The Big Picture
Colorado Rapids 2 (2-0-0, 6 pts) secured its first road win of the season against Houston Dynamo 2 (0-2-0, 0 pts) at AVEVA Stadium on Sunday night. Midfielder Yosuke Hanya recorded his second goal of the season off a corner kick assist from first team midfielder Oliver Larraz to give Rapids 2 the equalizer. For the second week in a row, the team found the back of the net in stoppage time to earn three points on the night. Forward Caique de Brito scored his first-ever goal for the club in tonight's win over Dynamo 2.
Notable:
- Rapids 2 recorded its second win of the season and its first road win in tonight's match versus Houston Dynamo 2.
- The first two wins of the season have seen stoppage time game winning goals determine the match. The first stoppage time goal was scored by Blake Malone in the home opener against Sporting KC II and the second was scored by Caique de Brito in tonight's win over Houston Dynamo 2.
- M Yosuke Hanya scored his second goal and delivered his first assist of the 2023 season in tonight's match.
- F Caique de Brito scored his first-ever goal for Rapids 2 in the 92nd minute of tonight's game versus Dynamo 2.
- The Rapids delivered Houston Dynamo 2 its first-ever loss at home over the course of the 2022 and 2023 MLS NEXT Pro season.
- GK Abraham Rodriguez made five saves on the night.
- Defenders Daniel Chacón and Steve Flores; midfielder Daouda Amadou; and forward Pariss Mitchell all made their first appearances of the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro season for Rapids 2 during the team's match versus Houston Dynamo 2.
Select postgame quotes transcribed below.
COLORADO RAPIDS 2 HEAD COACH ERIK BUSHEY
On the match:
“It was a hard game and a wonderful feeling after it. A windy day here in Houston and the first half it's in our face and it's aggressive. They (Houston) are aggressive with the wind, and we were under a lot of pressure. It is the second game in a row where we are not even in the game without Abe (Abraham) Rodriguez. I will say that again. We are not even in the game without Abe Rodriguez. The saves he made, it's not just like we are under pressure, he is pulling saves from I don't know where. He was down on the ground, up high, the reactions, it is insane. That is well within Abe's wheelhouse. Actually, it isn't surprising, but to do it again and again, it was so phenomenal. Where we weren't certainly happy with the first half, we are super pleased with the grit and the ability to fight and to protect our goal. When we got to halftime, we thought, generally speaking, that we are not worried about the first half anymore. We were expecting the second half to be completely different and for the most part it was. I am not sure we played a ton better, but we tried. We were able to shift the pressure a little bit. With all due respect for the guys who put in the work for the first hour, a lot of credit is due to the guys who came off the bench and the energy that they provided was critical if we are going to win games. I am super proud of the group. Not every time are you going to win the way you draw it up, but teams that win find a way to win. That is what we did tonight."
On winning in stoppage time:
“I would like to state it emphatically that it is a sign of our character, but I will hold off on that because I want to continue to see it. Surely, it bodes well for the guys to not quit, to not give up. Again, the game was very hard, fatigue was setting in, things weren't going well for us and yet a little bit of pressure, obviously a goal helped. The game changes fast. I tend to say the game changes fast and you have to stay in it and engaged. When guys begin to fall back a little bit, well that is when the subs came on and said, 'Hold on. We can do this.' We were able to shift the pressure. It is ninety plus, even when the fourth official said there was thirty seconds left to go, we played another minute and a half. You have to keep playing and keep playing and that is what we did. If we can do that for 26 more games, I will be super pleased. For our first two games, two in a row, the guys have shown an exceptional amount of character, of grit, of determination and of togetherness. It is hard to be more pleased."
On the team's first road win:
"Every point is valuable whether it be home or away. Somebody told me this is the first time Houston has lost a home game. That says something. Obviously, it says that they are tough to beat here at home. Points, I don't care if they are home or away. It is not as though we are playing in front of 25,000 fans. We don't necessarily have to change our approach, our mentality, so we won't. Again, as we talk about a lot, we are still in a stage of the season where we are trying to build. Today, I don't know if we built on our soccer, but we sure have built on the foundation of character that we have begun with. Yes, it is good for the players to know that when we go away from home, they can still get the job done."
COLORADO RAPIDS 2 GOALKEEPER ABRAHAM RODRIGUEZ
On the match:
“I think it was a great win. It is always good to go away from home and to come out with three points. I thought the boys fought. I thought the boys fought hard until the last whistle and we rewarded ourselves at the end."
On his performance in goal:
“I am just doing my job and trying to keep the ball out of the net. I was trying to keep the boys in the game. We rewarded ourselves at the end because the win is for everybody. I am glad I got to be there and make some saves for the team."
On winning in stoppage time:
"I think it just comes down to mentality. We talk about it in the locker room. We talk about it at halftime and after the game, having a winning mentality. That is basically it. We fight until the end; we fight until the last whistle. Sometimes you just get one in the last minutes."
On the team's first road win:
"It feels great. What is important now is to just keep this momentum going, keeping the boys motivated during training. There is always stuff we can be better at in the game. There is always stuff we can work on. That is all we have to do now, keep the momentum going."
