COMMERCE CITY, Colo. ― Ten days after defeating Minnesota, the Colorado Rapids (6-3-2, 20 points) return to DICK’S Sporting Goods Park to host the San Jose Earthquakes (3-7-2, 11 points) on Military Appreciation Night on Saturday, July 17. Kickoff is set for 7 PM, with pregame coverage starting on Altitude Sports at 6:30 PM. and on Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM at 6:45 PM.
“Certainly expect this to be another very difficult game,” Rapids head coach Robin Fraser said. “San Jose is a team that’s difficult to play against and they disrupt the way teams play quite a bit. They have a number of very talented players, especially up front. We know that we need to be at our best, for sure.”
In their last match, the Rapids picked up their fourth home win of 2021 on July 7 against Minnesota. 20-year-old Argentine winger Braian Galván made his first start of the season and scored a beautiful game-winning goal, curling a left-footed shot off the far post and in seconds before halftime. Andre Shinyashiki made it 2-0 with a cheeky chip shot over Loons goalkeeper Tyler Miller in the 81st minute for his second goal of the season.
Diego Rubio and Michael Barrios earned assists on Galván’s goal, bringing their season totals to three and four assists, respectively. Kellyn Acosta picked up his first assist of 2021 on Shinyashiki’s goal and was named to the MLS Team of the Week. Goalkeeper William Yarbrough made two saves to post an MLS-best fifth clean sheet. Rubio and Barrios lead the Rapids with three goals each, while Barrios and captain Jack Price lead the team with four assists.
Acosta played against Minnesota after being called up to the U.S. Men’s National Team for the Concacaf Gold Cup, alongside Rapids teammates Sam Vines and Jonathan Lewis, who will all miss Saturday’s match, as will San Jose midfielder Jackson Yueill, who is also with the USMNT. Vines became the first Rapids Academy product to be called up to the USMNT for a senior international tournament and scored the game-winning goal against Haiti to open play in Group B. The USMNT takes on Martinique tonight at 7:30 p.m. (FS1, Univision, TUDN).
Saturday’s clash against the Quakes is the first of three games in eight days for Colorado. The Rapids host FC Dallas on Wednesday before visiting Real Salt Lake on Saturday, July 24. The match is also first of two meetings this year between Colorado and San Jose; they’ll square up again on Sept. 4 in California.
The Rapids will look to extend their home scoring streak to 31 consecutive MLS matches with a goal scored, the longest active home scoring streak in MLS. Colorado is currently averaging 2.17 goals per home game, the most in the league.
The last time these teams played, Lewis, Shinyashiki, Cole Bassett and Nico Mezquida scored as the Rapids picked up a 5-0 win in September 2020. Colorado is unbeaten in its last nine home matches against San Jose and has won each of the last five at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park.
San Jose enters the match winless in eight games, most recently drawing Minnesota United, 2-2, on July 3. 17-year-old midfielder Cade Cowell opened the scoring in the 15th minute. Goals from Brent Kallman and Ramón Ábila put Minnesota ahead, but Benjamin Kikanovic equalized in the 82nd minute.
Cowell leads the Quakes with four goals, while Cowell and Cristian Espinoza lead the team with three assists apiece. The Quakes have been shut out five times in their last eight games.
“It was good little recovery for us to get our minds right for this long stretch of games where we have a game every three days,” Bassett said. “We’re excited to get going again this weekend. We’ve been working hard so far this week and we can’t wait to get back out at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park again.”
News & Notes
- The Rapids will be without Kellyn Acosta, Jonathan Lewis and Sam Vines, who are all with the 23-player U.S. Men’s National Team at Concacaf Gold Cup. Vines is the first Rapids Academy product to be named to the USMNT for a senior international tournament. Vines scored his first USMNT goal in the 1-0 win over Haiti in Group B action. Colorado is tied with Atlanta for the most players on the USMNT Gold Cup roster.
- With a goal on Saturday, the Rapids will reach 31 consecutive MLS matches at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park with at least one goal scored, tying Atlanta United for the sixth-longest home scoring streak in MLS history.
- The Rapids boast the second-highest shot conversion rate in MLS at 17.65 percent, and the highest in the league at home at 22.41 percent.
- Colorado averages 2.17 goals scored per home game, which is the most in MLS.
- Colorado is undefeated in its last three matches against San Jose. The Rapids have won the last five meetings at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park and are undefeated in their last nine against the Quakes at DSGP since April 2014.
- The Rapids’ 5-0 win over San Jose marks the largest margin of victory in club history, tying the 5-0 win over Real Salt Lake to capture the Rocky Mountain Cup 11 days earlier.
- Michael Barrios has three goals and four assists in his last seven games, both tied for the team lead and all since getting on the scoresheet for the first time as a Rapids player. Barrios is two assists away from 50 in his MLS career. He would be the sixth player to reach 50 assists in MLS since 2015.
- Nicolás Mezquida has four goals in just 393 career minutes against the Quakes, his best goals per minute production against any team in MLS.
- William Yarbrough’s next clean sheet will be his 10th as a Rapids player.
- Diego Rubio’s next assist will be the 20th of his MLS career. Rubio has 17 goals and 11 assists since joining the Rapids ahead of the 2019 season.
- Danny Wilson is seven minutes away from reaching 5,000 in his MLS career. The Scotsman has three goals and three assists in 63 appearances, 57 of them starts, since joining Colorado in 2018.
- Keegan Rosenberry’s next shot will be the 100th of his MLS career. Rosenberry has seven goals and 12 assists in 142 career MLS matches since 2016.
