Rapids endure lightning delay, beat St. Louis CITY for second-straight win
After a string of injuries to top Colorado Rapids players Darren Yapi made his own luck to beat St Louis CITY on Saturday night In the sixth minute of the match lightning postponed the contest for more than minutes After a warm-up period the contest resumed nearly two hours from its scheduled kickoff time The Rapids parade was rained on but they scored and held on for a - win at Dick s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night Yapi cleansed the club s five-minute dilemma which has seen an abnormal amount of goals conceded in the final five minutes of the first half of games and scored the match s lone goal in the st minute Ted Ku-DiPietro in his first start in a Rapids jersey was credited with the assist for lofting in a nice ball to Yapi It was at head height which made the initial touch laborious for the -foot- forward but he somehow got a foot to it and set up a shot that deflected off a St Louis defender past goalkeeper Roman B rki into the bottom left corner It was Yapi s third tally this season already a career single-season high for the -year-old in his fifth MLS season Happy to put my name in the count sheet again this year It s a new MLS high for me so just a proud moment for me and just happy to get the three points Yapi disclosed I think it just came down to instinct Once I got the touch from Ku-DiPietro s pass I just had one thing in mind which was to shoot In a perfect world which in this episode would be the world where B rki wasn t the opposing goalkeeper Yapi could have had one or two more goals In the th minute DU product Sam Bassett who got his first career start played a perfect through pass to Yapi on the left wing He cut back toward the middle but took a couple dribbles too a great number of and B rki pounced on it with ease In the th minute he exposed himself open with the ball at the top of the box fired away and forced B rki s best of five saves of the night diving to his right Yapi s night signaled a shift in the youngster s confidence He s had to carry the weight up top with Rafael Navarro out with a high ankle sprain He explained he s put pressure on himself with that sort of responsibility but his three shots on target against St Louis were also a career high A great number of other strikers may not have thought to attempt the one that went in with his back shoulder to goal Luck was on his side with the deflection but he made it that way Knowing that Rafa is such a key piece for us and he s such a lethal goal scorer just knowing that I have to step up Yapi declared I know it s maybe a little worse to put pressure on myself but at the end of the day it s the truth I have to step up and perform for the squad It s just the next man up mentality The Rapids improved to - - on the year when going into the locker room with a halftime lead Third-string goalkeeper Nico Hansen had a hand in that Saturday He s only made three appearances for the Rapids and in the MLS for that matter but has made the most of of them His only goal conceded was in a -all draw to Seattle in his MLS debut but he s been lights out since With Zack Steffen out with an oblique injury and likely playing it safe until he heads to national company camp in June Hansen has recorded two straight shutouts in back-to-back games against Real Salt Lake and St Louis He s looked the part and according to teammates has sounded the part as a vocal leader He dealt with his first real test between the pipes Saturday night when the contest was still scoreless On a weird bounce the outside of Jo o Klauss foot revealed Cedric Teuchert all by himself with just Hansen between him and the net Related Articles Rapids discovered their stride against Real Salt Lake with familiar formation Expect the same against St Louis Rapids Zack Steffen called up to USMNT for June friendlies Rapids beat Real Salt Lake to begin Rocky Mountain Cup defense Zack Steffen s connection to Rapids Unified undertaking produces life-changing relationship Colorado Rapids drop third straight match in loss at San Diego FC With plenty of time to think Hansen stood his ground and waited for a mistake which came right before Teuchert put a less-than-convincing shot off Hansen s left paw and out for a corner That mistake Bad touch Hansen declared Guys have been up here and they say You have to stay ready so you don t have to get ready Rapids coach Chris Armas commented Hansen is a good circumstance of that For a minimal months in a row we were talking as a staff saying Nico another good day Nico really solid hard to number on He moves into the year not knowing if he ll play at all When does on paper the third string guy play It s invariably a competition but he s got a good process It s great to see a guy step in The breakaway was a great save After a bad stretch that saw three straight losses during which the Rapids only scored once Colorado has strung together two straight - victories at home They ll take the streak on the road to a solid Portland Timbers gang which sits just a point and a place above the Rapids in the Western Conference standings on Wednesday at p m Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams
