Colorado Rapids vs Real Salt Lake--Man of the Match Voting

A cool but beautiful Colorado evening greeted the Colorado Rapids last night as they tried to win back the Rocky Mountain Cup from rivals Real Salt Lake.  For the Rapids it was the only chance at a trophy this season and getting one over on your rival is always a good thing.

But....the Rapids lost 2-1 which also officially eliminated them from playoff contention.

But....the Rapids won the Rocky Mountain Cup on Goal Differential.

Here is what Rapids Gaffer Pablo Mastroeni had to say:

On the match...
It's a disappointing result. The game was lost in about a twenty-minute span in the first half. I think we were really slow to assess the fact that they were on top of the game. We didn't do a good job defensively as a group to get behind the ball and it wasn't until we came in to the half that we were we able to let the game breathe a little bit. I thought we started bright in the second half and from that point on I thought we were by far the better team. The fact that the guys did enough to get the cup back is the silver lining.

On the link-up play in the first half...
For the first fifteen minutes I thought it was all right and then we didn't have the ball much for the last 30 of the first half, we were chasing the game. You've got to understand what the game is asking and then you have to act accordingly. It was a game that was won and lost in about 25 minutes in that first half.

On if he will be able to enjoy winning the Rocky Mountain Cup...
I'm happy we won the Cup. How we won it is disappointing. I'm happy for the fans, I'm happy for the guys that worked extremely hard, but the way we did it leaves a void, especially after the way we started the game. We held on for a result that got the cup back, but I like to speak about the performance and it wasn't complete.

On how the focus changes following the result...
It doesn't change. We keep going, keep moving forward and keep working hard. There's no quit, these guys fought extremely hard. Lucas Pittinari absolutely left his life on the line for this result tonight. Into the 95th minute, he was diving in front of a goalie coming out with two fists. This guy reflects the mindset and mentality of hard work and those are the type of characters that we need to continue to fill this locker room with.

So who was your Rapids Man of the Match?  Let us know in the poll below!