In an unsurprising move to most, the Philadelphia Union selected Conor Casey with their first round choice in the Second Stage of the 2012 Major League Soccer Re-Entry Draft.
The target striker will fulfill a two year long need for the Union at his preferred role up front. Philadelphia has not had a target striker since allowing Alejandro Moreno to leave during the 2010 Expansion Draft.
Regardless of if he's Casey Conor or Conor Casey, he's always Rapids #9! This afternoon as the team broke for the off-season the Rapids announced the players they would be cutting. 8 players in total have been released, with the big name being hometown hero Conor Casey. With my vacation and the election I never got around to doing my normal breakdown of what I felt the Rapids should do with their lineup, but I'll include my comments on these 8 players and break-down the rest hopefully over the weekend.
The Colorado Rapids have parted ways with forward Conor Casey, the team's all-time leading scorer, making him one of eight players the team has decided not to bring back in 2013.
"Conor has been an incredibly important part of the Rapids since he got here in 2007, and has forever left his mark on the club," said Rapids technical director Paul Bravo.
Today the Rapids announced that along with Pickens, Casey will also be shut down for the last two games due to his nagging knee injury. Mullan may join them, and Larentowicz will be watched closely to see if he needs to be added to the list.
This will also allow Pareja to play some of the younger players like O'Neill, Armstrong, and Cascio in their place.
My apologies for the delay. Last night was taken up by watch the best action-adventure movie of
all time in IMAX, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
A surprisingly young team started against the Timbers on Wednesday night. Casey was given the night
off, Cummings was with Jamaica, and Mullan was given a chance to rest for most of the game after
his Achilles injury in Portland.
Full game recap coming, but a post-game discussion got me to do some research. Namely people were
asking why Pareja seemed to be unwilling to play Casey and Cummings at the same time. I wondered
how much of that was by choice and how much was due to injury so I looked it up.
Only 9 times this season have they both been Probable on the injury report or better, and in each
of those games at least one of them was listed as Probable, so they've never been completely
healthy (Casey has been on the injury report every game this season).
Wow, what a busy week! The FO have announced season tickets would remain flat, the field would
be widened, TicketMaster would be fired and Caleb Porter would be hired.
What's that? We have two games in six days against the Colorado Rapids? Oh ... right.
When Stumptown Footy previewed the Colorado Rapids ahead of their first match this year against
the Portland Timbers, the Rapids weren't in great shape.
Rapids get lead, Rapids lose lead, Rapids actually draw. Yeah, an added twist to the last two
months, this time we didn't lose the game, just the lead. Most of the game consisted of the Rapids
getting the ball into great situations and then blowing it. Seriously, the Rapids had 19 attempts
on goal, 5 shots on target, 1 goal.
More of the same. Not really going to review the game because if you saw any league match in July
you saw this game.
My key to the game was the Rapids figuring out how to win. Not yet. Other Observations:
The first Sounders goal we just got beat on. It was a corner kick and Johnson did a good job of
getting his man (Wynne it looks like) caught in traffic so EJ could have a free header.
Did you watch the Dallas game? The San Jose game? The New England game? Then you saw this game. I
feel lousy and apparently the team doesn't care about actually making an effort (way to totally
give up on the second TFC goal Wynne. That will get you time in the Nats) so why should I make an
effort?
Dude, that was horriffic. Can we blame the turf? Gillette Stadium? Unfair. Poor Danny K out for the
season with a torn ACL. Just when it was OK to put away the umbrellas, here we are on the cusp of
another sh*tstorm.
Strangely enough, Toronto did hold off New England long enough to take all the points and are in
the midst of a 2 game win streak.
A reverse MLS Cup. In Toronto Dallas scored first and then gave up two goals. Saturday night we
scored first and then gave up two goals. Other than that, if you saw the Seattle loss or the
Vancouver loss or the San Jose loss then you saw this game. I'm not going to spend any time
rehashing what we already know.
Summer had finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest after a dreary June that only was exceeded
in dreariness by the Sounders performance over the same period of time. Seattle Sounders have not
won a match in their last ten fixtures, they have managed to gather 5 points, 4 of those on the
road, despite their inability to to win all 3 points.
