will be equal or more than his 2018 salary of $1.67 million. Gashi had originally signed to a four-year deal, and was only the Rapids’ fourth-ever Designated Player. He was quite productive in his first season in 2016, but had disappointing follow-up seasons in 2017 and 2018 marked with injury and lackluster performances. We’ll break down what happened with Gashi, and why he was released soon.

Until then, stay warm and dry, my friends, and hope the next home game has better weather. Beer at a soccer match makes a lot of sense. Hot chocolate, not so much.

Updated March 8, 2019 at 8:59 a.m. Due to a reporting error, the date of the last time the Rapids scored three or more goals in a season opener was incorrect. The last time Colorado tallied three goals in an opener was March 19, 2011 against Portland.