The Big Picture
Second-half goals from Cole Bassett and Calvin Harris saw the Colorado Rapids (4-13-10, 22 pts) defeat a visiting New England Revolution (13-6-9, 48 pts) 2-1 on Saturday night in the club’s first game under interim head coach Chris Little.
Notable:
- F Calvin Harris opened his Rapids account in the 62nd minute tonight, his second MLS goal (both game-winners). Harris also registered 68 minutes tonight, surpassing 1,000 regular-season minutes in MLS.
- M Cole Bassett scored his third goal of the season, his 16th as a member of the Rapids. The goal was scored on his 90th MLS appearance.
- F Rafael Navarro made his Rapids home debut and delivered his first MLS assist.
- Rapids interim head coach Chris Little recorded his first win in MLS as a head coach.
- D Rosenberry recorded his 137th appearance as a member of the Rapids, surpassing Dillon Powers for eight-most in club history.
- D Andrew Gutman recorded his 100th regular season MLS appearance tonight, his sixth as a member of the Rapids.
- F Kevin Cabral registered 68 minutes tonight, surpassing 1,000 minutes as a member of the Rapids (1,009).
- F Jonathan Lewis recorded his 114th regular season appearance for the Rapids tonight, his first appearance since July 15, 2023.
- M Connor Ronan delivered his 8th assist of the season on Cole Bassett’s goal in the 48th minute.
- M Sidnei Tavares made his Rapids home debut.
COLORADO RAPIDS INTERIM HEAD COACH CHRIS LITTLE
On the match:
“Yeah, obviously, just relief and delighted to get the win. I'm just so pleased for the players. I thought that in what's been a tough season for us, to play a really good opponent and show the spirit and the fight that we showed in the second half, and then the performance levels, it was just fantastic for us to get the win. Delighted for them.”
On the team’s character tonight:
“I thought that to beat an opponent of that level—obviously second in the Eastern Conference, very experienced team, very good players—to beat an opponent like that, I think we needed to embody all of those things [hard work, playing for the team and responsibility]. And I think we saw it in different moments of the game. In the first half, we were playing maybe a little low on confidence. We dug in and we made ourselves hard to beat and there was a lot of hard work there. And as the game went along and we grew in confidence, those things were there. So, those are the values that the players set themselves and I'm delighted for them that they were able to get them.”
COLORADO RAPIDS MIDFIELDER COLE BASSETT
On the match:
“First half, not our best performance, me included. Like I forgot how to play soccer out there, but second half, we came out really hot. We said at halftime, 'alright, we didn't have the best half, but, you know, come out with energy these first 10 minutes. Try to impose a little bit on them.' And yeah, we did that, and I think it continued until we got our second goal, and then for me, I think we sat a little bit too much. But you know, to be fair, we got the win, which is what we needed, and we're happy about that.”
On the team’s character and what the win meant:
“Yeah, those are three things that you can control, and I think that's why he wanted to hone in on those three things. As you saw in the first half, sometimes we're not that good at soccer, and you just have off days. But you can control your work, your responsibility and team-first mentality. I think that showed throughout the game. Everybody was fighting for each other and fighting for this club, fighting for Chris [Little], as well. We all respect him as players. I've worked with him, like kind of just one-on-one a lot throughout the years. And he's kind of been one of my go-to guys, and especially for video, we do it every week and sit down and talk through things, and he's the guy a couple years ago, he got on me. He was honest with me. He said, 'If you keep playing like this, you're not getting back in the national team.' And that's the kind of person I like. I don't want them to BS stuff with me. I'd rather have them say it to my face and be honest and it kind of drove me for the rest of that year. We met before, once he got hired, and we just talked about little things one on one: what he thinks I see in the group and what we need. He wants me to be a leader with these guys. So, it's good to know that I have his trust, and you try to give it back to him because I'm sure for him, he's worked his whole life to be able to stand on that sideline tonight. So, it's probably a proud moment for him, his family. I'm glad we can get the win for on his first night.”
COLORADO RAPIDS FORWARD CALVIN HARRIS
On the match:
“It was good game. I think it was a hard-fought win. I think there was a lot of effort and desire showed by all the players tonight and I think we deserved the result tonight.”
On his goal:
“Yeah, I mean with the goal, that happened so quick on the transition. Even when the ball went in, I didn't really fully know because it was just happened like so quick, but my job is to try and be a threat, and in the first half, I didn't have many opportunities to do so, but when the opportunity came, I was just happy that I delivered, was able to produce.”
