The Big Picture
Colorado Rapids 2 (7-0-2, 24 pts) earned the extra point in their second MLS NEXT Pro shootout of the year after drawing 3-3 with North Texas SC (4-4-2, 14 pts) at the end of regulation. Colorado leveled the score three different times throughout the night with Caique de Brito, Rémi Cabral and Oliver Larraz all recording their second goals of the season in tonight's high-scoring match. Academy goalkeeper Adam Beaudry gave the team the edge it needed in the shootout, making a huge save to give Colorado the 2-4 shootout victory.
Notable:
- Rapids 2 faced its second MLS NEXT Pro shootout of the year after ending regulation against North Texas SC in a 3-3 draw. Colorado took home the extra point on the night after beating North Texas in a 2-4 shootout.
- Rapids 2 remains the only team in the league with an unbeaten record and continues to maintain its first place standing in both the Western Conference and the league overall.
- Goalkeeper Adam Beaudry made a save during the MLS NEXT Pro shootout to give Colorado the edge it needed to capture the extra point.
- Forward Caique de Brito scored his second goal of the season in tonight's match versus North Texas SC.
- Forward Rémi Cabral earned his second goal of the season in tonight's match versus North Texas SC.
- Midfielder Oliver Larraz scored his second goal of the season off a penalty kick in tonight's game against North Texas SC.
- Forward Rémi Cabral recorded his first assist of the season in tonight's match against North Texas SC.
- Forward Caique de Brito recorded his first assist of the season in tonight's game against North Texas SC.
Postgame Media Availability:
- Head Coach Erik Bushey
- Rapids 2 Midfielder Oliver Larraz
Select postgame quotes transcribed below.
COLORADO RAPIDS 2 HEAD COACH ERIK BUSHEY
On the match:
“Lots of goals, too many goals for at least one of the teams, I think. You know, a battle. I say that after a lot of games. That is to be expected in this league. I think a lot of credit goes to North Texas. The fairly early goal off the set piece, which we hate giving up. Not just us going behind, but we take great pride in our set pieces, so we know there is room for improvement. Things just didn't click for us right away, but we came out with fire in the second half. If we don't concede the goal after ours, I think we get a few more and end the game in a good way. North Texas just didn't allow that to happen. We had to dig in and the boys did that. Within that, we had some lovely efforts on goal. We had some very good goals and the boys stayed strong in penalties. I am happy that we showed the character to come back, and I am happy that we got the two points."
On what the team could have done to improve tonight's performance:
“I don't think we were dangerous enough, especially early on. I don't think we made the North Texas team think enough. I would say too much of our possession was too close to our own goal. The most valuable possession is higher up the field and we didn't sustain possession in that area and we made simple mistakes. We had too many simple giveaways. The guys know that. They can recognize that. We just had a few technical breakdowns. At the end of our stints of possession, it often led to us defending. We needed to protect the ball more. We needed to threaten them more to create more space for us to play. There are lots of little things to go in there. For me, where we are at, the technical performance wasn't as good as these guys are capable of. For me, that played a big role in the game."
On the success in the second half of tonight's match:
"The guys believe they can and should win. They are smart enough to recognize that we were causing ourselves a lot of grief in the first half. I believe that they knew that if they cleaned up some of those technical errors the game could change. They are always a hard-working group. They are always going to give all of themselves for one another because they are a very good team. That is something we can be proud of and we know that is going to happen consistently. That result and that performance, which I am proud of, is not going to be the type of performance that is going to allow us to sustain success. We won't get success without that work and that togetherness, but the soccer is going to have to come along with it and I know that it will. Tonight, the fight and the never give up mentality got us back in the game."
COLORADO RAPIDS 2 MIDFIELDER OLIVER LARRAZ
On the match:
“Overall, it was probably not our strongest performance, but I am proud of the team for still getting the result when things weren't going our way. I think that is a good trait as a team. When you are not at your best, you're still getting results and climbing up that table."
On the team's resilience:
“I think it was a lot of self-belief in the team. Every time that we got scored on, it was everyone just saying, 'We got this'. We stayed calm and knew that it would come, and we kept pushing. Once again, I am proud of them for having that reaction and doing that."
On the second half performance:
"We knew we could do better. A lot of the guys didn't feel good about their performance and there is a bit of pride when it comes to that. We wanted to come out and prove that we are the team that we are. There were some guys that had more to prove tonight, guys that were getting their first chance or maybe more minutes than they are used to. It was awesome to see them come in and keep up the grind to get a result."
On the lessons the team will take into the upcoming match against MNUFC2:
"We need a consistent 90 minutes. Too often we find ourselves having really good periods and periods where we slack off and aren't as focused. I think if we could put in a full 90-minute performance, that would really help us out."
