ENGLEWOOD — It’s the little things.

For the Colorado Rapids, who have finished in last or second-to-last place of the Western Conference it in four of the last five seasons, it’s the small goals. An improved defensive effort, attitude or even just playing second balls better.

In the Rapids 2-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders on Saturday, some of this was evident.

Going down those two goals just minutes into the contest the game felt similar to one of the past. Then something changed.

“Last year, a similar thing happened in Seattle and we capitulated,” defender Tommy Smith said. “We lost 4-nill. To recover from that it shows character.”

Seattle has finished at or near the top of the west nearly every year this decade, and their home stadium is one of the toughest to play at on this side of the Atlantic.

“I think the response was good and we were all disappointed with how we started,” defender Keegan Rosenberry said. “The positive was a lot of the things they succeed with were problems we had self-inflicted. It’s good because we can prevent it and we know what we did wrong. I’ll be the first to hold my hand up and say I need to be sharper at the start.”

Simply, going down that quick to a team like Seattle is a formula for failure.

“But as the game wore on,” coach Anthony Hudson said, “we played (with) a lot of personality and created chances. It’s hard to put yourself in a hole like that.”

Personality is something that the Rapids lacked previously. Off the pitch, this has become one of the early staples of the team. Light at training, fun in meetings, business between the lines.

“We do have a really close group,” said Rosenberry, who was acquired this offseason from Philadelphia. “The way we conduct our meetings, interact with each other and interact without the coaches is the stuff that keeps the locker room tight throughout the year no matter the result.”

He added: “Our group is improving our ability to work hard. The little things are important and not easy to control, it’s top-down and a tribute to the character that we have.”

It’s rare that teams go from the bottom of the standings to playoff contention overnight. Looking for small benchmarks may be the best way to track the process of a build.

Perhaps “moral victories” isn’t the correct term. But this team has to take steps — however slow the progression might be — to build back into a contender. Hudson knows as much, but said he still feels like the Rapids are in a good place.

Still, wins are nice.

“We’re really disappointed to concede quick goals early and it’s not good enough,” Smith said. “We don’t want to put ourselves in the situations to have to do that going forward.”