COMMERCE CITY — The Rapids didn’t give their fans much reason to cheer Saturday in a 1-0 defeat that closed their home schedule for the season, but FC Dallas coach Oscar Pareja delighted about 200 customers who came hoping to see former Colorado Mines striker Tesho Akindele play for the visitors.
Akindele, the sixth pick in the MLS draft last January, came into the game in the second half to the delight of friends and family. The son of a Nigerian immigrant, Akindele grew up in Thornton and went to Northglenn High School before starring at Mines. Now he is an MLS rookie of the year candidate.
“I only got like seven (tickets) from the team,” said Akindele, an electrical engineering major at Mines who became the first RMAC player to score hat tricks in three consecutive games. “I couldn’t ask the team to give me 200 free tickets, so they had to buy their own, but there was a bunch of people here.”
The Rapids will take a 13-game winless streak into next week’s season finale at Vancouver. FCD moved into third place in the Western Conference.
Akindele started 18 games this season and scored seven goals, but this was his only chance to play here because it was FCD’s only trip to Colorado this season.
“It was kind of surreal,” said Akindele, who remembers being in his dorm room at Mines watching the Rapids beat FCD for the 2010 MLS Cup when he was a freshman. “Just last year, I was in the stands watching the Rapids play, pretty much the same players they have this year. It’s kind of weird to be on the other side of it, to be on the field and everybody watching me. It was a really great experience.”
The Rapids started two rookies from Akindele’s draft class, midfielder Marlon Hairston (the 12th pick) and center back Jared Watts (33rd). Midfielder Dillon Powers was last year’s rookie of the year.
“I started off the year slowly, just getting used to things, then I got my chance to start and play,” Akindele said. “I’ve been playing a lot of games. I feel really happy with where I’m at right now.”
Scoring chances were scant for both teams in a game that was hard fought but choppy. Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni, in his first season as Pareja’s successor, wanted a good effort to close the home schedule and he got it.
“That’s all I wanted from the guys, to make sure they fight to the end,” Mastroeni said. “I think they fought hard.”
Blas Perez scored on a penalty kick in the 56th minute after Rapids defender Chris Klute was called for a handball.
“It wasn’t the prettiest (game) for either team,” Mastroeni said.
Akindele has impressed Mastroeni with his play.
“I think he’s done really well this year,” Mastroeni said. “He’s made a name for himself as a real rangy forward that can scrap, that can battle but also can finish and can keep possession. It’s great to have kids coming out of Colorado that represent the league well. He’s had a very good year in his first year as a pro.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616, jmeyer@denverpost.com or
