San Diego FC get another shot at Rapids

For the third time in four games, San Diego FC will be facing a team for a second time in their young MLS tenure when they play host to the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday.

While expansion San Diego FC have split with Real Salt Lake, they have earned points in two games against St. Louis City, including a 2-1 road victory Saturday when late goals from Milan Iloski and Anders Dreyer offset a stoppage-time score from their opponent.

Dreyer recorded his team-leading fifth goal, with Hirving Lozano second on the team with four. San Diego FC (6-4-2, 20 points) are not only fourth in the Western Conference during their debut season, they are third in the conference with 23 goals.

Seven of those goals have come in the past two games after the club ditched a three-game losing streak that featured nine combined goals by its opponents. A 5-0 victory over FC Dallas on May 3 was followed by the win over St. Louis City.

While midweek MLS games are not an uncommon occurrence, San Diego FC will be experiencing three games in seven days for the first time.

"We just have to keep an eye on how guys recover from game to game," SDFC head coach Mikey Varas said, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. "We don't have any, like, planned rotations. We'll put the team out that we feel will give us the best chances of winning. That might mean resting guys."

The Rapids (4-4-4, 16 points) earned a 3-2 home victory over SDFC on April 12 when Djordje Mihailovic, Darren Yapi and Rafael Navarro all scored goals. They are the only Colorado players with multiple goals on the season: Navarro five, Mihailovic five and Yapi two.

That was the last time the Rapids won a game. They followed the victory with a pair of draws, then lost 2-1 to D.C. United on May 3 and dropped a 2-0 decision Saturda at home to the San Jose Earthquakes.

Rapids midfielder Cole Bassett said the club needs a "turnaround mindset" moving forward, and he supplied a vision on how Wednesday's game could unfold.

"Going to a place like San Diego, where we know they're going to try to play out of the back, that's going to give us chances to press them and, hopefully, give us opportunities," Bassett said.

--Field Level Media