The Colorado Rapids advance to the Leagues Cup Semifinals following a thrilling matchup and shootout against Club América at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday night. Goalkeeper Zack Steffen was the hero, posting a shutout and even converting a penalty to lift his side to a 9-8 victory in the shootout. Colorado will now face LAFC at BMO Stadium on Wednesday, August 21st.
Heading into Saturday night, there was no shortage of anticipation for the final Leagues Cup Quarterfinals match between the 46-seeded Colorado Rapids and the number one-seeded Club América. With the last spot in the tournament’s semifinal on the line, there was everything to play for at Dignity Health Sports Park.
In the packed stadium in Carson, California, both sides started things off with as much energy as one would expect in a win-or-go-home contest. Chances were abundant for both sides in the short period of time to start the match. Despite the high-quality opportunities, the back lines stood strong, which quickly became a common theme throughout regulation.
Club América showed exactly why they were the number one seed and back-to-back Liga MX champions. The side managed to put up multiple attacks during the first half of play, but the Colorado defense would not back down and had an answer for just about every threat that their opposition posed. A back line of Keegan Rosenberry, Andreas Maxsø, Lalas Abubakar, and Sam Vines stood strong with Steffen behind them.
Despite being scoreless at the half, this match had plenty of action and was a masterclass in defensive play.
The second half was more of the same, with both sides creating chances to no avail and not being able to find the back of the net.
Colorado continued their incredible defensive play, with it seeming like every chance that América had was dealt with easily from the Rapids’ backline. Rosenberry, in addition to the rest of the squad, made block after block to stall the opposition. Both sides threatened to break the ice in regulation and seal what would have hopefully been the match-winning goal, but this one would be decided from the penalty spot following a scoreless 0-0 draw in regulation.
As if this match needed any more suspense, the pressure was on with the clubs stepping up to the mark.
Both sides held serve for the first two rounds, with Cole Bassett and Djordje Mihailovic converting their attempts. The América goalkeeper made a save in the third round, giving the Rapids and Steffen two rounds to keep their tournament hopes alive. Maxsø and Conor Ronan both converted their attempts, bringing the match down to potentially its last kick if América were to convert. As he has done throughout the entire tournament, Steffen came up in the biggest moments. The goalkeeper guessed correctly with a dive to his right and calmly made the save to send the shootout to sudden death.
Even with the heightened stakes in sudden death, both ends of the shootout could not miss and sunk shot after shot. Calvin Harris, Oliver Larraz, Rosenberry, and Vines, all converted to set the pace for the rest of the shootout. After just about every field player had their chance to take a shot, it was time for Steffen to continue growing his legend in the 2024 Leagues Cup. The goalkeeper stepped up in the tenth round and made no mistake with a rocket of a shot in the center of the net. Having just put his side up, he then had a chance to clinch the victory against the América goalkeeper on the other end. The opposition had their chance to level things, but the shot went wide, securing the Rapids spot in the tournament’s Semifinals.
Against all odds, the Rapids took down the tournament’s top side, making them one of the final four teams standing. The club will now get ready to face LAFC at BMO Stadium with a spot in the 2024 Leagues Cup Final on the line. The match is set for Wednesday, August 21, with a kickoff time set for 8:00 p.m. MT. (Apple TV—MLS Season Pass, Altitude Sports Radio 950AM).
