The Colorado Rapids made their mark on a historic, highest-scoring week in MLS after totaling nine goals of their own in Week 24. Led by head coach Robin Fraser, the Rapids' 5-4 victory at Red Bull Arena on Tuesday and 4-3 defeat over Minnesota on Saturday earned strikers Diego Rubio and Gyasi Zardes a spot on the league's Team of the Week.
In two games, Rubio contributed two goals and two assists. This weekend's matchup with the Loons marked his seventh game with either a goal or goal contribution. The Chilean has matched his career season-high goals of 11 with 11 more games in hand on the season.
"He's in tremendous form. He's very confident," said Fraser of Rubio's performance in past weeks. "I think he believes that almost every time he gets the ball he can either score a goal or create a goal. And that sort of confidence in attacking players is so much about confidence, and I feel like Diego is as confident as I've ever seen him right now."
Zardes' hat trick on Saturday earned the striker an MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire honor as well, his sixth of his MLS career. The U.S. Men's National Team player scored in the 7th, 15th, and 61st minute of the Rapids' contest with Minnesota to secure all three points and bump Colorado in the Western Conference standings.
"Scoring is the hardest thing to do in the game," Zardes said postgame on Saturday. "So for us to to keep to keep scoring goals, it's great for the team right now and we have to carry it over into the next game and keep scoring multiple goals just so we have so we have a little bit of leeway as games go on."
Fraser collects his second Team of the Week honor of the 2022 season on Monday. His leadership of the squad through two resounding wins in a five-day window primes Colorado for a promising playoff push in the coming weeks.
"I'm elated with where we have gone in the last couple of weeks and what we've done winning three out of four, but we have work to do, and we know it and it's this a great win," he said over the weekend. "It's a great win and a great time for us and we're extremely excited about it. We put two wins together in a row which we haven't done many times this year. But we know we need to continue to improve."
MLS Team of the Week - Week 24
F: Cristian Arango (LAFC), Gyasi Zardes (COL), Kacper Przybylko (CHI)
M: Lucas Zelarayan (CLB), Jonathan Osorio (TOR), Sebastian Driussi (ATX)
D: Andrew Gutman (ATL), Joel Waterman (MTL), Henry Kessler (NE), Alvaro Barreal (CIN)
GK: Drake Callender (MIA)
Coach: Robin Fraser (COL)
Bench: Djordje Petrovic (NE), Ranko Veselinovic (VAN), Xherdan Shaqiri (CHI), Lorenzo Insigne (TOR), Santiago Moreno (POR), Diego Rubio (COL), William Agada (SKC)
