Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jason Kreis
On the team's performance:

“Really, really pleased with what we did coming into the game and the energy the players brought to the game. The beginning was fantastic, obviously terrific that we scored the goal and then a really bad play between two experienced players to let them back into the game. At that moment I felt like had we cleaned that moment up we may have been able to handle things a lot cleaner the entire night. But, having said that, those guys have done enough for us that they can make a mistake every once in a while and we'll move on from it. Then I think great that we scored the second goal with the penalty, get ourselves in a good spot with the lead but disappointing to give up the lead. I don't even know what minute that goal was. We were stretched I think in the second half, they were putting all kinds of pressure on us as they should being down a goal at home and wanting so desperately to win this Rocky Mountain Cup. We need to again still look at how we're handling the situation when we have the lead, because I don't know that we were good enough with the ball. I don't know that we were making the right decisions with it so we weren't facing wave after wave after wave of Colorado attacks.”

On how Javier Morales's injury - and subsequent substitution - changed the game:

“I thought it changed the game a lot. I think that he's somebody that always is available for us to play through and make some really, really good decisions when he has to just manage the match. So to lose a player like that with a lead in a tense atmosphere like it was tonight, that hurts.”

On how the precautionary nature of the Morales substitution illustrates the importance of Wednesday's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal against Portland:

“Yeah, there's no doubt that Wednesday is the most important game of the week and probably the month. I'm hoping that it was precautionary, I'm hoping that we got him out early enough and that we don't have problems for Wednesday, but you never know.”

On what he told Saborio during the delay about the PK:

“All I said to Sabo was I guarantee their coaches and their goalkeeper are looking at every penalty kick you've taken in your MLS career. With that much time, I'm sure that's what they were doing. So if he wanted to think about going to a different side, I don't really know, I don't know what his tendencies are with that, just wanted to put it in his mind and he didn't seem to be fazed by it. Really interesting decision to stop the play at that moment.”

On how using another new-look back line affected RSL's performance:

“I think that our back four looked quite a bit disjointed and it has been quite a bit disjointed now for several weeks. Should we be surprised by that? I don't think so. Let's just try to get Wingert and Beltran back on the field as quickly as possible and sort out who's going to own the position next to Nat, because that's a flat out competition for me at the moment.”

On Nick Rimando's performance:

“Stunning, absolutely stunning. Continuing what I think is easily, hands down the best year of his entire career. I think without Nick Rimando in that game we lose it. He's part of the mistake that leads to that first goal, for sure, between him and Nat, but then he more than made up for it at the end of the game.”

Real Salt Lake GK Nick Rimando
Thoughts on the team's performance:

“I thought it was okay. I thought we knocked the ball pretty well in the first half, but got out of sorts a bit in the second half. It wasn’t as organized as we'd like to be and sharp as we like to be on set pieces but we got a result and that's what matters. Yes, we didn't win the Rocky Mountain Cup and that means a lot to our fans, but we got a result. We're still ahead of Colorado in the standings and, most importantly, we have to keep our confidence up with a very important game on Wednesday.”

On his second half save off the goal line:

“It was a free kick and again we weren't organized. Nobody was in the spot they should've been, a guy got a head on it I went down low to my left to make a save as Borchers turned it redirected off of Borchers toward the right side of the goal I just got up and luckily got there before the ball went over the line.”

On the importance of Wednesday's Open Cup Semifinal against Portland:

“I think it's the most important game of the year so far. To be able to have a chance to hoist a trophy in your home stadium is a huge opportunity and if we play right on Wednesday we have that chance to do that at home in the final. Portland's a very good team, we're not taking them lightly at all. It's a huge game coming up and I think everyone in this locker room knows it. Right away the talk in the locker room was to get prepared for Wednesday.”

On the role the weather played in the match:

“I don't know. I think it's more just being organized, being sharp. If you're organized, you play sharp and I think we weren't as sharp as we wanted to be. But we can look at the tape and correct those mistakes and get sharper come Wednesday and Saturday.”

Real Salt Lake Captain Kyle Beckerman
On staying three points ahead of Colorado taking precedent over winning the Rocky Mountain Cup:

“I think it has to be at this point. Congratulations to them. I think it meant a lot to them, those guys had a lot of heartaches throughout the years in this Rocky Mountain Cup, so hats off to them for winning it this year. But I think we take some positives out of the game to be able to stay three points up and a game ahead.”

On playing against Colorado MF Dillon Powers:

“He’s a good player, he keeps growing. I think he’s an important piece for Colorado and it’s something that Colorado should be happy that he’s on their team.”]

