Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you all are settling in for the weekend after a busy workweek — perhaps with a trip to BC Place finally back on the menu.

We all were reminded Wednesday that the promise held by games in hand does not always come to fruition, even when it involves the worst team in the league.

The Caps drew 2-2 with the Colorado Rapids in the final chapter of their marathon road trip, earning them a point but one that, to many, felt like a bit of a hollow result in a match that they really needed to win in order to vault themselves into the top four of the Western Conference and thus give themselves a home field advantage in the playoffs.

The team looked quite tired and Vanni Sartini made it clear in the post-match comments what all of us who watched the match knew: This is a team that didn’t play very well and were largely crushed, both physically and mentally, by the long road trip.

This is certainly true and while I think some concern is warranted (see below), I don’t want to be overly harsh on a group of players who have had to withstand a grueling athletic ordeal that I would not be able to even contemplate, much less finish. To that end, I think a hearty “screw you” to management is in order for this road trip even being a thing in the first place. It shows where the Caps rank on the priority list for the powers that be in Vancouver and it is a real let down for a team that has done so much right this year.

But the Colorado game isn’t an isolated incident. Even if we extend the same “road trip is tiring” logic to the Real Salt Lake match, those still aren’t isolated incidents. I won’t copy and paste my column from after the Seattle match in July but this is a team that has struggled to fight complacency once going ahead and maintain an aggressive and cohesive attacking approach.

That is, of course, of concern for the playoffs, where things rarely go smoothly and absolute focus is required. It is possible the Rapids match was a bit of a wakeup call from this standpoint but it certainly shakes my confidence (perhaps this is just my fatalism as a Caps fan) that this team can go far in the playoffs.

To that end, probably the most tangible thing from Wednesday’s match was the blow to the hopes of securing home field in a potentially decisive third match in the first round of the playoffs. A draw lifted the Caps only to sixth place, trailing both Houston and RSL for the fourth spot.

Now, MLS is weird but given that the Caps will see each of the top three teams in the west before the season is over, this isn’t a great sign. Below are their two top competitors’ schedules for the home stretch:

RSL: LAFC (A), Sporting KC (H), LA Galaxy (A), Colorado (A)

Houston: FC Dallas (A), Montreal (A), Colorado (H), Portland (A)

These aren’t all easy games either (Portland on decision day would be a tough place to go given their current form) but it seems more manageable than what the Caps have in store. Still, given the weirdness of the Western Conference this season, maybe the ultimate twist and turn has yet to come.

DC United certainly is Vancouver’s best chance for three points in their final four matches. If they want top four it seems like a must-win. And while the road trip didn’t finish as strong as it began, I have hopes that Vanni Sartini will get the Caps up for this one.

Shameless Self Promotion

More on a disappointing Wednesday night in Commerce City in our post match and report card. Meanwhile, good news for the Canadian Women’s National Team, as they clinch an Olympics bid.

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