Minnesota United hope to hold on to third place in the Western Conference when the Loons face the Colorado Rapids in Commerce City, Colo., on Saturday night.
Minnesota (10-8-5, 35 points) is tied with FC Dallas for third, but holds a tiebreaker edge with more wins. Only three points separate the third- through eighth-place teams in the West, with the top seven teams making the playoffs.
The Rapids (7-9-6, 27 points) sit in 10th place and out of current playoff position. Colorado is in good form of late, however, going 2-2-1 over its last five matches.
Minnesota United is undefeated in seven consecutive games (5-0-2), including a 4-4 thriller against the Portland Timbers last Saturday.
Minnesota gave up a goal less than a minute into the game, then took a 3-1 lead before allowing the Timbers to rally and take a 4-3 lead. Only a tying goal from Luis Amarilla in the 69th minute got them a point.
“I’ve said a million times, I will never, ever be disappointed with a point,” Minnesota United coach Adrian Heath told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “It keeps the run going and it takes us one point closer to what we hope to achieve.”
The Rapids won a wild one over the New York Red Bulls, 5-4, on Tuesday in New Jersey. They trailed 2-0 and 3-1 before grabbing a 5-3 lead and held on for the win.
“I would certainly like to think that this is something for us that we take confidence from and we go out on the weekend and be aggressive on the attack like we were, and see if we can continue to make our way up the chart a bit,” Rapids head coach Robin Fraser said.
Minnesota beat Colorado 3-1 on April 16 in Saint Paul, Minn. Both teams have six wins against one another along with two draws in their series history.
Emanuel Reynoso leads the Loons with nine goals and six assists. Diego Rubio, who had a goal and two assists against the Red Bulls, leads the Rapids with 10 goals and six assists.
–Field Level Media
