When faced with adversity, a team can shut down or they can show out. The Rapids had no choice but to show out on Saturday night after defender Andreas Maxsø went down in the box following a dangerous challenge with Sporting’s Dany Rosero.
Maxsø and Rosero collided in the 38th minute when trying to get on the end of a free kick, neither one aware that the other was headed right into his trajectory as they both went for the header.
After nearly seven minutes on the pitch, Maxsø was stretchered off to be medically evaluated, prompting head coach Robin Fraser to sub on veteran defender Steven Beitashour. The Rapids continued to play with three in the back, but the pressure was on to retain composure.
“When Maxsø went out, I mean obviously it's a situation no one wants to see, and I think right after that the ref added eight minutes. We looked a little uncomfortable, so for us in the back, communication was to get to the half nil-nil, not giving them anything to get excited about and we knew that we came into the half nil-nil we would discuss what we needed to do with Robin," said goalkeeper and captain William Yarbrough.
"And I think that just speaks to the mentality of this group today that everyone brought their game, Lalas slid into the middle and he was just locked in 100%, the entire back line was. We struggled to get to halftime with those eight added minutes. After that, I think we knew exactly what we needed to do the second half and fortunately it worked out."
The captain understands Maxsø’s pain on a personal level himself, having to be taken off the pitch during the Rapids’ meeting with Portland last June after crashing into striker Santiago Moreno when trying to defend a goal.
Despite Maxsø only joining the team during preseason, the Danish DP has already solidified himself on the back line as a steadfast and dangerous presence.
But it was the fight from the group as a whole that led to the eventual goal from striker Diego Rubio, who credits his entire team for the strike that earned the Rapids their first three points of the season. Regardless of the shakiness caused by the injury, Colorado knew that it was time to step up and get the result for their fallen teammate.
"It's tough when a teammate goes down like that," the Chilean said after the game. "As soon as [Beitashour] came in we talked about trying to be focused this these last minutes during the game, because it's a shock for everybody at that point."
"But we won for [Andreas] today. So that's all I want to say, is that we made that effort for him. We know how hard he works for for us, for the team. So it's a great win and it's a great effort."
Fraser’s message to the team at the half was clear: Settle the nerves and play the game you know you’re capable of playing.
“The first thing was just to calm down the game, it was really kind of chippy toward the end of the first half and we just tried to settle our nerves and point out the things that we can do well to get into some decent positions," he said after the game. "And then we just talked a lot about ways that we could probably get at them--as it turns out in the second half they were really, really good. We ended up defending like crazy and just fought so hard."
The Rapids defended against 12 dangerous chances from Sporting after Maxsø was carted off, taking on multiple offensive onslaughts in the final minutes of the game that left fans and teammates alike holding their breath. In the end, it was Colorado that came away with all three points in enemy territory.
"This is one of the hardest places to play," said Fraser. "The crowd here, when they get rolling, this place is really, really tough to deal with. And they were rolling in the second half. So I was really proud of how we dug in and fought...sometimes when you're on the road, that's what you have to do to get points. So [I'm] really proud of the team, really proud of their effort tonight."
