Colorado Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni knows that the Rapids will have their fair share of close games. In 2016, 13 of their 15 regular season victories were won by only one goal. While having the most talented players should be every organization’s goal, the character of the players is the most important thing when a game is close near the end.
“We can talk tactics all we want,” Mastroeni said. “It’s about players, it’s about character, it’s about men, it’s about willingness, it’s about commitment, it’s about finding a way to get a result.”
And get a result they did in their 1-0 victory in their first game of the 2017 season. It wasn’t pretty all of the time, but the Rapids took care of business and extended their regular season home unbeaten streak to 18 games. Mastroeni praised their effort, but did express that he wanted to see just a little more composure.
“I thought we handled it pretty well,” he said. “I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself but I’d like to see us close out the game with a little bit more poise.”
The Rapids will have a chance to show their head coach their poise when they travel to New York to take on the Red Bulls this Saturday at 2 p.m. mountain time. The last time the Rapids met the Red Bulls in the regular season the Rapids emerged with a 2-1 victory at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park last April.
