Colorado Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen has called on his team-mates to make good on the side's excellent 2024 to date and finish the season strongly, starting with Saturday's trip to FC Dallas.
Colorado sit fourth in the Western Conference standings as they resume MLS action after finishing third in the Leagues Cup, beating the Philadelphia Union in the bronze-medal match.
Chris Armas has the Rapids eyeing home advantage in the playoffs in his first year at the helm, and Steffen says it is all about mental strength as they enter the run-in.
"It's been a long month with a lot of games and travel and everything. It's been good to come home and have a full week to look ahead to Dallas," Steffen said.
"It's back to MLS for us now, so we're fully focused on Dallas and making sure we pick up three points on Saturday.
"We're getting better every day, it's been fun. We have a great group of guys who are hungry to compete and to grow. It's been a great start but now it's about finishing strong."
Dallas, meanwhile, are down in 10th, albeit just one point of Austin FC, who occupy the final play-in spot in the West.
Interim coach Peter Luccin oversaw a thrilling 4-3 victory at D.C. United last time out – Dallas' third win in four regular-season games, and he thinks it could be a major turning point.
"For us to win on the road, it wasn't easy," said Luccin. "We knew that they were going to fight until the end, they fought hard.
"We need to stay focused. We need to have the same energy. We need to keep playing the football that we have been playing."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
FC Dallas – Sebastian Lletget
Lletget had a goal and two assists in FC Dallas' win at D.C. United last Saturday, his second career match with three goal contributions in MLS, having also achieved the feat in September 2019 versus Sporting Kansas City.
Colorado Rapids – Rafael Navarro
Navarro (11) and Djordje Mihailovic (10) are the second pair of Rapids team-mates to each score 10 goals in a single regular season since 2010, after Kei Kamara and Diego Rubio in 2019).
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
Colorado have won five of their seven meetings with Dallas since the start of 2021 (one draw, one defeat), including a 2-1 home win when the sides last faced off on April 20.
The Rapids had won just five of their previous 24 meetings with Dallas from July 2012 through 2020 (eight draws, 11 defeats).
It appears difficult to split the teams for this one, with Dallas winning three of their last four regular-season matches (one draw), but not inspiring much hope in defence, conceding five times in their last three matches.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
FC Dallas – 39.1%
Colorado Rapids – 34.3%
Draw – 26.6%
Puig brace sends Galaxy through, Charlotte level series on penalties
LA Galaxy were the first team to book their place in the MLS Cup playoff semi-finals after sweeping aside the Colorado Rapids 4-1 to seal their best-of-three series.
Gabriel Pec handed the Galaxy the lead in unusual fashion when Zack Steffen's clearance deflected off the Brazilian and into the net with just eight minutes on the clock.
But parity was restored in stunning fashion when Oliver Larraz took aim from distance and fired home the leveller with a curled effort beyond the grasp of John McCarthy.
Greg Vanney's side would, however, restore their advantage in the third minute of first-half stoppage time with another fine strike, this time Joseph Paintsil curled a strike in off the post.
The Galaxy's passage was sealed late on with a brace from Riqui Puig, his second double against the Rapids in their two games in the postseason.
Puig poked the ball through Steffen's legs, before racing through from the halfway line and rounding the Rapids goalkeeper to seal a memorable win at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
The visitors' display shows they mean business in the playoffs. They had 13 shots to Colorado's eight, ending the contest with a 1.76 expected goals (xG), limiting their opponents to just a 0.52 xG in the process.
In the other playoff game, Kristijan Kahlina's heroics helped Charlotte FC to a 3-1 victory in a penalty shootout against Orlando City.
Kahlina saved two spot-kicks to deny Nicolas Lodeiro and Duncan McGuire in the shootout, levelling up their best-of-three series heading into the final game.
In a game that lacked clear-cut chances, Charlotte's Adilson Malanda came closest to opening the scoring, seeing his effort strike the woodwork in the 19th minute.
The Crown were ultimately worthy winners, though, given they had 12 shots to Orlando's three, with the visitors mustering just 0.29 expected goals (xG) before penalties were required.
And Charlotte held their nerve in the shootout, converting all three of their penalties and helped by Kahlina, who kept a division-high 13 clean sheets in the Eastern Conference during the regular season.
“It was a wonderful game for me,” Kahlina said. “I didn’t have so much to do in 90 minutes, but I showed myself in penalties and helped my team.”
