COMMERCE CITY — With six games left and six points out of the fifth and final playoff spot, the Rapids face rival Real Salt Lake on Friday night in what is shaping up to be a nationally televised Rocky Mountain brawl.
“I think the mind-set is good. We’re ready to fight with RSL. We need three points. That’s all it is at this point,” Rapids defender Shane O’Neill said. “Everyone realizes it’s three points or bust at this point from here on out.”
However, even that might not be enough. The Rapids are winless in their past eight games and sit on 31 points. Six consecutive wins would get the club to 49 points. Last year, the Rapids grabbed the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 51 points — and even then it took a tiebreaker to push them over the red line.
A six-game winning streak would require the Rapids to win three times on the road. It’s a tall order for a club with just two wins away from Dick’s Sporting Goods Park this season, the last of which came an eternity ago on April 12.
Nevertheless, coach Pablo Mastroeni said there is no place he’d rather play than Rio Tinto Stadium against the club’s rival, who sits in third place in the Western Conference.
“I love it,” Mastroeni said. “We’re like a cornered animal at the moment. We want a fight. That’s where our mindset’s at.”
RSL will be without center back Nat Borchers, who is serving a one-game, red-card ban.
Borchers was key in the last meeting, especially defending set pieces, when to win back the Rocky Mountain Cup.
“I don’t think we’re going to change too much because of (Borchers) being out,” said Rapids midfielder over the past four games. “We, as much as possible, try to play to our strengths wherever we go. We’re certainly going to come out in this game and from the start go for all three points.”
Despite Borchers’ absence, and the fact that RSL know Colorado will need to press for goals, Mastroeni doesn’t expect his rivals to sit back and bunker.
“I anticipate a Salt Lake team that’s going to be on the front foot, hungry, needing to play well to continue their run of form, but more importantly, play well because it’s their home game, in front of their home crowd,” Mastroeni said. “I anticipate a Salt Lake that’s going to come and attack.”
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Daniel Boniface: 303-954-1104, dboniface@denverpost.com or twitter.com/danielboniface
COLORADO AT REAL SALT LAKE
8 p.m. Friday, NBCSN; 94.1 FM
Spotlight on Javier Morales: An attack-minded midfielder from Argentina in his eighth season with RSL, Morales has eight goals this season, and his 11 assists rank fifth in MLS. At age 34, he has a high soccer IQ and finds places on the pitch where the game can open up. A precise passer, he is a creator who sees things others don’t, with a willingness to take risks. He signed his first pro deal when he was 18, playing for four first-division clubs in Argentina before spending one season in the Spanish second division. He joined RSL in August 2007.
NOTEBOOK
• Real Salt Lake: RSL will be without defender Nat Borchers, who received a red card last week. Borchers started 27 of 28 RSL games this season and leads the team in minutes, and coach Jeff Cassar says his absence will be “huge.” RSL, which has had 13 sellouts in 15 home games, beat the Rapids in both previous matches.
• Rapids: The Rapids broke a franchise-record losing streak (seven games) with a tie last week against Portland, but their eight-game winless streak is the longest since 2007. Nick LaBrocca has been suspended this week because of a hard foul last week.
John Meyer, The Denver Post
