There wasn’t much to celebrate this season as a Colorado Rapids fan. A 4-1 loss Sunday to the Portland Timbers brought the season to a merciful end.
With a final record of 9-15-10, Colorado showed glimpses of brilliance, but those fleeting moments were surely replaced in the Rapids fan’s psyche by the inevitable loss the following week (some of which extended for several at a time).
Still, Colorado improved on its point total and goal differential from 2014 to 2015 and the Western Conference was particularly difficult this season. Had a few more ties gone the way of wins, we might be talking about a vastly different scenario – one that includes a playoff bid.
Instead, it was a season filled with too many lows and occasional highs and not enough even-keeled middles. With that in mind, we’re now ready to dissect the best and worst of the 2015 campaign. The positives and negatives of a year that could have been, but wasn’t.
Negative No. 3 – Dillon Powers
Powers garnered MLS Rookie of the Year honors in 2013, scoring five goals and adding six helpers. The midfielder upped his production last year, adding three assists to his previous stat line to give him five goals and nine assists on the year. But production went down this season. Powers found the back of the net just thrice with six assists. His assist total was still good for team-best, but that’s a small victory considering the struggles that the Rapids offense endured.
Powers needs to be the man that many have dubbed the face of the organization, the guy technical director Paul Bravo calls a player “to build around.” Though he has played in more games than in each of his two previous season, Powers total game starts have gone down since getting 29 in his rookie season.
Since a four-game hot streak in April where he scored a goal and dished out four helpers, the midfielder became quiet, producing just two goals and two assists in his next 26 matches.
