Substitute Kévin Cabral Scores but Rapids Lose to Orlando City in Final Preseason Friendly

ORLANDO – Colorado Rapids played their final preseason friendly of 2024 on Saturday evening, playing Orlando City SC.

Head Coach Chris Armas came out with an interesting lineup. Keegan Rosenberry, Andreas Maxsø, Moïse Bombito, and Lalas Abubakar all started. This could have been in a back five or likely one of Bombito or Abubakar were at left back. The rest of the lineup was as expected with Calvin Harris starting at right midfield.

The Lions dominated the opening minutes. Kyle Smith scored in the opening seconds. then in the 10th minute, Facundo Torres converted a penalty. The half ended 2-0.

Oliver Larraz, Jonathan Lewis, and Alex Gersbach got into the game early in the second half. Rafael Navarro scored a penalty in the 64th minute, after being fouled in the penalty area. The Rapids are now three for three on preseason penalties. Jonathan Lewis has the previous two. It was Navarro’s fourth goal of preseason.

In the 78th minute, substitute Kévin Cabral scored to make it 2-2, assisted by Cole Bassett. It was Cabral’s first goal of preseason. He has been further down the depth chart this preseason. Darren Yapi and Michael Edwards got off the bench in the second half as well.

Jeorgio Kocevski scored in the third minute stoppage time to win the game for OCSC 3-2.

Once again, there was no live stream of this game. It’s hard to draw detailed conclusions without watching the film. Orlando is a good team, and could be a dark horse for a trophy or two this year. The Rapids showed some resilience but came up short. Not the first time that’s happened at Orlando.

They’ve scored a bunch of goals this preseason. It’s been spread out in terms of who’s scoring and the phases of play. This is still a new team with new faces and a new manager. Achieving their potential will take time. There’s plenty of good signs.

Photo Credit: John Babiak

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