First of all, read my recap of the last Vancouver game. Now that you've done that I can skip most
of my recap of this game. The Rapids dominated this game and lost 1-0. 17 attempts on goal to 3, 6
shots on target to 1. Vancouver's 1 shot went in, none of the Rapids shots came close. That was the
difference.
Sorry for the delay, a 14+ hour work day will do that. On Saturday an almost healthy Rapids team
took the field for the first time this season and took the Timbers to the woodshed. The game was
well in hand after 22 minutes and really over as soon as the teams came out of the halftime locker
room and the Rapids stayed in control.
Technically midseason isn't until after the 4th of July game, but this long break seems to be a
good time to assess where the team is at this point. First lets start with my predictions from the
beginning of the season:
The Rapids struggle to hold on to a playoff place all season and miss out on the
playoffs in the last couple of games of the season.
Not really the result we were hoping for as Sporting KC beat Colorado 2-0 last night. A goal in the
latter half of each half did the team in. All credit to the Rapids, they send out a pretty strong
lineup:
Cascio - Edu - ThompsonCastrillon - Larentowicz - RiveroFreeman - Marshall - Palguta -
KimuraPickens
That's about the best lineup we could play due to our injuries (Moor was a late scratch due to a
tight hamstring).
Player Position Base Guarenteed Ababio Eddie D 44,000.00 44,000.00 Akpan Andre F 57,200.00
57,200.00 Amarikwa Quincy F 44,100.00 44,100.00 Armstrong David M 44,100.00 53,564.29 Cascio Tony M
44,000.00 77,750.00 Casey Conor F 400,000.00 400,000.00 Castrillon Jaime M 50,000.00 68,375.
That's Welsh for Friendly News and we got a big piece of news today. On July 24th Swansea City of
the EPL will be facing the Rapids in a friendly at the Dick. Game time is 7pm and tickets go on
sale to season ticket holders on Tuesday. The general public will be able to buy tickets starting
on Sat.
Colorado played like the better team for 34 minutes when facing Dallas 11 on 11, then suddenly they
were 11 on 9 and the game was essentially over. In the 25th minute Daniel "Real Championship"
Hernandez was given a yellow card for dissent after complaining to the ref for not calling a foul
on the Rapids.
After a forgettable first half the Rapids got a lead and then blasted Chivas in the last 10 minutes
of the game. The first 45 was a bunch of wasted chances and uninspiring soccer that the Rapids were
slightly better at. After the break Colorado didn't wait long to strike. Off a corner in the 50th
minute Cascio chested the ball down around the 6 on the far post.
Worse fears became bitter reality for the Colorado Rapids on Sunday as the team tried to play
without its midfield stalwarts and fell apart in front of the New York Red Bulls 4-1.
Jeff Larentowicz, the key cog at defensive midfield, had to miss the game after picking up two
yellow cards against the Philadelphia Union one week ago.
Last night (well technically early this morning) the Rapids lost 2-1 to Yokohama FC of the Japanese
2nd division. A 10 minute spell in the second half saw Colorado give up two goals and they couldn't
climb back out of the hole. The starting XI for the burgundy boys (seen above):
Cascio - Cummings - MullanLarentowicz - Castrillon - MastroeniZapata - Moor - Wynne -
KimuraPickens
With the exception of the injured Casey I think that's pretty close to our starting XI right now.
Colorado faced Chivas USA in a scrimmage at the HDC today. A late Qunicy Amarikwa goal from a
Steven Emory assist gave the burgundy boys a 1-0 win. Of course its preseason so its meaningless
but wins are always better than losses. The starting XI (trialists makred with a *):
Angulo* - Cummings - MullanLarentowicz - Castrillon - MastroeniZapata* - Marshall - Wynne -
KimuraPickens
After subs the team finished with the the following lineup:
Cascio - Amarikwa - AkpanThompson - LaBauex - EmoryFreeman - Palguta - Guido* - AbabioJoyce
Guido is a local player playing with the team while they're in California.