Minnesota 'justified the work' by overcoming Real Salt Lake
Minnesota United "justified the work" they did in preparing for a penalty shootout after beating Real Salt Lake, so says Eric Ramsay.
Loons coach Ramsay invited the club's office staff to attend the training ground and jeer his players during penalty practice ahead of Minnesota's playoff opener against Salt Lake.
After a 0-0 draw, Minnesota came away with a 5-4 shootout victory to take the edge in the best-of-three series, meaning a win at home on Saturday would get them into the next round.
And Ramsay believes his unorthodox method of preparation paid off.
"I would like to think that probably, without that, the players wouldn't have had the level of conviction they largely showed," Ramsay said.
"It was a bit of fun. There was a real sense of us being intentional behind that.
"I was really pleased that we included that as part of our prep.
"I don't think there were big chances given up either way.
"I sort of felt like as we opened up, we started to leak a little bit more space that wasn't there in the opening stages.
"[Goalkeeper] Dayne [St. Clair] was called into action a couple more times, and so was [Salt Lake goalkeeper] Zac MacMath. So I think it was a very even game, and given that we're coming here as the away team under challenging conditions, that's hats off to us.
“It felt like if we if we won, it would have justified the work. If we lost, there wouldn't have been anything we could have done differently.
"We were very solid, very disciplined, and that's one goal allowed in six games, which is very difficult to achieve at this level.
"I'm pleased with the defensive effort. I was also pleased that we were able to start to find a foothold in the game with the ball and create a couple of really good chances."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Minnesota United - Dawyne St. Clair
St. Clair made six saves in Game 1, and has been in fine form as of late.
United has allowed only one goal in their last six matches going back to the end of the regular season, going unbeaten in that time (W4 D2). This is the first time in club history that the Loons have allowed just one goal in a span of six matches in all competitions.
Real Salt Lake - Cristian Arango
Arango attempted five shots in Game 1, the most shots attempted by a Salt Lake player in a postseason match since Damir Kreilach had six attempts against Sporting Kansas City in the 2018 playoffs.
MATCH PREDICTION: MINNESOTA WIN
Salt Lake have managed just four wins in 21 all-time away playoff matches (D7 L10) including going winless in four straight (D2 L2). RSL lost on penalties in each of the last two away matches that ended in draws (2022 at Austin FC, 2023 against the Houston Dynamo).
After Tuesday's win on spot-kicks, Minnesota have been involved in seven penalty shootouts in all competitions since joining MLS in 2017, winning six of them, including the last four in a row.
The last five meetings between Minnesota and Salt Lake have been drawn after 90 minutes.
Including playoffs, the only matchup that has been drawn six straight times in MLS play is between the Chicago Fire and the New York Revolution, who played in six straight draws from 2021 to 2024.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Minnesota United - 44.5%
Real Salt Lake - 28.6%
Draw - 26.9%
Campion College, Hydel book quarterfinal berths as former champions STGC, Wolmer's Boys, STATHS miss out
Campion College and Hydel High booked their spots in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup quarterfinal round after both registered 1-0 wins over St Jago and Wolmer’s Boys in their respective second round group encounters on Friday.
The win for Campion College saw them finish second in Group One on six points, behind reigning champions Mona High, who blanked many times champion St George’s College 3-0 to finish on maximum nine points.
St George’s placed third on three points and missed out on the quarterfinal along with St Jago, who ended without point. However, both will have a shot at the Walker Cup knockout title.
The same is true for perennial semi-finalist St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) and 10-time winners Wolmer's Boys, who were both eliminated from the Manning Cup.
Wolmer’s Boys’ loss to Hydel saw them finish at the foot of Group Three with a point, while STATHS’ 1-0 win over group winners Kingston College was not enough to see them through. They finished third on four points, as Kingston College and Hydel took the top two spots with six points each.
Kingston College, Campion College, Mona High and Hydel are joined by Group Four leaders St Catherine (six points) and Group Two leaders Excelsior (six points) in the quarterfinal, with Jamaica College, Tivoli Gardens and Eltham on the hunt for the other two spots.
Friday’s results
Campion College 1, St Jago 0
Mona High 3, St George’s College 0
Hydel High 1, Wolmer’s Boys 0
STATHS 1, Kingston College 0
Saturday’s fixtures
St Catherine vs Jamaica College
Calabar vs Charlie Smith
Excelsior vs Jonathan Grant
Tivoli Gardens vs Eltham
*All games are scheduled for 3:00pm
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