The Big Picture
Colorado Rapids 2 (6-17-4, 23 pts.) fell to Minnesota United FC 2 (8-15-4, 32 pts.) in a 1-0 result at the National Sports Center Stadium. Despite going down to nine men, Rapids 2 fought until the last minutes of the match, only conceding one goal in 90 minutes of play.
Rapids 2 were faced with a difficult task in the first 45 minutes of the match, taking on an attack-heavy Minnesota. The home side was quick to challenge the Colorado backline, but the defense stood strong and kept MNUFC2 scoreless heading into the half.
Colorado also headed into the half a man down after First Team forward Kimani Stewart-Baynes received back-to-back yellow cards in the 37th minute.
Despite the first half obstacles, Rapids 2 managed to keep their energy up in the second half, with Rapids Academy goalkeeper Zackory Campagnolo and the backline making a handful of crucial saves to keep their side within reach of three points.
In the dying minute of the match, Minnesota found a floating through ball, which resulted in a breakaway just outside of the box. Defender Nate Jones made a tactical decision and committed a foul, which resulted in the second red card of the game.
With nine men left on the field for Colorado and only a few minutes left of play, the Rapids defense did well to keep Minnesota at bay. However, a foul in the box in the 89th minute resulted in a penalty kick, which Jordan Adebayo-Smith finished to give his team three points on the night.
Rapids 2 will gear up for the final game of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season against Portland Timbers 2 on Sunday, October 6. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. MT at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
Notable:
- Colorado Rapids 2 featured six Rapids Academy players in tonight’s match. The six players combined for a total of 469 minutes, making up 50% of the minutes played in tonight’s game.
- The average age of tonight’s Rapids 2 team was 19.0.
Postgame Media Availability:
Head Coach Erik Bushey
Colorado Rapids 2 Defender Steve Flores
Select postgame quotes transcribed below.
COLORADO RAPIDS 2 HEAD COACH ERIK BUSHEY
On the match…
"A difficult first quarter of the match when it was 11 versus 11. It took us a little bit longer to get into the game, but we worked to do that. We were certainly trying and I think that’s a theme for the night. After the first quarter of the match, we tried and worked through the game. To be fair, the first thing out of my mouth should have been how proud I am of the players. What a wonderful and disciplined performance once we went down to 10 men. It goes without saying that it is an incredibly hard way to end the game. I said this a few times this year – the guys won’t see the positive in it and I am completely understanding of that. I see the positive in what they did and what they did together and I am very proud of that.”
On the last week of training and the last game of the year…
“The end is coming fast. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident in terms of facing a difficult result. The boys have answered literally every week after games. It’s going to be very hard for anybody outside of our locker to understand just how difficult that is and has been. Just like the quality of soccer we are capable of showing at times, the players create the standard and in this particular case, they have created the standard of coming back and getting to work. We will show up and compete. There will be moments that will take a little bit of – I wouldn’t say take the pressure off, but there will be opportunities for the guys to smile. We have five days of training to go and these five days are meaningful and the game against Portland will be meaningful. There will be more moving pieces as we head into next weekend, but I have no doubt that the guys will show up to train and that we will put our best foot forward to win the game next weekend.”
COLORADO RAPIDS 2 DEFENDER STEVE FLORES
On the match…
“I think it was unlucky in the beginning receiving a red card and going a man down. I feel like the team was able to hold off and we got unlucky at the end. I think it was just an unlucky match.”
On the mentality of the team playing a man down…
“At halftime, coach talked about not letting them go through the middle, making them go out wide. I feel like everybody switched on and they were ready to defend for the team and protect Zack [Campagnolo] and fight for the badge.”
On the last game of the season…
“It’s obviously a valuable game. My teammates, me included, everybody has to perform and leave this season with a good note. It’s an important game that I believe we should win and we will look forward to doing that.”