There's been murmurs all week that Folan was looking for a a new club in Europe. Today the Rapids
made it official, releasing him from his contract. Anyone who read this blog last year knows I was
no fan of Folan, mainly due to the lack of effort he displayed on the field. This move frees up
around 200K of salary cap space, possibly to go after that rumored Argentine midfielder.
Mon, December 03, 2012 WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - William and Mary freshman goalkeeper Caroline Casey will part take in the first annual U.S. Women's National Team Youth Goalkeeper Identification Camp on Dec.
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - William and Mary freshman goalkeeper Caroline Casey was honored as the Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week on Monday afternoon. Freshman Caroline Casey | Courtesy of TribeAthletics.com Casey earned the distinction after posting consecutive shutouts over Villanova and Seton Hall at the Villanova Invitational this past weekend.
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - William and Mary freshman goalkeeper Caroline Casey was honored as the Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week on Monday afternoon.
Freshman Caroline Casey | Courtesy of TribeAthletics.
This is something I am thinking of either doing from time to time or even on a weekly basis.
Just some random thoughts, questions going into the weekend for the state of MLS and US Soccer.
With a FIFA date upon us, a lot of MLS players are out with their respective countries, while some
MLS teams either have games (one league game and a few friendlies are on the menu this weekend) or
others are off completely hoping to get back in the swing of things for the playoff push.
Shalrie Joseph helped tilt the midfield battle on Wednesday. (Photo: Kari
Heistad/CapturedImages.biz)
For 21 minutes, the New England Revolution played and looked like the team  Jay Heaps
envisioned. New England pressed. It attacked. The ball moved quickly and players whipped in early
crosses.
Shalrie Joseph made himself feel quite at home at Gillette Stadium Wednesday night.
In his return to the place he called home since 2003 until a trade sent him across the country
to Chivas USA, Joseph scored two goals to spark a three-goal comeback and help the Goats salvage a
3-3 draw against the Revolution to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.
Tonight wasn't the prettiest game of all time as Sporting KC and Chivas USA played a very
unappealing first half in tonight's game. The game was played at a very timid pace to start the
game, neither team seemed really interested in having a real go at it early on. Other than Ryan
Smith that is, who seemed set to show up his former club.
One surprise so far this season has been the degree to which SuperDraft picks have been
immediately involved in their teams this year. Few in Portland would have expected Andrew
Jean-Baptiste, for example, to play at all in 2012, much less in three out of the first four
matches of the season. He isn't just playing, he's playing well.
Their Words "That is a really big win for us. We felt we were a little unfortunate not to get a
result out of our first two games and we did what we needed to do. To come in here and get three
points from a good team at their own stadium is big time for us." Chivas USA forward Casey
Townsend, on beating Salt Lake on Saturday.
Darren Mattocks has shown well already for Vancouver. (Photo via MLSSoccer.com)
Each season Major League Soccer has a new crop of rookies that don their respective clubs
jerseys for the first time and try to prove that they have what it takes to be something in this
league.
In seasons past it has been the top picks in the draft that have shined the most in getting the
Rookie of the Year award.
Jake Pavorsky: Conor Casey. After two injury riddled, Casey is looking to get his career back on track, and I expect him to have a year similar to his 2008 campaign. The 31 year old gives the Union their first true target striker since Alejandro Moreno, and his presence in front of the net will certainly advance the team to new offensive heights.
Otro viernes con intensa actividad en NCAA y actuaciones destacadas de las seleccionadas
mexicanas.
Charlyn Corral tuvo una pronta adaptación al futbol colegial estadounidense y
ayer se despachó con tres asistencias de gol en la victoria de su equipo
Louisville ante Purdue, a quienes vencieron 4-3 en tiempos
extras.
Colorado announced the signing today of Brazilian striker Luis Eduardo Schmidt, commonly known ad
Edu. He had trialed with the team last month and rejoined the team this week. Edu is 33 and has
previously played in Brazil and Spain's La Liga. He's a big guy that would probably fill in well in
Casey's target striker role.
A former University of Wisconsin goalkeeper had a hand in helping the Badgers land their latest
keeper.
Casey Beyers, part of the Badgers' five-member 2012 recruiting class announced Tuesday,
trained under former UW keeper Alex Horwath over the winter in their native Maryland.
