Rapids’ season ends on last-minute equalizer by LAFC

Holding a lead with less than five minutes to go the Colorado Rapids had the playoffs in their hands late Saturday night A scarce minutes later their season was over done in by an awkward bounce and rebound that allowed red-hot LAFC to equalize in the th minute and dash the Rapids hopes of qualifying for the wild card round of the MLS Cup Playoffs With Real Salt Lake choking away a lead of its own against St Louis Colorado would have sealed the No seed in the west had it held on at Dick s Sporting Goods Park Instead the -all draw kept the Rapids - - out of the postseason for the third time in four years and sent them into an offseason filled with uncertainty It s pretty much just the highest highs and the lowest lows stated forward Darren Yapi whose th-minute header put the Rapids ahead - Scoring that goal I felt like we were through to the playoffs and that we were good and then you know they responded I can t even process it right now LAFC substitute Andrew Moran tied the battle up in the th minute after a shot ricocheted off the post straight to his boot Son Heung-Min opened the scoring with a rocket in the first half then Paxten Aaronson opened his Rapids account to equalize in the nd minute No unit has revealed a approach to Son and Denis Bouanga s reign of terror since the South Korean icon s arrival for a league-record transfer fee games ago But to the Rapids credit both were relatively neutralized aside from Son s stunner They ve done that to plenty of striking powers especially at DSGP but it didn t protect them from the final insufficient minutes when the mood of the unit swung as much as it possibly could have That s been a theme of the Rapids Coach Chris Armas and numerous players preached their rule of thumb that mentally they don t get too high or too low According to Cole Bassett that gets challenging when it seems like peaks and valleys are all that exist It hits a little bit more once the season is over and you know you re allegedly not playing a meeting for three months That s tough for all of us to process and we didn t want to go out this way Bassett mentioned I think throughout the season you definitely need to stay even-keeled but there s definitely things we can work on from what Armas has announced throughout the year because maybe we did get too high or too low in moments and that cost us games Another core principle of this season has been uncertainty and turbulence which is now carrying through to the offseason Just this summer Chidozie Awaziem requested a transfer to France for personal reasons then the club s talisman Djordje Mihailovic demanded a contract to Toronto near the end of the window Replacements came in for both but their efficacy in those roles is still to be determined with just a sparse games under their belt Related Articles Rapids lose at Real Salt Lake retain Rocky Mountain Cup but fall out of playoff spot Rapids to face rival Real Salt Lake with playoff hopes trophy front and center Rapids keeper Zack Steffen left out of USMNT October camp friendlies Santos opens Rapids account but Colorado draws at home to Minnesota United Rapids playoff hopes take hit with loss at FC Dallas The biggest question though is whether Armas will be at the helm to see that through The head coach didn t directly respond when requested about his future with the club but club president P draig Smith declared multiple times this season that an extension was on the way As in the last few days as a meager weeks ago Armas reported he craved to stay in Colorado and after Saturday s match he spoke about the band s future while implying he d be a part of it It s fresh the season just ended Armas stated We ll have discussions with leadership and continue particular discussions That s all I can say for now Given the Rapids players admiration of Armas and the simultaneous freefall out of the playoff picture it s tough to decipher which direction the club will take Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams