Colorado Rapids MatchDay: Notable Quotables and Beating RSL

The second leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup was played under quite chilly, but dry conditions at a festive Dick's Sporting Goods Park and it saw the Colorado Rapids dispatch their rivals from Salt Lake 1-0 on the strength of a Jermaine Jones second half goal.  It was a tense affair and Real Salt Lake looked to get back into it, but there were unable to find a winner after some solid defending in the second half and terrific goalkeeping by Zac MacMath.  With the win the Rapids are still top of the Supporters Shield standings at 6-2-2 (20 points).

Each player and coach can offer a different perspective on the match and here are a few from this game to give a feel for what they saw.  Enjoy:

Zac MacMath

I feel for MacMath.  I really, really do.  He has been put in a difficult situation as he was named starter after the Clint Irwin trade and then the Rapids signed this keeper that you may have heard of.  But he has not complained, he has done his best and he owns the best record in MLS this year.  He had a few things to say last night:

On his confidence this game...
I think going into this weekend's game I really focused on being confident and making sure the guys felt confident with me back there. Obviously that last game in Salt Lake, I made a mistake that led to their goal and us losing points, so I made a point this week to be strong back there and make sure that I give everything possible to give us a shutout and give us a chance at three points.

On his third shutout of the season...
It's good. The guys in front of me have done an unbelievable job, the back four. It's been a while since we've had a shutout, a few weeks, so I think this week we really harped on making sure we were sound defensively knowing that if we got a shutout at home, we'd have a good chance at winning.

On having Jermaine Jones in the locker room and on the field...
He's great. He came in at halftime and a bunch of guys were upset with the way we played and the chances we created even though I thought we played a really good half, it wasn't good enough. I think you can tell on the first goal how sharp everyone was, and obviously it was a really nice goal.

On what he thinks the biggest difference between this team and last year's team...
The confidence to go out there and win games. It doesn't matter who we're playing, I think every game we've gone into we've been in it and have had a chance to win it. Really just the confidence day in, day out has been incredible. The guys are having fun and it's a really good atmosphere.

Pablo Mastroeni

Pablo is someone that always has a word or two to say, and while sometimes I think he is bat shit crazy, I generally like Pablo and I want him to succeed.  He may be the best quote in Major League Soccer and as a Rapids player and coach he knows this rivalry better then most anyone else.  His quote game may be a bit off this game, but his team was spot on.

On beating Real Salt Lake tonight...
I think it was a fantastic performance, fantastic result and I think the guys from C38 really put things in perspective before the game started with the tifo that said, "Keep Fighting." What I tell the guys all the time is that we're always underdogs here. No one is going to ever believe until the very end. The one thing you can't lose sight of is that you have to be the hardest team to play against, you have to fight for every ball. You have to have that fighters' mentality.

On Jermaine Jones' performance in this particular game...
He finds ways to impact the game from all different angles and today was a top-notch finish from what was a fantastic build-up, a great combination play. But his ability to get in good spots and deliver the goods has been spectacular for us. And again, that's why he is where he is in his game, and that's why he'll be joining the national team and at 34, he's still a guy who has so much left in the tank and so much to offer. Not only from the footballing side, but also the leadership side and driving the team on from that part of the field.

Ttonight was an effort from every single player that stepped on that field. Everyone contributed in great ways and we were able to withstand a lot of pressure late in the second half. We had so many good breaks and some very good opportunities, so I think overall it was a complete team performance, and one that we'll have to duplicate here on Wednesday.

On the importance of getting a second goal given the rivalry...
No, not so much from the rivalry. You take it one game at a time, you're not thinking about the season at this point, you want one-game runs. You want to win this game and then look forward. I think the second goal would have calmed the game down a bit more, but anytime it's 1-0 in a rivalry game, they're always going to get chances and opportunities. So it would have been a little bit easier to manage in the latter part of the game. But again, the guys did a fantastic job of gripping arms and holding down the fort.

On being 5-0-0 at home, and first in the league...
It's good for the night to reflect on. We've got a game Wednesday, so we're already starting to prep tonight. There's no rest and the mentality that I hold myself to and try to spread amongst the group is that the next game is already upon us and we've got to prepare. What I will say is that these results validate what we've been working on since preseason. Every player has bought in and every player's contributing. And for that, I couldn't be more proud. It just feels like everyone is moving in the same direction. It feels really good at the moment, but the only way to continue feeling that way is to keep working that hard, and to keep fighting.

Kyle Beckerman

Beckerman gets a fair amount of crap from Rapids fans, but he is the Real Captain and for that reason he is always going to get it from the fans.  But he was a professional tonight and his quotes sum that up:

On if he felt they deserved more from the match...
I think it was there for us. I had a couple of good chances myself, I should've buried the one. Their keeper made some good saves as well, so give credit to them and Zac [MacMath]. It was a hard-fought game, and it could've gone either way. We were just on the wrong side today.

On his matchup with Jermaine Jones in the middle of the field...
Well, Jermaine scored so that's good for him. Just a good battle. He was almost playing like a forward. It was hard-fought and what I would expect.

On what wasn't working offensively...
Zac MacMath played well. He made the saves that he had to make. I think I had another shot earlier which he picked out of the corner and then the other on me as well. We will give credit to him and we've just got to get back to work this week and see if we can tidy up some finishing and hopefully do better next week.

The Colorado Rapids are back in action this Wednesday at 7:00 PM MDT as they take on Sporting Kansas City at Dick's Sporting Goods Park