Recap: Yarbrough records 11 saves in Rapids’ scoreless draw with Sporting KC for home opener result

COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH ROBIN FRASER

“I think a draw at home is a bit disappointing but there are certainly positives to be drawn from it. Good moments, I thought we started the game very well, created a lot of good chances, apparently scored a goal. Disappointing when you score a goal and it’s not allowed. Again, I wasn’t on the finish line, so maybe I shouldn’t say that definitively, but it sure looked like it. And then I thought after a couple of controversial calls, a couple of goal recoveries, I thought we took our foot off the gas a bit, put some pressure on for a while and then in the second half it was nice back and forth. We had a few chances but we made mistakes that created chances for them too. Overall some positive things to take away from the day but still a bit disappointing not to have won at home.”

About Darren Yapi’s performance:

“Yes, Darren is coming with me. I’ve been saying this everywhere for the last probably two months that his last year has been really good but I think even in the last two or three weeks he’s still improving and feeling more comfortable. As I said at the start of the game in Seattle, he looked a little timid and nervous, and by the end of the game I thought he looked like he was just enjoying the game. And tonight I felt like it was more of the same and he was better tonight with his back to goal than last week, holding balls well and showing real confidence in tight spaces which is probably the hardest thing for a young player to do. So he shows real confidence and puts himself in great positions to score goals. A little unhappy again about tonight but his confidence is growing and as he’s grown over these 12 months I keep talking about his physical confidence, his understanding, all that’s growing too and I feel like he’s really, really good.”

COLORADO RAPIDS MIDFIELDS COLE BASSETT

“Difficult tonight. We feel we’ve done enough. I still haven’t seen a few reruns. I wonder if some of these have crossed the line but we need to do a little more, me and Yaps [Darren Yapi] talked about having to score. But you know, we’re feeling pretty good, especially compared to last week. It’s a much better performance, but we have to be ruthless. But it hurts to miss Diego [Rubio]. I think he’s a big key for us. The first thought is that we have to get better in the attacking third because the defense did their job.”

On the result and the team without conceding:

“I’m looking at it – we’re in the same situation as we were in 2021. I think we had a point after two games. It’s a better second game than it was then but it feels good to have kept a clean sheet and I know our defense will be happy about that because they weren’t happy with their performance last week all week. And they were just individual mistakes that we know they never make. It was kind of a one-off. We expect more from them, more from ourselves because we haven’t scored a goal up there either. If the defense does its job like that and doesn’t concede a goal at home, then we should expect a win. I think that’s up to us for this game. All attackers, I think we created the chances but we have to take them.

COLORADO RAPIDS DEFENDER ANDREAS MAXSØ

“I think we started really well. Scored two goals in the first 30 minutes but unfortunately didn’t count. I think in the last quarter of the first half we gave control to the other team and I think the second half was even. I think that’s a fair result.”

About his first home game and his experience at altitude:

“Yes, of course it was nice to be in the stadium and hear the fans. I’ll say I could feel [the altitude] in my lungs like the first sprint I did. But you know, like all other guys, I have to get used to it. That’s just part of it. And of course it was a bit cold, but I’m used to it.”