In another world, Kévin Cabral scored a hat trick within the first 33 minutes of a cold night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. One, a great look at goal in the 26th minute which was blocked. Another just two minutes later: a free header off a free kick which sailed right over the net. The third would have been in the 33rd minute: a shot off the crossbar and out.
Instead, he’ll have to settle for making up for early shortcomings with an assist to Calvin Harris in the 49th minute, which was enough for the Colorado Rapids to take home three points.
Compounded by an FC Dallas own goal just before halftime, Harris’ goal was enough to hold off Dallas’ late push to win, 2-1.
Cabral’s resolve in the moment had coach Chris Armas impressed. Having scored just one goal this season, missing three big chances in quick succession can frustrate a player for the remainder of the game.
Instead, Armas saw the poised, flashy player Cabral has always been.
“He creates a goal, he’s running behind (the opposing defense), some really entertaining stuff off his feet, he’s flicking to the next guy,” Armas said. “I see a confident player in Kévin. I see a guy who meets the demands defensively at the moment and he’s putting himself in good positions. … I think the goals will come for him.”
The Rapids, now unbeaten in their last four matches, found the back of the net in the 45th minute when Cole Bassett chased a saved shot to the end line and attempted to service it back to the middle. After the ball bounced off FC Dallas defender Sebastien Ibeagha, his team was left picking the ball out of the back of the net.
When the whistle sounded after two added minutes, it became the third straight match that the Rapids led at halftime.
“It helps us go into halftime with some momentum and a little reward for some of the good work we did,” Armas said. “But we have said it, we don’t always want to be chasing the game. We also don’t want to be in survival mode defending a lead.”
Multiple players echoed that sentiment and admitted the team did not play its best defense in the final 30 minutes. And it showed — in the 87th minute, FC Dallas’ Petar Musa made the game interesting with a low, driving shot which snuck into the bottom left corner of Zack Steffen’s goal.
For Moïse Bombito, the goal was due in part to a miscommunication between him and Keegan Rosenberry which ended up leaving Musa open.
For Rosenberry, some of those struggles stemmed from fatigue.
“I think everyone was working a little bit harder to stay warm,” Rosenberry said. “I think the energy levels were low; I was dragging at halftime, I felt it. But I think that’s why we work so hard in training because when the game comes, either it’s too loud or you’re too tired, sometimes you can’t communicate.”
But in the end, it didn’t matter. The Rapids escaped with a win and are now in fourth place in the Western Conference with a 4-2-3 record (15 points). For reference, it took the Rapids until July to eclipse that point total last season, marking stark improvement in a team that needed it.
And with it, some real headway in the locker room.
“It’s buzzing. There’s a good feeling,” Harris said. “But there’s also a feeling that we know we can do more. And (Armas) says that and keeps telling us we can continue to do more, score more goals and be even more dominant in games. We’re still hungry, but we are happy with where we are at the moment.”
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