Rapids dominate Whitecaps, creep back above playoff line

Calvin Harris s third goal in five games proved the ball a truth-teller The English winger has been on an absolute tear since earning his first start of the season for the Colorado Rapids just a couple weeks ago ultimately providing a scoring threat from the flanks which has famously eluded the Rapids this season He was the first to amount in what became a - win for the Rapids over the Vancouver Whitecaps who fell to third in the Western Conference The Rapids however jumped from th to seventh though they ve played more games than any unit in the West Harris identified himself in acres of space in the th minute after a toe-poke pass by midfielder Djordje Mihailovic toward the right side of the box Harris took it on first time and beat Vancouver keeper Yohei Takaoka to the bottom right corner on the shot Just a minute prior appeals for a Whitecaps own goal were hushed after the ball took a goalbound bounce off of Whitecaps defender Mathias Laborda but he recovered to somehow clear it off the goal line Harris had a likely incredible goal saved off the line later in the second half when he attempted a scissor kick Rapids forward Rafael Navarro doubled the lead in the th minute with an outstretched foot at point blank range off a delicious low cross from Mihailovic Navarro missed a penalty right before halftime with a chance to count a brace He s now scored eight goals this season three of them coming in the last four games Mihailovic recorded his third assist of the challenge a season high for the marksman in the th minute with a corner kick to center back Andreas Maxs who used an awkward bounce on the header to bag his first goal of the season It brought Mihailovic s season total of goal contributions to In a little more than a season and a half in Colorado he has amassed for the Rapids in the regular season passing Mark Chung for the preponderance in a member s first two seasons in burgundy in club history After a string of disappointing games that included a blown - lead at New England a July home loss to a horrible Sporting Kansas City company and a road thrashing at LAFC the Rapids seem to be on an uptick and potentially have definitively ascertained their bulk effective lineup and formation at least for this stage of the season Zack Steffen made his return to action after an oblique injury in mid-May took him off the field before a knee injury at U S Men s National Company camp required surgery He made a trio of impressive saves in the second half that kept a clean sheet his fourth of the season in appearances