Rubio’s Second-Half Strike Secures Rapids’ First Win of 2023

April 9, 2023 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Colorado Rapids News Release

Diego Rubio scored against his former club as the Colorado Rapids (1-3-3, 6 pts) earned their first win of the season on Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park. William Yarbrough recorded his career 29th regular-season shutout for the Rapids, matching the all-time club record held by Matt Pickens (29).

Notable

F Diego Rubio opened his 2023 account with the game-winning goal in the 68th minute of the match. It was his 14th game-winning goal as a member of the Rapids, adding to the all-time club record he set last season.

GK William Yarbrough recorded his 29th shutout for the Rapids tonight, tying Matt Pickens for the most shutouts in club history.

The Rapids are unbeaten in their past three matches with tonight’s road win.

Robin Fraser recorded his 100th regular-season game as Rapids head coach tonight.

F Darren Yapi delivered his first MLS assist on Rubio’s game-winning goal.

COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH ROBIN FRASER

On the match:

“Just really proud. Really proud of the team. I thought in the first half, we had some really good moments, but it’s a very, very difficult place to play. I’ve thought for over 10 years this is one of the hardest places to play. They’re a very good team. They’re very well organized, and the crowd here when they get rolling, this place is really, really tough to deal with. And they were rolling in the second half, so I was really proud of how we dug in and fought. Like I said, I thought we had some really good moments in the first half, and in the second half, we just fought, and sometimes, when you’re on the road, that’s what you have to do to get points, so really proud of the team. Really proud of their effort tonight.”

On Diego Rubio’s form:

“So, Diego was extremely good in preseason, extremely sharp-trained really hard, was really fit, looked really sharp in front of the goal. And then he gets his injury, and in that time period, while it wasn’t a very long injury, it’s still enough to lose your fitness, lose your sharpness. And I felt like when he came back, he was still working into this. I think I talked about this maybe after his first game, before he left for Chile for the national team, and he wasn’t as sharp as he was in preseason, which is to be expected. He had taken some time off. He’s coming off of injury. He hasn’t touched a ball much. I didn’t think he was particularly sharp then. I thought last week he looked more like himself, but really not…