The Big Picture
Colorado Rapids 2 fell short to TSG Hoffenheim in a 0-1 loss during the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro Invitational on Tuesday night. This is the second time this season that Rapids 2 has been held scoreless in a match. Colorado will return home this weekend to take on Austin FC II at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium on Sunday, July 23. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. MT and the match will be streamed through MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Notable:
- Rapids 2 fell short to TSG Hoffenheim U23 in a 0-1 loss at America First Field during the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro Invitational. This is only the second time this season that Rapids 2 has been held scoreless during a match.
- Midfielder Dillon Serna wore the captain's armband for the first time this season in tonight's match against Hoffenheim U23.
- Defender Steve Flores made his return from injury in tonight's match versus Hoffenheim U23.
- Goalkeeper Adam Beaudry made four saves on the night to keep Hoffenheim to just one goal.
Postgame Media Availability:
Select postgame quotes transcribed below.
COLORADO RAPIDS 2 HEAD COACH ERIK BUSHEY
On the match:
“Yeah, good game. Their team was able to put us under a lot of pressure, so they asked us a lot of questions. There were problems that we had to solve, and I am grateful for that. That is really why we are playing the game. After the first 15 minutes, we were able to, I think, adapt and understand that we can play against the pressure, that if we found players that could free themselves up to face forward that we could make them defend. I thought we had an effort at some point after that where we were able to sustain pressure on their goal. I think we began to believe a little bit more that we could play. After that, I thought it was a good game. A slow start to the second half, but other than that it was a good effort on our part. We created a couple of chances here at the end off our press that could have turned the game on its head. It didn't and that's the game, so we move on."
On the team's struggle in the final third:
“It was difficult for us to sustain the pressure in front of their goal. There is a fine line there. If you don't get off to it early, when you do get there, yes you want to threaten the goal, but you also want to show that you can play in that area for a while, you want to sustain that possession. Maybe that turns against you, but that is a part of who we are. We want to play in that area. We want to try and create the greater scoring opportunities. Sometimes that comes, sometimes that doesn't. I think there were a few other times where at least they had to answer questions of us in the box. For sure, if you only create one shot on goal, it is going to be difficult to win."
\On the lessons learned from the match: \
"It was good experience. Obviously, it is a club that we are not going to see often, if ever again. It carries an allure with it. The fact that we are playing against a European club, a team from one of the top leagues in the world. Ultimately, they had a big man that could come at you fast. That was fine, we knew that coming in. Soccer can deflate that. We can use our soccer against their press. We had to be able to make decisions a little quicker. We need to be a little be sharper when the press does come, but we are quite capable of doing it. Perhaps that should be the takeaway. We are certainly quite capable of playing against a very good team with good athletes and good individuals. I hope the guys take the experience and are better for it. I am certainly proud of the effort and the work we put in and I am happy we played the game."
COLORADO RAPIDS 2 MIDFIELDER DILLON SERNA
On the match:
“Yeah, I thought it was good. Obviously, a disappointing result. I thought there were some positives moments in there for us, definitely some things that we can improve on. Overall, I think it was good. There were some decent performances from our guys and playing a quality opponent like Hoffenheim is always good for some of these younger guys to see how they match up. A lot of guys have a lot of desire to go to Europe so just to get some of that experience to play against a club like that is important and I thought we did well."
On the team's struggle in the final third:
"I think we created decent chances. One shot on goal I think doesn't do justice for the chances that we did create. Like I said, I think there were some positives in there, definitely some things that I think we can improve on. It is a quick turnaround for this week and so we are going to focus on Austin."
