Rapids Defense Stands Tall in Scoreless Draw vs. St. Louis in MLS Opener

ST. LOUIS — Defensive resolve will be one of the themes of the 2025 Colorado Rapids. That much is clear. Even after a boisterous opening night scoreless draw at rocking Energizer Park in St. Louis against St. Louis CITY, it was the calm heads of Colorado’s back line who stood out the most.

“It’s a big credit to the group because we had to suffer without the ball here and there,” Head Coach Chris Armas said. “… We had to put out a lot of fires. Any time you play a team like that that forces the coincidence, it’s tricky. (St. Louis) value crosses from lots of spaces. We have worked hard at being comfortable being uncomfortable, defending our box with principles and little behaviors that we think showed up on the night.”

Colorado was without six players entering the MLS opener, but right back Reggie Cannon recovered well enough to start after he suffered a scary injury in Tuesday’s CONCACAF Champions Cup game at DSGP.

The hosts got after it on attack from the opening kickoff and Colorado had to fend off a few attacks. In the 15th minute, Zack Steffen denied Simon Becher from point-blank range after St. Louis heaved a dangerous throw-in into the box and it was re-directed to Becher. Steffen made himself big and denied the shot with his chest.

St. Louis City thought it had got on the scoreboard first in the 20th minute, but it was ultimately ruled offside. With St. Louis’ Designated Player João Klauss lined up over a free kick, Becher tried to get in the face of Steffen and mimic his movements by blocking his line of sight until Klauss was ready to shoot. Klauss’ shot clanged the post and the rebound was passed back into play as Henry Kessler squared it and Becher tapped it home, however, Kessler was deemed to be in an offside position.

Colorado was not able to create many chances in the first half. The best half chance in the first half came in the 36th minute from Cole Bassett, as the Littleton native played a 1-2 pass but couldn’t get on the end of it and Roman Bürki saved it.

St. Louis created one final chance before the halftime whistle as Becher had a chance to nod home a header off of a cross from Akil Watts, but Becher’s header went high over the crossbar and the teams went in scoreless.

In the second half, Colorado put more pressure on, but ultimately, it was the back four and Steffen that stood out. St. Louis was unrelenting in its attacks as Steffen was called into work with a key save in the 49th minute on Becher, and a Klauss shot from the penalty spot in the 66th minute but didn’t generate enough power.

Elsewhere, the work of Josh Atencio did not go unnoticed as he put out fires and started attacks in defensive midfield, as he went 78 minutes in a strong debut.

Colorado did not create true chances until late on, as Djordje Mihailović’s tired legs kept churning. First, in the 87th minute off of a turnover, Mihailović and Bassett had a chance off of a cross, but bumped heads and the ball sailed harmlessly wide. Then, in the 92nd minute, his cross nearly got all the way through but it went just wide of the post.

Atencio makes his debut, feels at home

The newest signing, Josh Atencio, who came over from the Seattle Sounders this past offseason, has already seemed to make an impression on the group and his coach. Armas after the game called him “excellent”.

“His ability to stay connected to the game, cover big spaces, the amount of balls he pokes away, duels, tackles. When we talk about guys who are on line and in on it, he’s a guy that’s just connected in all ways.”

Meanwhile, Atencio is already comfortable with the Mile High City. His brother lives in Colorado Springs, while his uncle is in Parker.

“It’s a home away from home for me. … I spent a lot of time around the Denver area growing up and it’s been an easy, smooth adjustment so far.”

Chidozie Awaziem was massive at the back

In a hostile environment, this place was loud for Opening Night, Awaziem had the coolest head of them all. He put out fires constantly, specifically in the first half. While he might be missing his center back pairing in Andreas Maxsø, his teammate Ian Murphy stepped up and the two were big for Colorado to seal the shutout.

“We’ve got this understanding, Ian and me, and we communicate a lot,” Awaziem said. “We just have to do the job. The team comes first. We did our best to help our team to maintain a clean sheet.”

LAFC up next in CCC

Colorado will have a tight turnaround as it will have the second leg of the Conca Champions Cup on Tuesday at LAFC. Armas said he a few of the players who were out on Saturday are getting closer to full fitness and will be excited when the group will be humming again. That being said, while he’s happy with a point, he knows there’s bigger challenges ahead.

“Everything we do, we play to win,” Armas said. We’ll go to LAFC, we’ll be aggressive and try to add to the lead that we have right now. But we will also be smart as we do that.”

Photo Credit: Brendan Ploen

Thank you for reading Burgundy Wave. Support us via our Patreon starting at $5/month. We’re always looking for new talent. Let us know if you’re interested in covering Colorado Soccer.