Postgame Note: Rapids Defeat LA Galaxy 2-0 at Home

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MLS Colorado Rapids

Postgame Note: Rapids Defeat LA Galaxy 2-0 at Home

June 26, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Colorado Rapids News Release


Colorado Rapids 2, LA Galaxy 0

MLS Regular Season Matchday 20 | Wednesday, June 25, 2025

DICK'S Sporting Goods Park | Commerce City, CO

Notables:

- Rapids snapped a three-game losing streak, and a two-game scoreless streak with the 2-0 win over LA Galaxy.

- Defender Sam Vines recorded his first assist of the season in the 24th minute, setting up the opening goal.

- Midfielder Djordje Mihailovic scored in the 24th minute, marking his eighth goal of the season and bringing his 2025 goal contribution total to 11. The match marked his 150 th MLS regular-season start.

- Winger Calvin Harris found the net in the 28th minute, his second goal of the season and the club's 20th of the 2025 campaign. It was also his first start of the season.

- Midfielder Ted Ku-DiPietro tallied his second assist of the season in the 28th minute.

- Goalkeeper Nicolas Hansen recorded his third clean sheet of the season.

o Since May 17, Hansen has recorded three clean sheets, putting him into a tie for the most by a goalkeeper in MLS in that span.

- The clean sheet marked Colorado's sixth of the season, putting them into a tie for the third most in MLS in 2025.

The Big Picture

The Colorado Rapids (7-8-4, 25 pts. 8th West) get back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over the LA Galaxy (1-13-5, 8 pts. 15th West) at DICK'S Sporting Goods Park. Djordje Mihailovic and Calvin Harris provided the goals for Colorado with the back line and goalkeeper Nico Hansen preserving the club's sixth clean sheet of the season. The Rapids face a quick turnaround as they head on the road to take on the New England Revolution this Saturday, June 28, at 5:30 p.m. MT.

COLORADO RAPIDS POST GAME QUOTE SHEET

COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH CHRIS ARMAS

Opening remarks...

"Big shout out to all our fans tonight that, one, showed up, but then stuck around with a few hour rain delay. It says a lot about our fans. When things get tough, they stick with us, and it's great that we can reward them tonight with a victory. A lot of happy faces after that game, kids staying up late. It's why we do this. I'm really happy for our fans and grateful to them. I'm pleased with the way the guys showed up tonight. Proud of the way they stepped on the pitch tonight from the start. It was obviously an important win, but really from the very start, I think we showed up in a big way tonight."

On Calvin Harris' first start and goal...

"You get a hunch sometimes to go with a certain guy or the guy that's been performing well in training. We've brought him off the bench in a lot of games, but it's always different playing from the start. I thought he had done enough to deserve that. I think the way we set up in our build in a 3-2-5 structure, having width from Sam Vines and Calvin [Harris], we wanted speed on the flanks, and we wanted to challenge the depth of LA, so it made a lot of sense tactically. I'm thrilled for Calvin. He's worked hard all year, earned that start. Might have had two goals tonight, he hit the post too. So really happy for him."

On Kévin Cabral's recent run of performances...

"I'm a fan of Kévin Cabral, I think we all see that. I think I've started him in 17 games this year in all competitions. It's not easy coming into those games, catching up with the speed of things. The pitch was a little extra wet tonight. I didn't think anything of that little moment. I know what you're talking about. I have a lot of confidence in Kévin. He came into a tough game, and especially on that side, that's why we brought him in. I trust him in a tough moment where they were parking six guys on our back line, they were overloading the side with [Joseph] Paintsil, and he did a good job when he came in. Players want to get every play right. It's just not realistic. I didn't talk to him about any frustration, but I know what you're talking about."

On keeping a strong Los Angeles attack scoreless..

"We can throw in Marco Reus, we can talk about [Diego] Fagúndez and [Christian] Ramírez

who came into the game, we could talk about [Edwin] Cerrillo. There's a number of those guys, it may be six or seven that started and were the champions last year. It's a difficult opponent, because they're very dangerous in transition. They have top wingers. I really think collectively, the team handled that well by controlling transition moments, but specifically, Reggie Cannon, I think it's one of his better performances. You don't normally see [Joseph] Paintsil have that difficult of a night. He still pulled off plays, but I thought Reggie did a nice job there, and I was really happy with Sam Vines and how he did with Gabriel Pec on the other side. Him and Chido [Awaziem], locking that down. The guys stuck to it. It's a talented team. They haven't gotten all the results, they're just always dangerous. So, we knew we had to take care of that. I think tactically, we stuck to it, and individually, guys carried their weight."

On tonight's formation and the width of the team...

