Season Opener in Cascadia – Rapids vs Sounders Preview

Seattle, Wash. – It’s the start of another season for the Colorado Rapids, who travel to a familiar place to start the year. Seattle is not a place of joy for the Rapids. Colorado has won only twice in 20 matchups at Seattle Sounders and has picked up a point only three times. Luckily for Colorado, it marks the start of a new era with Matt Wells making his head-coaching debut. Wells will be starting off in one of the hardest places to play for any MLS team. Can Wells start his time in Colorado with a statement opening day win? Let’s take a look at the matchup.

When: Sunday, February 22nd @ 7:15 p.m. MST

Where: Lumen Field

TV/Streaming: Apple TV

Mixed Bag of Results in Preseason

While the official start of the Matt Wells era is on Sunday, he has been in charge of preseason, during which Colorado played three MLS sides to prepare for the season. In what many players called the hardest preseason they have ever had, the results were all over the place. 

Colorado started the preseason with a 3-1 loss to Nashville SC. A Darren Yapi curler was the only goal for the Rapids on a relatively disappointing final score. It did not get better in their next matchup, as Columbus Crew ran out 4-1 winners despite a first Rapid goal from Alexis Manyoma. Things started to look up for the Rapids in their final preseason matchup, as Colorado finished with a 4-1 win over Orlando City. Yapi, Rafael Navarro, and Paxten Aaronson had two goal contributions each.

While these games were behind closed doors, and we could only see a choice few highlights, it seems every Rapids game under Wells will either be a big loss or a big win. Preseason is a whole different game, and it is ill-advised to judge the squad just yet based on these games’ results. Remember when Anthony Hudson’s Rapids won 9-0 in preseason against an UPSL side, just to be Anthony Hudson? As Paxten Aaronson said after the Orlando game, the real work starts now.

Lineup Predictions: 

Steffen (c) / Cannon, Holding, Cobb, Travis / Ojediran, Atencio, Aaronson / Yapi, Navarro, Sealy

The start of a season is always the hardest time to predict a lineup, and it gets harder if it is also the first game of a new head coach. Matt Wells has kept his cards close to his chest about how he will line up his team. 

Despite not getting much information from the preseason, it seems Colorado lined up in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation more often than not. Similar to a look Chris Armas used in 2024 before experimenting in 2025. A key difference I expect to see is the whole midfield step back a step toward the Rapids’ backline. Atencio and Ojediran are better defensive midfielders than box-to-box, and Aaronson was vocal about how he wanted to play as an eight rather than a ten. This could just be placeholder terms, and the Rapids’ midfield could look very different depending on the gameplan.

If the Rapids’ midfield looks more defensive, it will put a lot of pressure on the front line. We saw some glimpses of this during the preseason highlights with Dante Sealy playing more centrally than a usual winger. Both Sealy and Rafa Navarro are too expensive not to start day one, while the last winger spot is an interesting one. Yapi played there in Orlando, but he doesn’t know what his role will be in Wells’ system. Alexis Manyoma and Ted Ku-DiPietro are legit options out wide. 

Steffen is a lock, alongside some of the backline. I would be shocked if Rob Holding and Reggie Cannon don’t start in Seattle. But who starts on the left side of the defense? Lucas Herrington has impressed in the preseason, notching a goal against Orlando. Noah Cobb has made the permanent move to Colorado, while Ian Murphy is the longest tenured center back the Rapids have. Sam Vines should be starting if we are looking at the price tag alone. However, Jackson Travis and kind of newcomer Miguel Navarro are most likely better options out wide. If Wells can fix Vinesy, that would be great. 

A Similar Seattle Side

In a year of rebuilding for the Colorado Rapids, their first opponent has done anything but rebuild. It has been a quiet offseason for Seattle, other than losing star homegrown Obed Vargas to Atletico Madrid. There wasn’t much need to make a big splash during the offseason, as Seattle became the first team in the best-of-three format to go unbeaten in all three games, but lost the series against Minnesota to two penalty kick shootouts. 

Manager Brian Schmetzer returns for his eleventh season in charge. Seattle still has the stars it had last season. They also added Hasani Dotson from Minnesota, while hoping to get Paul Arriola back. Injuries will be key for Seattle’s success in 2026, but the perennial playoff team in the West is looking to continue its playoff success.

It will take some magic for Colorado to get a result in Matt Wells’ first game, but it has happened before in the Emerald City, and it happened in their most recent matchup in Seattle. Colorado came back from 3-0 down to gain a point in a 3-3 draw on the back of two Rapids penalties and a Darren Yapi goal. Wells will be hopeful not to go down three goals to begin with, but it will be a tough ask in Seattle.

Prediction: The Matt Wells era starts off a bit slow in a difficult place to play. Seattle wins the opener 3-1.

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