Calvin Harris owns all two winger goals for the Colorado Rapids this season. He scored his second of the campaign in his first start of the year against the L.A. Galaxy on Wednesday night.
A weather delay pushed the game back a touch more than two hours, but the Rapids had their way with the defending MLS Cup Champions, beating the Galaxy, 2-0, for Colorado’s first win since May 17.
“(The team) knew it was a tough opponent coming in that’s looking for points, a team that got the better of us last year, so you never quite know how it can go,” Rapids coach Chris Armas said. “But I thought the guys really stepped on the field with the right mentality, I think we set the team up the right way and … you have to earn it, and I think the guys earned three points tonight.”
It was the Rapids’ first match against the Galaxy since last year’s abysmal playoff series, which the Galaxy beat the Rapids, 9-1, over two matches. Since L.A.’s cup run, it has been the worst team in the league without star Riqui Puig on the field, winning just one of 19 games this season.
That presented the Rapids with a chance to get back on track after losing consecutive home games while being unable to produce a goal of their own. Early on, it seemed like great chances would again elude Colorado. An eighth-minute goal was called back for offside in the buildup. Then Sam Vines shot it off the keeper instead of setting up Djordje Mihailovic for a tap-in in the 22nd minute.
Mihailovic flared his arms almost in disgust, but Vines made up for it just two minutes later when he whipped a perfect cross to Mihailovic for a headed goal. It was the star midfielder’s eighth tally of the season and 11th goal contribution. It was Vines’ first goal contribution in nine appearances this year.
Harris got the ball on the right side of the penalty box four minutes later on a simple pass from Ted Ku-DiPietro, after which he made a cut and tucked it away across the face of goal. Only two goals have been scored by Rapids wingers this year, both by Harris and both assisted by another winger.
“It’s a good feeling. (Armas) has spoken to me in the past, at times I’ve taken shots on which maybe I should have passed, and it’s just getting that balance,” Harris said. “He spoke to me about upgrading the shot is not just with a pass, it’s also off the dribble and he trusts my ability to do that off the dribble. So he’s been very encouraging of me to take players on and take my own shots.”
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“You get a hunch sometimes to go with a certain guy, (Harris is) a guy who’s been performing well in training,” Armas said. “We’ve brought him off the bench in a lot of games, but it’s always different playing from the start, so I thought he has done enough to deserve that. … I’m thrilled for Calvin. He’s worked hard all year and earned the start.”
The Galaxy never truly looked dangerous outside of a pair of decent long-distance efforts that went just high and wide.
With the win, the Rapids entered a jam-packed middle of the Western Conference, where only one point separates fifth place from ninth. Colorado occupies the latter but has a chance to build some comfort above the playoff line with a game at New England on Saturday and the July 4 home match against Sporting Kansas City.
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