The Colorado Rapids drew with Orlando City SC 1-1 on Friday night at Exploria Stadium in their final preseason tune-up before Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League competition.
"I was really pleased with the whole day," said Rapids' head coach Robin Fraser. "It was a really good challenge for us because we played different types of teams throughout preseason but this was a good one for us because they do things that we really had to adjust and adapt to. So I feel like it was a really good learning step for our last game before [the season]."
Orlando opened the scoring early as Robin Jansson slotted home a cross from Ruan in the third minute. Diego Rubio equalized for the Rapids on the stroke of halftime, finishing off a weighted ball across goal from Keegan Rosenberry to make it 1-1.
Recent Colorado additions Bryan Acosta and Max Alves made their Rapids debut in the draw.
"It was exciting to see the new guys get on and how they would fit in," said Fraser. "Bryan did really well, he's a strong physical presence, he closes down very quickly. And he's good and simple with the ball, which also helped keep our attack going. And then Max is a clever player. He's young but he's incredibly attentive. In the few days that we've had him he's been like a sponge, just in terms of learning what we want to do."
Up next, the Rapids travel to Guatemala City to take on Comunicaciones FC for the first leg of the SCCL Round of 16 on February 17th. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. MT and the match will be available to watch on FOX Sports (USA-English) and TUDN (USA-Spanish).
Scoring Summary: ORL - Robin Jansson 3', COL - Diego Rubio 45'
Starting XI: William Yarbrough (GK), Lucas Esteves, Auston trusty, Danny Wilson, Lalas Abubakar, Keegan Rosenberry, Collen Warner, Jack Price (C), Jonathan Lewis, Michael Barrios, Diego Rubio
Substitutes: Clint Irwin (GK), Abe Rodriguez (GK), Drew Moor (83'), Steven Beitashour (75'), Michael Edwards, Seb Anderson, Bryan Acosta (46') , Oliver Larraz, Mark-Anthony Kaye (46'), Max Alves (61'), Yaya Toure (83')
