Cole Bassett has earned his fifth Team of the Matchday honor of the year for his one goal, two assist-performance against Colorado rivals Real Salt Lake on Saturday night to secure the coveted Rocky Mountain Cup and three points in the Western Conference standings.
Bassett assisted the first two goals of the night from Jonathan Lewis and Sam Vines in the first half, then secured the Cup in the dying moments of the game with an 88th-minute penalty.
Lewis and Bassett connected in the box in the 35th minute for the Rapids' equalizer after going down early. Lewis drew a foul down in Colorado's half to start the play, and the Rapids connected well to build the play, first finding Moïse Bombito, who dumped a long ball into the attacking third for Rafael Navarro to collect. Navarro's pass to Bassett at the top of the box set the midfielder up for a one-touch pass to Lewis, who commanded the half-volley in front of Salt Lake's net for his second goal of the game and Bassett's fifth assist of the year.
Bassett and the Rapids struck again just four minutes later when he played a through ball into Lewis on the right side of the box. The winger's low pass across the face of the goal found Vines sliding into the six-yard box to give the Rapids the lead and Vines his first goal of the season.
It all came down to the wire after Salt Lake equalized early into the second half after a lengthy weather delay. The Rapids saw their chance to secure three points at home and the Rocky Mountain Cup when a Salt Lake player committed a handball in the box on Colorado corner kick. Bassett calmly stepped up to the spot and sent a rocket to the back of the net, finding the Rapids' game winner and cementing his place in Rocky Mountain Cup and club history.
For the Homegrown, the weekend's matchup just meant more.
"I think this rivalry, more so than other ones, you can just see what it means to the players and the fans," he said after the game. "That was probably the loudest I've heard our stadium in a while in that first half after we scored the second one...I think it was huge for us to have a lot of fans here, and I wish the weather delay didn't happen so that could have continued in the second half. You can feel there's some spice to it. I'm sure if we play against each other later in the year, maybe in playoffs, I think it'll be a little extra spicy, even more so than it was.”
Team of the Matchday - Matchday 28
F: Denis Bouanga (LAFC), Joseph Paintsil (LA), Lewis Morgan (RBNY)
M: Richie Laryea (TOR), Dániel Gazdag (PHI), Cole Bassett (COL), Iuri Tavares (CLT)
D: Jordi Alba (MIA), Stian Gregersen (ATL), Griffin Dorsey (HOU)
GK: Roman Bürki (STL)
Coach: Steve Cherundolo (LAFC)Bench: Hugo Lloris (LAFC), Peyton Miller (NE), Joseph Rosales (MIN), Yannick Bright (MIA), Riqui Puig (LA), Andrés Gómez (RSL), Saba Lobjanidze (ATL), Fafà Picault (VAN), Willy Agada (SKC)
