A gift received at the end of the first half to equalize. A calm, collected stunner in the second half to take the lead.
That was the recipe for the Rapids’ first win of the Chris Armas era, a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Saturday night at America First Field in Salt Lake City
It doesn’t get much better than finding three points in the Rocky Mountain Cup, something the Rapids haven’t done in multiple seasons. After a dreadful mistake erased a win last week against Nashville, a bounceback game was all that was on the wish-list for Armas.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
Rapids take Rocky Mountain Cup for first time in three years
Going into the Saturday match, the Rapids had lost five of their last sevens matches against RSL, tying the other two. In all competitions last season, the Rapids went 0-4 against their biggest rival. The last time the Rapids won the matchup was in August of 2021.
While Armas wishes his first win at the helm would have come sooner, finding it against a rival was, in some ways, worth the wait.
“It’s an important win for our team because they need that validation for the work they’ve put in,” Armas said. “I was gutted for the team and our fans back home against Nashville. So to get this victory, if I could swap them, maybe I’d take this one because of the magnitude of this victory. But I think most importantly, our players showed themselves that they’re a good team.”
RSL opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when Chicho Arango found Andrés Goméz on the right wing. In what almost looked like a shot gone wrong, he set up Chukwuemeka Eneli across the face of goal, who buried it into an open net.
A penalty was called on a handball by RSL’s goalscorer in the box, which Rafael Navarro calmly scored to even it before halftime for his first goal of the game, his second in a Rapids jersey.
Cole Bassett also opened his 2024 scoring account with a 70th-minute winner when he took a rebound off his chest, settled nicely and found the right side netting with a scorching shot.
“It feels quite good. There’s a different energy in the room,” Bassett said. “Even before the game, Chris was talking to us and his key word was ‘yet.’ We haven’t got that win yet but I can tell it’s coming with the way we’re playing and the way we believe.”
Handball avenged, Navarro finally sees one strike net
With a lead late in last week’s match against Nashville, Jonathan Lewis committed a handball which Nashville capitalized on to steal a point. What was most crushing, though, was the fact there was nobody in Lewis’ vicinity.
While the circumstances weren’t exactly the same when referee Atahan Yaya blew the whistle on Eneli for a handball, the result was the same: the penalty drew the match level minutes before a break in play.
Navarro, with his first penalty attempt in a Rapids uniform, sent Gavin Beavers the wrong way.
A hopeful sign for the Rapids’ prospective goal poacher. Perhaps seeing one go in is all the 23-year old needs to jumpstart a positive run of form.
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“For strikers, there’s no real substitute for the confidence you get when you hit the back of the net, whichever way it comes,” Armas said. “He’s the guy we know can step up. In preseason, he was burying penalties. That penalty was his and it was going to be his from the start.”
Löffelsend debuts against old club
The only downside of the night was midfielder Connor Ronan’s exit early on. He went down with an apparent knee injury but was able to walk off on his own.
Armas said after the game that Ronan is experiencing some pain in and around the knee, but the team will be cautious with him as it learns more once he gets imaging done.
Jasper Löffelsend subbed on for him in the 11th minute, marking his first minutes with the club since being traded from RSL this offseason. From the jump, he made some key defensive plays and showed his former club he wouldn’t pull any punches.
“For Jasper to come in, it’s his old club, there’s some emotion coming into the game,” Armas said. “He’s been sharp in preseason and he’s just getting sharper and sharper, so fate would have it that he’s called upon pretty early. And I thought on the night, he kept getting stronger and stronger, and he has a really strong will to win. So to see him have a strong performance was really important.”
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