Good Monday morning Caps fans, hope you all had a relaxing weekend and a good start to spooky season — it’s hard to believe October is already here.

The real spooky season will apparently be the push for the playoffs, with Vancouver again dropping points with a 2-2 draw against DC United on Saturday. Being back in the friendly confines of BC Place gave Vancouver a lift but not enough of one to help them hang on after edging in front in the early moments of both the first and second halves.

There is no real sense in continuing to relitigate the late season swoon for this team. Part of it surely continues to be tired legs and minds, with the first goal coming from an absolutely calamitous miscue from Yohei Takaoka and an ill-timed slip from Tristan Blackmon (either the groundskeeper overwatered or the Caps forgot what it is like to play on turf).

A nice upside of Saturday was welcoming Christian Dajome back to BC Place, where appeared to receive a very warm reception, both from fans and his former teammates and manager. I didn’t see any discernible reaction to the return of Carl Robinson (or former Caps super sub Erik Hurtado for that matter) but that’s probably how both sides would like it to be. I hold no ill will towards Robbo but he’s been making some odd comments in the press about his time in Vancouver and it is probably better left alone.

For the Caps’ current manager, you do wonder if he regretted a couple moves. One was going with Sebastian Berhalter over Ryan Raposo a as a wingback. Though Berhalter looked better (much better, in fact) in the second half, the first half was a struggle and he looked to be not a great fit for the position. I wasn’t opposed to starting him there, thinking he covered as a wingback pretty well as a sub in the midweek. I was, in hindsight, putting too much stock into a small sample size.

Raposo has his limitations but immediately gives a bit more danger and crossing ability. He was unlucky not to score a late winner, denied instead by a fine save from Alex Bono. I’d imagine Raposo will get rotated in against St. Louis City, though I’m not sure if he is necessarily a great fit going up against a high press side.

And Sartini may be wishing he subbed on Ali Ahmed 10-15 minutes earlier. The most dangerous spells of play for the Caps in the second half were the first ten minutes and the last ten minutes and that second phase of play covered most of Ahmed’s time on the pitch. This isn’t a coincidence, as he provides a more active runner on the underlap and adds a different type of challenge for teams to prepare against on the counter. At a point in the game where Vancouver was consciously trying to go after three points, not bringing him on sooner was a bit curious.

Despite all this hand wringing, the Caps enter a tough three-game phase with their playoff destiny very much in their own hands. And despite the fact that a win was sorely needed, I feel compelled to agree with Vanni Sartini that they showed improvement from the midweek against Colorado. This was a wide open match where either side could have pulled ahead, rather than one where the Caps felt lucky to snatch a point. And there were positives to build on, albeit against a slate of much tougher opponents.

A win over St. Louis City would clinch a playoff spot, if other results go their way. And three points would be a real coup and a way of regaining some sliding momentum. This is probably too much to demand of a side that doesn’t seem to match up well against St. Louis’ high octane pressing but the magic of BC Place seems to have a certain impact on the first place team in the Western Conference. It is, after all, spooky season now.

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