Colorado Rapids

Colorado Rapids Head Coach Oscar Pareja

On his emotions after the home draw:

“Proud. I am very proud about the players and the team that I saw competing today was great. We had a lot of character today despite just giving away two goals too easily and all what happened during the game but I thought the second half the boys showed what they want and the fans and everybody supporting.  At this point I’m very proud about this group of players.”

On winning the Cup:

“It’s important. The Cup is important. We knew what this game meant for our fans and our organization. We wanted the three points and I thought, honestly, we deserved it. It was with the performance of [Nick] Rimando and I understand now why Rimando is on the [U.S.] National Team, he was outstanding today so congratulations to him for his performance. But that says a lot about what our team put into the field. The Cup, we take it with a lot of joy because our fans and the club want it and we keep working because we wanted the three points and now we need to go get it somewhere else.”

On consistent positive results against Salt Lake:

“The boys wanted the Cup and the Cup is back home and we are happy. It’s not in Salt Lake, it’s in Colorado. And it’s going to stay here for long. That’s what matters today, we’re going to get the points that we missed today because we deserve the three points, but I want the boys to enjoy that Cup because it means a lot for us, for the club, for the boys, for the players, for the fans and now the Cup is back home so we’re happy for that. We’ll see how it goes against Chivas but once again the Cup is back here and we are happy.”

On Jaime Castrllón’s game-tying goal:

“He called it. During the week he told me a few times, “I’m going to score this Saturday,” and he said… “I want to fight for this team, I feel ready.” He told me a few times this week, “I’m going to call it, I’m going score on Saturday, the winning goal,” and he did score, it was great.”

On coming back after the delay with a PK at hand:

“We asked them to have composure in the second half and in those twenty-five minutes that were left when the game stopped because it was a little hectic with all the emotions and cutting the game and everything so we wanted to have a team that has composure and calmness. We didn’t want just to keep messing up because I didn’t like things that happened in the first half. The team showed that we could be patient and get back to the game if they score. We were prepared for them to not scoring a goal or scoring. We were preparing the team mentally for anything to happen after the PK. The second half I wanted to highlight the second half was a very good half, probably one of our best halves.”

Colorado Rapids DF Drew Moor
On winning the Rocky Mountain Cup for the fans:

“That’s who we win this trophy for. The fans have made such a big deal out of this. I’ve said it several times, this team has accomplished a lot since I’ve been here – we’ve won an MLS Cup, we’ve won a lot of big games, but this was the one thing that was missing, at least since I’ve been here. And I know it’s been six or seven years now. To repay the fans for showing everything that they’ve done for us, sitting through games like this, the weather, how intense the atmosphere is, and you know this is just a sign of appreciation for them because that’s who we were playing for tonight.”

On the game:

“I wish we would’ve won the game. I think we deserved to win the game at the end. It was a hectic start, a poor start from us. But we responded well and against a good team like Salt Lake, who likes to come at you early, with the weather conditions, we put ourselves in a hole. But to show the character to not let the pressure get to us because we put a lot of pressure on ourselves before this game, I think at the end of the day three points would have been great but we won that trophy and we kept our unbeaten streak alive. We want to continue to move forward with the confidence that we’re playing with right now.”

On the second goal:

“That’s a goal straight off the training ground. I think Salt Lake had possessed the ball very well right before we scored that goal, but we stayed patient, we kept them in front of us, and when it was our opportunity it was a great interchange of play down the left side. [Chris] Klute has been working on his crosses all week. I think he was disappointed in his crosses last weekend, but he played a fantastic ball and Jaime [Castrillón] does what Jaime does best. You know you don’t always notice him, but he pops up and he scores big goals and this was probably the biggest since he’s been here with the Rapids.”

Colorado Rapids MF Jaime Castrillon
On how special the goal was for him:

“It was really special, because I had a difficult week. I want to thank God for the chance to be out there again, to play, to score again after so much time. Such an important game, the Cup coming back home – I’m really happy for all of it.”

On getting a result in such difficult conditions:

“Yes, glory goes to God because I had the confidence of my teammates, and in a difficult match – a “Clásico.” We say in Colombia that you can’t lose a Clásico (“El Clásico no se puede perder”). We rescued a point, the Cup stays here at home, and now it’s back to work. For my part, I worked hard to get back and to score more goals for the Colorado Rapids.”

On being able to get the Rocky Mountain Cup for the Colorado fans:

“They deserve it, because they’ve been with us during the whole season. The team is doing things well. Today is a day to enjoy, a Cup that the people deserve, and we’re going to work because we don’t want to stay with just this point. We’ve got a team here that can fight and be the champions, so we’re going to work for them.”