Jonathan Lewis Leads Pids to South Platte River Derby win

Colorado Rapids hosted Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC on Wednesday night. It was an in-state U.S. Open Cup game and the first ever South Platte River Derby.

The Rapids rotated the squad quite a bit from MLS play. Marlon Vargas made the jump from Rapids 2 to play in the midfield. Anthony Markanich and Sebastian Anderson got starts at fullback. Darren Yapi started at right wing in a 4-1-4-1 with Kévin Cabral starting up top.

It was all Rapids through the first half hour. Just five minutes in, Ralph Priso got time on the ball in the final third, finding Jonathan Lewis cutting inside. The winger picked out the far bottom corner for his first goal of the season and the first first half goal of the year for the club.

Both teams had looks from set pieces. Vargas skied a shot over the bar. Markanich hit the post on a diving header. NoCo had much less of the ball but they made the most of their transition moments, getting outshot 6-4 in the first half. Stefan Lukic had a shot deflected wide of the far post in the 27th minute.

Hailstorm got back into the match on 40 minutes. In a patented ball to the far post, Bruno Rendon send the ball to an unmarked Jackson Dietrich who smashed the ball into the back of the net. The half ended 1-1.

“We came out slow the first 15 minutes. But the last 15 minutes of the half, we felt like we were on top of them,” said the goal scorer Dietrich postgame. “Sadly, when you play a team at this level one or two small mistakes, missed passes can lead to a goal. 100% we all believed we were going to come out on top. We came up short.”

The first ten minutes of the second half were end-to-end with Cabral and Donald Benamna getting chances. Yapi was denied a great chance at the year post. Through balls started causing problems for the visitors and it would cost them. On 55 minutes, Max Alves and Lewis had a give-and-go that saw Lewis beat goalkeeper Edward Delgado and center back Rob Cornwall. He finished first time to make it 2-1.

Max and Lewis combined to put the game out of reach ten minutes later. Lewis picked off a telegraphed pass and eventually found Max, who made a late run. Delgado got a piece of the shot but the ball went off the post and in.

The match ended 3-1. Yapi had several good looks in the final minutes but could not convert.

Open Cup Pride and Relief:

The Rapids were the better team and they asserted that by the second half. This was their first win in the competition since 2017. Still, Hailstorm made a go of it. They kept it competitive through and hour and scored a goal against an MLS team. Their fans provided some atmosphere and made noise through 70 minutes. The club again gave a good account of themselves in the Open Cup.

“The second goal the scored was a killer blow. Disappointed. Proud of the guys effort. Thankful for the turnout. Makes me more excited to play at home 27th of May,” Zayed told Burgundy Wave.

“That was something I was really determined to break. I wanted to make sure no one took this as a night off. Everyone took this as an opportunity. As a team it was important that we took this seriously,” Robin Fraser said postgame.

Lewis and Max convert:

Lewis was involved in all three goals with a brace and an assist. Max had a goal and assist as well. This was coming for Max, who’s been improving with regular minutes recently. Lewis has to feel some relief given the chances he missed on Saturday night. Yes, it was against third division opposition. Still, seeing the ball go in and getting a comfortable win has to help the psyche.

“I haven’t scored since last year September. For me, it feels good no matter how they go in. To score a second one, was good build up play. For the last five games, we’ve been able to score. We just have to keep trying to be creative in the final third,” Lewis told Burgundy Wave.

“(Max) just needed to get comfortable and get games. He has a lot of potential. He’s been looking very good. Today he was very good again.”

Managing fixture congestion:

Head Coach Robin Fraser did well to manage minutes in the first three game week of the year. Max and Andreas Maxsø were the only regular starters who went 90 minutes, with Lewis as well. Max and Lewis could be subs on Saturday if needed. Assuming a few players can get healthy, Fraser should have options and flexibility against Vancouver Whitecaps. Mike Edwards came off the bench for his first team debut which was nice to see.

Photo Credit: Mark Shaiken.