COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – The Colorado Rapids continue on a roll, picking up points along the way – and for the second-straight week, Jermaine Jones has greased the wheels.
In a repeat of his Rapids debut, the 34-year-old midfielder provided the game’s opening goal, helping propel Colorado to a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night; the Rapids’ fourth home win in a row.
“I think what a lot of people don’t understand is that he’s a leader, but he doesn’t do it with a voice; it’s actions,” Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni said of Jones following the win. “There’s nothing more powerful in life than to follow someone that risks everything he has. In training, he tackles as if it was a game. He’s goes through shooting exercises as if it was a game. It’s no nonsense. What he does is he drives our team on.”
For Jones, his performances continue to be about proving his critics wrong.
“It’s not just this team. I did it in New England,” Jones said following the match. “I wanted to show that I can be the difference on a team. People laughed at me when [the Revolution] made it to the final [in 2014]. It’s the same thing here. Maybe I’m the last piece of the puzzle to bring this team back to the playoffs.”
And if it was up to Jones, he would've had a second goal. With the Rapids up 2-0 in the 67th minute, the team earned a penalty kick which Jones wanted to take. But his teammate, Shkelzen Gashi, didn't give up the ball and watched as his attempt was stopped by goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
For Jones it would have meant two goals for each of his twin sons, a birthday present to go with the birthday message Jones revealed on his t-shirt after scoring in the 20th minute. That celebration earned him an early yellow card.
“We won the game so it’s done,” Jones said of the penalty kick dispute with Gashi. But he emphasized that he would be the one to take it next time, should another opportunity arise.
Colorado eventually did find their third of the night as rookie debutant Dennis Castillo linked up with Kevin Doyle, who scored the goal in his return from injury.
“I had my reservations about [playing] Kevin this week,” Mastroeni said. “He told me that he was ready to be a part of the team and ready to go. I was a good listener. Kevin will always give you 100 percent. The cherry on top for his performance was a fantastic finish.”
While the Rapids continued to experience injury woes with knocks suffered by Marc Burch (hamstring), Eric Miller (groin) and Dominique Badji (quad), the Rapids head coach maintained confidence in a group that he believes has found the mental resilience to win.
“Tonight we got on top of the game early and found a way to get the second,” Mastroeni said. “I said it last week, all of this is about developing a psychological immunity. You find ways to add the third. It’s a long process, it’s a long season, but I’m satisfied with the way we’ve started.”
