The Big Picture:
A first-half goal from Real Salt Lake’s Jefferson Savarino ended the Colorado Rapids’ 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup campaign on Wednesday night at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park. The Rapids’ Cup run comes to an end after the club advanced to the Round of 16 for the first time since 2017.
Notable:
- D Moïse Bombito recorded his first start as a member of the Rapids. The defender was selected with the third overall pick in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, making his MLS debut earlier this month as a substitute on May 13, 2023, against the Philadelphia Union.
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH ROBIN FRASER
On the result:
“Really disappointing, obviously, to not be in the competition anymore. It's something that I've said since day one that we want to take seriously, and we have. Disappointing, also, because we had a lot of control of the game, make one mistake, we don't capitalize on some of the good control we have and we don't score a goal and make a mistake in the back. Disappointing way to go out, but now we just have to get ready for Saturday. As I said to the team, I really, really wanted to go deep into this tournament and obviously win it. But the second the game is over, the tournament is over, and it's time to really think about Saturday and get ready for a very, very good team.”
On defender Moïse Bombito’s first start for the club:
“Really, a lot of good things. He's a young player. You see good and bad things. In Atlanta, he made some rash decisions, and it's a good point [you make] that he hasn't really played his position in Atlanta. He came in as a right back, played a few minutes as a center back, had some good moments, had some bad moments, and I think that's what you'll see with a young player. Tonight, he gets basically put into a left back role and is composed enough to make some good plays out of it offensively. And defensively, he had to deal with a player who’s RSL's four-million-dollar acquisition—he's obviously a very good player, and I thought [Bombito] did really well. It's not the easiest thing, I can tell you as a center back, to jump into an outside back role. But I thought he handled it really well. And the run forward late in the game, you see some of the qualities that make him a little bit different from most center backs in terms of his comfort level on the ball. He's got a bright future, but he's a young player, and he's going to have good moments and bad moments, and we certainly know that. And the thing about him is his attitude is so great that you are more than happy to be patient with him and continue to guide him in this process because I do think, in the end, he's going to be a very, very good player.”
On playing well but not getting desired results:
“I appreciate the fact that you see the good because you're right: a lot of times it does come down to results, and that's all people see. And I do appreciate the fact that you see the good, but we are in a results-oriented business. And I love the fact that we do a lot of things really well, but we still need to get over the line in terms of making good plays and winning games. Even through the stretch of all our ties, there was a lot of good play, but we still didn't get over the hump often enough, and these guys are giving all they have. We're obviously thin. We're playing a lot of guys a lot of minutes right now, and that's going to affect things. And [I’m] not making excuses—I will certainly say that I think there are games that we should have won along the stretch that we haven't, but I appreciate the fact that they give everything they have every day, and at the end of the day, we just need to get a little bit sharper in the critical moments. And I've known a lot of these guys a long time, and I know that we can do it, and we'll just keep pushing and keep working.”
COLORADO RAPIDS DEFENDER KEEGAN ROSENBERRY
On the match:
“Yeah, initial reaction is disappointment. I felt like this was a game for us to right the ship a little bit, find some momentum in the Cup and kind of get back to winning ways even though we aren't in the league, but it wasn't the case tonight. Got punished for a mistake and couldn't reconcile that by the end of the game. Not a ton for me to say. Like I said, main sentiment is disappointment, especially in the locker room from just about everybody.”
On the team’s performance:
“Yeah, I didn't feel that their goal really reflected anything that we were struggling with on the day or throughout this run of games. I felt that it was just a mistake, and they took advantage of it. I felt throughout the game that we limited them for the most part to very few—having trouble remembering any really good chances, but I mean, I could be wrong. Maybe after watching it back, it'd be different, but I felt that we were definitely creating better chances on the night.”
On the two consecutive losses to RSL:
“Yeah, I mean, we've dug ourselves a little bit of a hole here. It's going to be difficult. It definitely cuts a little deeper when it's the team you dislike the most. Like I said, tonight was an opportunity to kind of get back at them for Saturday. It was a nice quick turnaround. We were eager to get back at it, and yeah, without talking very candidly and explicitly, it makes you lose sleep at night. I mean, you don't like losing games in general to any team in this league, but RSL is a team that just eats at you a little bit more, and it's been interesting to learn from the supporters about just how much that means to them as well, and it hurts us just that much more to feel that for them and to want to perform for them, and I know at times it looks like we can do more. It looks like we can get better results for them, but I hope that they know that we're doing everything we can just as much as they would want to if they were on the pitch to get these results to compete, to smash somebody… Hopefully, my frustration is reflected in my comments.”
