The Colorado Rapids (5-6-4, 19 points) host Seattle Sounders FC (10-4-5, 35 points) on Sunday, Nov. 1, in the regular season home finale at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MT.
On Thursday, Major League Soccer announced that qualifying for the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs would be determined on a points per game basis. Colorado can clinch a playoff berth with a win on Sunday, and a loss or draw by Vancouver Whitecaps FC against Portland and a draw between Real Salt Lake and LA Galaxy.
“This is obviously a very big game for us,” Rapids head coach Robin Fraser said on a media call ahead of the match. “While the announcement (of points per game qualification) gives us a clear vision for how things are going to go and what we might need to do, at the end of the day, the message for us doesn’t change: we need to get points.”
The Rapids enter the match following a hard-fought, 2-1 loss at Minnesota on Wednesday. Diego Rubio found Andre Shinyashiki for the equalizing goal in the 69th minute, but the Loons took all three points with a goal in the 89th minute.
Shinyashiki’s goal was his third of the season and Rubio earned his third assist of 2020. Goalkeeper William Yarbrough made four saves.
Seattle enters the match after earning a 2-0 win over Vancouver on Tuesday. Raúl Ruidíaz and Nicolás Lodeiro scored six minutes apart to put Sounders FC into first place in the Western Conference by points per game.
Ruidíaz leads Seattle with 10 goals, while Lodeiro leads the team with nine assists.
Fans can tune into Sunday’s match on Altitude Sports and Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM.
The Rapids will then close out the regular season with another quick turnaround, visiting Portland Timbers on Wednesday, Nov. 4, before a trip to Houston Dynamo on Sunday, Nov. 8.
News & Notes
- Colorado can clinch a playoff berth with a win over Seattle, AND a Vancouver loss or draw against Portland, AND a draw between Real Salt Lake and LA Galaxy.
- The Rapids have won their last three regular season home finales and are undefeated in their last four, dating to 2016.
- Homegrown defender Sam Vines continues his ironman streak as the only Rapids player to play all 1,350 minutes in 2020.
- Andre Shinyashiki scored his third goal of 2020 on Wednesday. The 2019 MLS Rookie of the Year has three goals and an assist in his last five games.
- READ: The 2020 MLS playoffs will be determined by PPG – what does this mean for the Colorado Rapids?
