Just days before the top-seed Colorado Rapids begin their Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs journey at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park, we’re rolling the film back to BMO Field on November 21, 2010, the day the Boys in Burgundy brought home their first MLS Cup after a 2-1 decision with FC Dallas.
In a second-half come-from-behind victory, Gary Smith’s Rapids squad took home the silverware to Colorado, where this year’s team led by MLS Coach of the Year finalist Robin Fraser will kick off playoff competition in front of a friendly crowd.
Despite going down one goal at the half, stars Omar Cummings, Drew Moor and captain Pablo Mastroeni rallied the Rapids back to score two goals in the final 50 minutes of the game. The chaos caused by Jamie Smith and Conor Casey in the box in the 57th minute, and ensuing equalizing goal by Casey, was the match to light the fire in Colorado’s play.
It wasn’t until the 107th minute of play that the Rapids broke the overtime deadlock and sealed their fate as MLS royalty. Sengalese striker Macoumba Kandji’s effort in the eighteen, megging FC Dallas’ Jair Benitez to toe-poke the ball on frame, deflected off of defender George John and into the back of the net.
Kandji’s effort in the box came at a price–a collision resulting in an ACL tear–but it was an effort that paid off in spades. The Rapids continued to prove their tenacity for the final minutes of the game, reduced to ten men and fending off wave after wave of Dallas attacks, but it didn’t matter. The Cup was coming back to Colorado.
"The trophy – whether it’s money, whether it’s fame, whether it’s actually hardware – is nothing more than a symbol of all the hard work, and, more importantly, the experiences you had with other fellow human beings to get to that moment," Mastroeni said. "In other words, money is empty, trophies are empty, titles are empty, unless you have the experiences and great people to share them with. That’s what I discovered. It’s not about the trophy. It’s about the journey."
