• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Rapids welcome Galaxy to DSG Park

May 2, 2014 - 8:46 PM Commerce City, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - The Colorado Rapids will hope for a rebound performance on Saturday when the club welcomes the Los Angeles Galaxy to Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Colorado saw its three-match unbeaten streak come to an end last weekend following a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field. Despite the loss the Rapids find themselves in fourth place in the West with 11 points from seven matches.

Seattle opened the scoring just before the intermission as Clint Dempsey's attempt was blocked by Rapids defender Drew Moor, but the rebound went straight to the feet of Lamar Neagle, who fired it home with ease.

It was 2-0 for Seattle in the 47th minute when Dempsey tapped one in from close range and completed his double five minutes later for a 3-0 advantage.

The Rapids made it 3-1 in the 62nd minute when Dillon Serna scored his first professional goal, finishing off a through ball from Nick LaBrocca with a low shot in the penalty area.

But Seattle put the result away 13 minutes from time when Martins took a quick throw-in from Neagle, made a quick move to free up some space and slotted the ball inside the far post from the left side of the box.

"For the better part of six games, we were a really good defensive team, but after receiving two or three goals, you begin to doubt your ability as a player. That was the disappointing part," said Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni.

"Against a team like this, you definitely don't want to be defending deep in your half as we found ourselves for the majority of the game. It's our poor decisions moving forward and our lack of effort when we do have the ball and relying on our defense. With the type of players they have, it just put a lot of pressure on our defense and forced a lot of errors that led to the dismantling of the team."

After a bye week, Los Angeles returns to the pitch riding a four-match unbeaten streak following a 2-2 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place. The Galaxy sit in sixth place in the Western Conference with eight points from five games.

The Galaxy bagged the game's opener in the 38th minute, when Stefan Ishizaki latched onto a Baggio Husidic header right across the face of goal and put his own header heading into the bottom right corner of the Vancouver goal.

But Whitecaps FC drew level on 75 minutes when Darren Mattocks raced in between defenders to claim a through ball before finishing on the right side from an difficult angle.

Los Angeles reclaimed the lead 13 minutes from time through Robbie Keane, but the 'Caps grabbed another equalizer when Kekuta Manneh beat Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo with a low strike into the bottom right corner from outside the penalty area.

"At the end when you're winning 2-1 and you give up a goal, it's frustrating. But I think when the dust clears and everything settles we'll be OK with it, but we've got to get better," said Landon Donovan. "If we're in this position again later in the year, which we will be, we have to make sure we learn from it."

In three meetings between the sides last season, Colorado claimed two victories, with the Galaxy's lone win coming via a Mike Magee tally in the 50th minute at the StubHub Center on March 23.