"We had the same structure last game. We built that way. We defended in the 4-4-2, but then we just tilted Reggie Cannon lower and pushed Sam Vines out wide for different reasons. We want to keep working at that. I think we can see that with the two sixes and let's call it two tens, [Ted] Ku-DiPietro and Djordje [Mihailovic], we can create some overloads in the middle but also be able to open teams up a bit. It's something we're going to keep repping. We can improve that in the second half. I thought we could have moved the ball around a little bit better, try to play a but more. For different reasons, it lets us breathe a little bit with the ball."

On the confidence of the team after tonight's win...

"Like LA, we also had a break, and I saw renewed energy. I said that a few days ago in the presser. It was renewed energy from key guys as well. The group came back. They all knew that it was a tough opponent coming in that's also looking for points. A team that got the better of us last year. So, you never quite know how it can go. I thought the guys really stepped on the field with the right mentality, I thought we set the team up the right way, and, like my father always said, 'you guarantee nothing in life, you have to earn it. You have to earn it.' I think the guys earned three points tonight, but yes, the energy was there. I think we saw an energetic team in the first half, and we have to bottle that up and that should be our standard."

On the lack of Rapids players in the MLS All-Star roster...

"You have to earn that too. You have to earn that too. Sometimes it's a popularity contest. There are a lot of stars in the league right now, and a lot of deserving players. I was part of a lot of all-star games. I was lucky to be part of those. You just have to be selected, or your play has to show that. If I'm being honest, I think there's some guys that can get some shouts there. I think [Djordje] Mihailovic is producing, I think Zach Steffen, statistically, and the eye test, I think he probably gets lots of votes. Listen, it's always tricky, but this All-Star game will showcase the stars of our league, and we'll go for next year."

On the fast turnaround to the team's match against New England...

"I just told the team, there's not a lot of talking right now. Let's enjoy the victory, but let's get home and start the recovery. It is a it's a long trip, but you know the way we travel these days and charter flights, it's not that difficult. We'll get the proper rest, a few nights of sleep, and ramp it up again and think about how we set the team up. We've already looked at New England a bit. Tough, tough opponent. We're looking forward to it, but right now it's all about recovery. The workloads over the next couple of days are very, very low. After the game is before the game, and we have got to get ready for that one."

On how he spent the team's recent break...

"I was back in New York. I have two children, two boys, 20 and 23 years old. Me and my wife just spent some time in New York with them. We had a long to do list back at the house over there. It was the first time since January that I got to sit down with my family and have a proper meal. It was really nice. So, it was a good recharge for all of our staff, myself included. Got a full tank now, and we will push forward."

COLORADO RAPIDS DEFENDER SAM VINES

Opening remarks...

"The rain delay kind of threw us for a whirlwind. We didn't expect that rain to come through, but we came out with good energy and started the first half well. After we scored a few goals, we were able to hold on to the game and controlled what we needed to control. We got a good result at home."

On the approach to tonight's defending...

"We've played against their wingers multiple times and they're top players. They're always good in the league. They score a lot of goals and get a lot of assists, but we had a lot of help from the center backs and from the sixes. They came and helped, double teamed when we needed them to, and that's how we were able to contain the guys out wide. We were able to get tighter to the guys out wide as they took the spots on the inside."

On settling into more of an attacking role...

"I'm more of an attacking fullback. Getting in the attack and helping the team get forward, it helps me and it helps the team. I can create more space for the team in the middle by just being out wide. I think it fits me. We got a good result tonight and hopefully we can get another result on the weekend."

On working with Ted Ku-DiPietro...

"It's nice. Ted [Ku-DiPietro] is really good in tight spaces. He goes in the middle and joins the attack through the middle, which leaves me out wide and gives me a lot of space to go one-v-one at full back. I like playing with him. He's really good on the ball. He's smart, he knows how to find spaces, so I enjoy playing with him."

On if he felt he had a "vintage Vines" performance...

"Vintage Vines, that's what they call it. I felt good tonight. It's helped by the sixes, like I said before, and from Ted [Ku-DiPietro] in front of me, giving me the space out wide so I can attack. I felt good. It feels like hopefully we're going in the right direction moving forward this season."

On the two crosses sent in to Rafael Navarro...

"Rafa [Navarro], he's really good at finding space in the box. He works so hard for the team and we just need to reward him. He's really good at finding that space and that makes it easy for us to cross from out wide. He's going to be in that space, you just need to put the ball in an area where you know he's going to be. I think he's going to get rewarded going forward. He didn't get his goal tonight, but I think going forward he's going to get one."

On the team's break...

"I was going to go to Hawaii, but my flight got canceled, so I ended up staying here. Then I went to Vail for a day and then hung out with my family. That's about it."

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