The Big Picture
Colorado Rapids 2 (6-12-4, 23 pts.) drew 2-2 against top Western Conference side North Texas SC (12-4-7, 48 pts.) on Sunday night at Choctaw Stadium. First Team midfielder Wayne Frederick scored his first regular season goal while Robinson Aguirre netted his first of the 2024 season.
The match started heavily in North Texas’ favor with Academy goalkeeper Zackory Campagnolo having to make four saves in the first 45 minutes. However, it was the Rapids who were first to net a goal in the 29th minute after earning a free kick opportunity just outside of the box. First Team defender Sebastian Anderson stood over the service and played a perfect ball to the far post. MLS SuperDraft signing Frederick got big to head the ball into the back of the net to score his first regular season goal since joining the Rapids organization at the start of the 2024 season.
The Rapids were able to hold off the North Texas attack before heading into a weather delay prior to the start of the second half. The teams were able to play 13 minutes before going into a second weather delay that lasted an additional hour.
Colorado did not let the double delay kill their momentum with the second goal coming just minutes after the teams’ return to play.
North Texas goalkeeper Antonio Carrera played the ball up field but Anderson was there at the midfield to read the play and send it forward to an open Noah Strellnauer. Strellnauer fed the ball to captain Marlon Vargas who centered a short pass to Aguirre who took it on a one-time finish. The goal marked Aguirre’s first of the season while Vargas added his sixth assist.
Despite the two goal lead, North Texas kept pressing the Rapids’ defense earning two late goals in the 83rd and 90th minutes, sending both sides to a MLS NEXT Pro shootout.
North Texas stepped away with the extra point on the night in a 5-4 shootout result.
Rapids 2 will return home to face off against St. Louis CITY2 on Sunday, September 8. Kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m. MT at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
Notable:
- First Team midfielder Wayne Frederick scored his first regular-season goal during tonight's match since joining the Rapids organization at the beginning of the season as a 2024 MLS SuperDraft signing. His first professional goal was scored in U.S. Open Cup play in Rapids 2’s match versus Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC on April 3, 2024.
- M Robinson Aguirre scored his first goal of the 2024 season in tonight’s match against North Texas SC.
- First Team defender Sebastian Anderson delivered his first assist for Rapids 2 this season off a free kick in the first half.
- M Marlon Vargas recorded an assist on Aguirre’s goal tonight, continuing to lead the team with six assists this season.
Postgame Media Availability:
Head Coach Erik Bushey
Colorado Rapids 2 Midfielder Robinson Aguirre
Select postgame quotes transcribed below.
COLORADO RAPIDS 2 HEAD COACH ERIK BUSHEY
On the match…
"Tough result. A lot of good moments in the game for our guys and I am proud, once again, of their effort. Again, I feel sorry for the way they are feeling now because I am not sure we got the reward I thought we might have been deserved of. A tough game.”
On how to improve the last 10 minutes of the match…
“I don’t think it is just one thing. Every game tells its own story and where there are consistencies in the last three games, there are different reasons for why things happen the way they do. What I know is, it wasn’t due to a lack of effort. I don’t believe it was due to poor mentality, those are things that we have improved tremendously over the course of the season. If you want to be a consistent and winning team, we have to close out games. We are reminded that we have work to do.”
COLORADO RAPIDS 2 MIDFIELDER ROBINSON AGUIRRE
On the match…
“First of all, I am truly blessed that I got to score my first goal of the season. I know it has been a little bit of struggle for me throughout the season, in terms of my personal growth. I am just really grateful I got to score that in front of my family, they were out here today so that really meant a lot. Throughout the game, the whole team, through the weather and the delays we had going on - I felt like we were very good throughout the 90 minutes. It was just small moments and small little details that cost us the game. It has been like that throughout our whole season as we keep going. It has been a bit of a struggle and sometimes it can be bitter because the ending is not what we want it to be.”
On Erik Bushey’s message during the weather delays…
“He said the weather shouldn’t affect anything. We have to go out and treat it like a half time break and just do our thing and keep fighting through the 90 minutes. He says there are no excuses, we just have to find and work our way to three points.”
On how to stay in control during the last 10 minutes of the match…
“I feel like we could be a lot more organized and oriented in terms of our structure throughout the game. Throughout the first half, we didn’t press a lot but we were more composed and compact in the back. As the game was going, more fatigue started to come in and we just opened up little gaps or the small details would start fading away and that cost us. I feel like that throughout the 90 minutes is crucial for a game, especially a tight game.”
