Preview: Rapids close out regular-season series against Houston on Saturday
COMMERCE CITY, Colorado — The Colorado Rapids (8-10-7, 31 pts) will look to extend their four-game unbeaten home win when they return to DICK’S Sporting Goods Park to face Hector Herrera’s Houston Dynamo FC (7-14-4, Aug Pkt.) on Saturday, August 20 (7pm MT; Altitude Sports, Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM).
Saturday’s game marks the second and final game between Colorado and Houston of the regular season. After splitting the points in a 1-1 draw with Dynamo in their first encounter in March, the Rapids will be looking to continue their form at home, in which they’ve picked up eight points from their last four games, and continue a decade-plus dominance over their Texas rivals.
Colorado has lost just three of their last 25 regular-season games to Houston since August 2009 (13-3-9). At home, the Rapids have suffered just one loss in their last 12 meetings with Houston at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park, a 4-1 loss from March 2019 (7-1-4); Dynamo has scored just five goals in his other 11 visits to Colorado. Rapids head coach Robin Fraser has been unbeaten against Dynamo since taking over the team on Aug. 25, 2019, and has a 4-0-2 record.
Rapids forward Diego Rubio scored his 12th goal of the season in his side’s last home game, setting a new career high in a season that tied him with Chris Henderson for the fifth-most goals all-time in club history (31). Before Wednesday’s midweek game against the Whitecaps, Rubio recorded eight straight games with a goal or an assist (five goals, five assists) this season, the longest such streak in Rapids history. Rubio leads the team with 12 goals and six assists in 2022, surpassing his previous career high of 11 goals and five assists in 2019. The Rapids have scored in their last nine games and tallyed 19 goals in that span, their longest Goal streak represents the season.
Houston visits the Rapids after a 3-2 loss to CF Montréal on Saturday, marking Dynamo’s fourth consecutive loss and longest losing streak of the season. The game also marked the eighth time in the last nine games that Houston has conceded multiple goals, conceding 23 goals in that span. Paraguayan international forward Sebastián Ferreira leads Houston’s attack with eight goals to his 2022 tally. Sweden defender Adam Lundqvist has provided five assists for Dynamo this season, while goalkeeper Steve Clark has conceded five goals, although the last conceded came against the Los Angeles Galaxy on May 22, 2022.
Several members on Houston’s bench will be familiar to longtime Rapids fans. Dynamo’s assistant coach Chris Martinez was a member of the Rapids from 1997 to 2001; Dynamo goalkeeping coach Zach Thornton made one appearance for Rapids in his only season with the club in 2007; Dynamo Director of Performance Paul Caffrey was an assistant/fitness coach for the Rapids from 2012-2014; and Dynamo midfielder Griffin Dorsey played in the Premier Development League (PDL) for the Colorado Rapids U-23 from 2017-18, scoring nine goals in 17 appearances. On the Rapids side, midfielder Collen Warner provided one assist and played 24 games for Dynamo during his only season with the club in 2016.