Colorado

Rapids aim to bust out of funk vs. Dynamo (Jul 12, 2018)

Published Jul. 12, 2018 11:57 p.m. ET

The Colorado Rapids were feeling good about things after a 1-0 victory at Vancouver on July 1. It was their second consecutive win and third straight game earning at least a point following eight straight losses.

The Rapids (4-11-3) lost their last home game on July 4 and now are back in a funk. Two straight losses, the last a 2-1 setback at Montreal on July 7, has them back near the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

They have a chance to regain that momentum Saturday night when they host the Houston Dynamo at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The Dynamo (7-6-4) won the first meeting 2-0 last month in Houston and are coming off a 3-0 victory over Minnesota.

Defender Philippe Senderos had two goals against the Loons and was named to the MLS Team of the Week. He has three goals in the past two matches.

It is the second time Senderos has garnered the honor and the first time since week one of the season.

Houston coach Wilmer Cabrera was pleased with his team's effort in the win.

"We knew that they've been playing really well," Cabrera said. "And Darwin (Quintero) is a very talented player. It's no secret so we needed to do a good job on him. Today the whole team was very solid, starting with Joe (Willis) in goal. He was very sharp when he had to be sharp."

Houston's win came after a stretch of 0-2-1, with one of the losses coming in the Dynamo Charities Cup on June 29. A draw against the Los Angeles Football Club got things going in the right direction.

The Rapids hope to exact a little revenge against Houston and regain their footing in the process. They fell behind Montreal 2-0 before a late goal by Dominique Badji made it interesting, but they couldn't get the equalizer.

"You've got to have a short-term memory," Badji told the Rapids website. "We've got to put it behind us. It's a new week, a new opportunity for us to get a good game plan put in and get a win this weekend."

Now that they've turned the page on the two straight losses, the focus is on the Dynamo and leveling the season series with them.

"We had two or three good performances and good results prior to the start of all that travel and I think what we need to do is put that week behind us and look forward to Saturday," coach Anthony Hudson said. "It's a game we're looking forward to. Hopefully we can get everyone fit. We just need to put that behind us."

The Rapids will lose forward Joe Mason, who was on loan from English Club Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. He is set to return to the Wolves by July 27. He has played 14 games for Colorado and scored three goals.

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