The Big Picture
The Colorado Rapids (4-15-11, 23 pts) played to a 2-2 draw against Vancouver Whitecaps FC (11-10-9, 42 pts) at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park on Wednesday night, their fourth match in a span of 12 days. Vancouver took an early first-half lead before Diego Rubio scored his 38th career goal with the Rapids to level the game, surpassing John Spencer for third-most regular-season goals scored in club history. Cole Bassett then notched his third consecutive goal at home in as many games, but the Rapids were unable to hold onto the lead with the ‘Caps equalizing in the final 15 minutes of play.
Notable:
- F Diego Rubio scored his 38th regular-season goal for the club, surpassing John Spencer for third-most in club history. The Chilean international has now scored a goal in two consecutive matches.
- M Cole Bassett scored in the 67th minute, his team-leading fifth goal of the season, to extend his streak to four consecutive matches with a goal contribution (three goals, one assist). Notably, Bassett has also scored in the club’s last three home matches.
- M Connor Ronan delivered his team-leading ninth assist of the season on Cole Bassett’s 67th minute goal.
- D Keegan Rosenberry recorded his 137th start as a member of the Rapids, tying Marvell Wynne for fifth-most in club history.
- Rosenberry logged 90 minutes tonight, bringing his total to 12,230 minutes as a member of the Rapids and surpassing Marvell Wynne (12,152) for fifth-most minutes registered in club history.
- Rosenberry recorded his 140th appearance as a member of the Rapids, surpassing Marvell Wynne for seventh-most in club history.
- D Danny Wilson recorded his 124th start as a member of the Rapids, surpassing Kyle Beckerman (123) for seventh-most in club history.
- F Calvin Harris delivered the assist on Rubio’s goal, marking his second consecutive match with an assist.
- The Rapids have scored in their last four matches (seven goals), their longest run of games with a goal since a run of five games from September 11, 2022, to October 9, 2022.
COLORADO RAPIDS INTERIM HEAD COACH CHRIS LITTLE
On the match:
“Yeah, mixed emotions. I think the first emotion is disappointment in that we have a 2-1 lead at home and we didn't manage the game well enough, so there's some good lessons to be learned there. But some real positives in the performance—fight, character, again, was really good. And that's our seventh goal in four games, so we're looking at goal threat, creating chances and there's positives to take from the game, and we’ve got to focus on the positives with a game coming up again in three days.”
On Rapids midfielder Cole Bassett’s recent form:
“I think the first thing you look at is like, I think Cole has the DNA of a Rapids player. He's committed. He's selfless. He wants to give everything for this club, and that's a wonderful starting point. And so today, he had to play a deeper role than he has in the other games and I thought he really grew into the game and his energy was there. And he's always a goal threat. He's always a goal threat. And so, I'm just pleased he's getting confidence and he's playing like a player that has confidence, is full of confidence and he's scoring goals. For all the other little things, the selflessness, the commitment to the team, I mean, he's played so many minutes here, and he's a guy that we don't think we can take off the field because of his commitment to the team and what he does. He's working so hard for the team and that's what we need. We need players that are committed to the group, committed to this club and putting in that level of work to help us get results.”
COLORADO RAPIDS MIDFIELDER COLE BASSETT
On the match:
“Poor first half again. Better second half, and I think we're more exciting than we've been going forward. But set pieces, for how much we work on them, we shouldn't be giving up two set piece goals.”
On Rapids forward Diego Rubio:
“Yeah, kind of what you said, a leader. I mean, that's what he brings. He brings a different energy to the team. It's kind of infectious and he's one of those loud leaders that demands a lot from other people and we didn't have that quite as much. You guys can probably hear from the stands how much he yells, how much he's on the ref, just his influence on the game. And he's a pest. He's annoying to play against if you're not on his team and he gets in a good position to score goals. As we all saw last year, he scored plenty of goals, and it's sucked that he's had so many injuries this year that haven't been the same injury. Just, he comes back and something new happens. But it's good for him to get his momentum back and get back into team and be dangerous because we need him to be scoring these goals at the end of the year, and hopefully, next year, he's with us again. But right now, all he can do is what he's doing on the field, and we love having him out there with us.”
