Whitecaps unfazed by 2 wins in 8

COMMERCE CITY, COLO. — If the Whitecaps are in a funk, they’re not admitting it.

After a stunning 4-1-1 start to the season, Saturday’s defeat left the Caps with just two MLS wins in their last eight games.

Their 1-0 loss to the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park marked their first consecutive MLS losses of the season.

But veteran midfielder Mauro Rosales, who returned from a quad injury Saturday, said it’s no time to worry.

“All the teams are going to have this kind of trouble in the season,” said the former Argentine international. “And as soon as we go through that, learning, especially (Saturday) playing the way we did, we have to be confident about what’s ahead of us.

“It’s a long season. The best of our team can be much, much better and we hope we can do it in the following games. We believe we can do it.”

Rosales played the No. 10 role on Saturday because Pedro Morales started on the bench after 90 minutes against Seattle and Edmonton this past week.

Always intense and involved, Rosales has been a magnet for contact this year and it didn’t take long for him to get walloped by 6-foot-7 centre-back Axel Sjoberg on a header.

He bounced back up, though, and Caps’ coach Carl Robinson is looking forward to having Rosales’ experience back in the lineup after an injuryplagued start to the year that included two nasty tackles on his right ankle.

“I thought in the first half he was absolutely excellent,” said Robinson, who wasn’t pleased with the treatment Rosales and Octavio Rivero received. “He’s such a smart player. He slows us down, quickens us up. I think there’s eight or nine consecutive fouls on him. Persistent fouling. Maybe I’m going to have to go to the rule book and find out what the rules are because maybe I’m misreading them.”

Rosales, though, remains without a point in seven games and he’s not alone in his sluggish offensive start to the season.

Kekuta Manneh, who also started Saturday, has one goal and one assist in 11 appearances. Octavio Rivero hit the crossbar Saturday but needs some more support.

The Caps had enough chances to earn a point or three in Colorado, but in contrast to earlier games in Chicago and Orlando, they didn’t take them.

“We probably should have (scored),” said Robinson, who doesn’t believe a lack of opportunities is an issue away from home.

“I think Kianz’s was an excellent chance,” he said. “You compare it to Pittinari (the goal scorer), it was probably a better chance. But we didn’t take that. Fine lines this game.”

Two wins in eight is not cause for concern, Robinson argued.

“No. Not at all,” he said. “We’ve got to get on with it. We’ve got a big game against Salt Lake.”