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Revs aim to continue momentum in Colorado

Jul 22, 2011 - 7:04 PM Commerce City, CO (Sports Network) - New England Revolution coach Steve Nicol got a glimpse of what a win can do for a team on Wednesday as his club snapped a nine-game winless skid at D.C. United with a 1-0 victory.

"It's huge, absolutely huge," Nicol said of the win. "When we go 1-0 up, guys are throwing themselves in front of shots and chasing things down. They were gritting their teeth and pushing through it."

It was a dramatically different effort from the one that Nicol got three days prior against the Philadelphia Union, with the Revs losing 3-0 in a lifeless performance.

"We haven't had a lot to be happy about this year and after our performance against Philadelphia on the weekend, we were really down in the dumps and it just shows a lot of heart and resolve in these guys," said New England goalkeeper Matt Reis. "I still think this team is good enough to win and we definitely showed it tonight."

But now the trick will be to build on Wednesday's positive result with another on Saturday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park against the Colorado Rapids.

The Rapids are also riding a bit of a high after their 4-1 win over Red Bull New York on Wednesday in a match that saw Sainey Nyassi record the club's first hat trick since August 2009.

Ironically, the August hat trick was scored by Conor Casey, who is out for the rest of the season after suffering a torn Achilles tendon against Seattle last weekend.

Casey has battled injury problems throughout the season, but he still managed to score six goals, and his presence up top will be tough to replace.

"I am bitterly disappointed for Conor, who was in a terrific run of form," Rapids coach Gary Smith said. "It's a big challenge for the player. He's had some serious injuries before and he's come good, and I don't see any reason he can't get over this and still be as effective. But for both us and him, we are going to miss each other. We are going to miss him not being in the team, and he is going to miss being in it."

Nyassi's performance on Wednesday helped the team cope, but fellow forward Caleb Folan will also need to step forward to help fill the void left by Casey's absence.

"Caleb will get more football," Smith confirmed. "I am sure he is looking forward to that. He's always very heavily in my mind set - I just have to make sure he's getting the right amount of football as he adapts to the league."

Folan has scored three goals and assisted on two others in 16 appearances for the Rapids this season.