COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- The Colorado Rapids were stockpiling momentum in the final weeks of the season, turning the page on their 6-10-3 record through the first 19 matches to ride a 5-4-2 surge tantalizingly close to an improbable playoff spot over the final 10 weeks of the campaign.
The ride came crashing to its conclusion in the 90th minute of Saturday's do-or-die finale with Real Salt Lake, when after holding a 1-0 lead for 71 minutes, the Rapids' season slipped from their grasp. RSL got the equalizer from Yura Movsisyan, finding the net off a deflection from 'keeper Bouna Coundoul, sending Salt Lake to its first postseason and bringing an early winter to the Rapids after a thrilling stretch run in their bid for an MLS Cup Playoffs berth.
There's little doubt in the Rapids locker room exactly when their season found its legs. When Gary Smith stepped in for an absent head coach Fernando Clavijo for a 2-1 win against Kansas City, then took over as interim coach for the final 10 games of the season after Clavijo and the Rapids agreed to part ways, the Rapids took an initial spark and parlayed into a firm identity and a sense of consistency that had too often eluded the Colorado side.
"Gary got handed a situation that was a mess for three-and-a-half years, and he did wonders, absolute wonders," said veteran defender Mike Petke, the shock of the sudden end to the season still heavy in the air in the Rapids locker room Saturday night. "He actually bought the enjoyment back in soccer for most of us."
Smith took the reins of a team that had sunk to sixth place by mid-August and had them battling for third on the final day of the season, keeping their spirit alive and energizing both his players and their fans over the final third of the season.
"I'm proud of what they've produced in the last 11 games whilst I've been in charge," Davis said after Saturday's season-ending draw. "The situation I came into was to try to pull a team together that were lacking in confidence, losing games, and I think at the time either bottom or joint bottom of our group. I think I did that. I think I steadied the ship. I gave a bit of confidence back to players that were maybe lacking a little bit, that were frustrated and disappointed at the same time. The fact that we've taken it to the last game of the season, and under enormous pressure in the last two games, have managed to take four out of six points - we needed more of that earlier in the season, sadly."
Whether Davis' success at reinvigorating the Rapids will lead to an offer of the vacant head coach's post should play out quickly as Colorado shifts its focus from its playoff pursuit to ensuring that the late-season surge can translate into a full season of top-flight performance in 2009.
"Gary being in here has made it unbelievable," Petke said. "I'll tell you right now, if he does not get this full-time job, then somebody up there has a screw loose, to be honest with you. For them not to give it to him because we didn't made the playoffs after he came in and did what he did over the last 10 games after [the past] three and a half years ... he deserves this job, I'll tell you right now. He's one of the best coaches I've ever had."
Though the wounds were still raw after having victory rudely snatched from their side by their Rocky Mountain rivals Saturday, there was no shortage of pride in the Rapids locker room, the abrupt conclusion all the more painful in light of their accomplishment in climbing the ladder and forcing the issue down to the season's final moments.
"You can tell that the whole end of the season, the team had a goal," said goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul. "We know what we been doing. We're almost there. If we had come through, we would have made it all the way. We just got short. It's the beginning of next season. What we have right now, we have to keep it up. When next season comes, we're going to have to worry about [not] waiting to the last days to make it to the playoff."
With a few days off to catch their breath before a team meeting Wednesday and some end-of-season training sessions before scattering their separate ways, the Rapids should waste no time answering the most important question of their offseason, resolving Smith's status and enticing the coach to accept the head coach's role as the Rapids move forward, building on their strong finish and setting their sights on raising their standard of success.
"I think I'd need to sit down, I need to take a deep breath," Smith said Saturday when asked if he'd accept an offer, were one made to him. "It's been a very interesting and strange and emotional season, all rolled into one. Lots of changes. This certainly wasn't the reason I came to the club. But I'd like to just take a couple days to think about what has happened and where we've got to, what point we're at. I'm sure at some point in that time I'll speak to [managing director] Jeff [Plush] or the powers that be, and we'll decide upon that. If someone asks me that question, it would be a nice position to be in to have to make a choice."
With so little separation between the teams in the league, it's a natural instinct to look for a way to bottle the formula that drove Colorado through its final third of a season. But rarely is the secret ingredient so clearly packaged, so easily identifiable in one man striding the sidelines.
Taking control of a team that has seemed perpetually in transition, Davis was steadfast in sticking to a game plan and insisting on consistency - even when it called for bold moves like benching former MLS MVP Christian Gomez shortly after the midfielder appeared in his fourth consecutive All-Star match in July.
The result was evident in a cohesive team that pulled together and salvaged their season, only to see it glance off the upright at the last possible moment.
"The last six or seven, eight weeks, we've started really understanding each other as players and we really had an identity as a team," Rapids midfielder and team captain Pablo Mastroeni said Saturday. "We had 28 guys all on the same page. And that hasn't been the case here. Off and on it was the case, but it was solid for the last eight weeks. It's been a real treat. To have everyone show up tonight, to execute the plan almost to a 'T', and to be robbed of that is so unjust.
"This team has a lot of great things to build on. We won a game on the road [against Chivas USA last week] where people didn't think it was possible. We put ourselves in a position [Saturday] to win this game, and a lot of people didn't think that was possible," he continued. "The sad thing is that we've come a long way in eight weeks, and just to have it end so quickly is one of those cruel realities."
Colorado came so close it could taste that playoff spot, only to be left with the bitter aftertaste of a draw to Salt Lake lingering on the palate. It marked the first time in club history that the club has missed the postseason in consecutive years, but having found their identity and shown the ability to sustain a level of excellence over the season's final third, the Rapids appetite for success has been stoked, replacing the empty gnawing feeling of frustration and futility with a hunger demanding satisfaction.
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