Salt Lake City, UT– It’s the first leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup as the Colorado Rapids (5-1-7, 9th West) travel across the Rockies to face Real Salt Lake (7-1-4, 4th West). The Rapids have won the Rocky Mountain Cup for the last two years. It was an impressive win in 2024, winning twice in the three-legged cup on the back of two late Cole Bassett goals in either match. In 2025, it marked the end of the Chris Armas era, as a 1-0 win earlier in the season was enough when the Rapids lost a crucial match in the playoff race at RSL late into the year.
Colorado retained the cup but missed out on the playoffs. It’s the first year of Matt Wells in the Rocky Mountain Cup. Armas was two for two. Can Wells start off well against the rivals from the other side of the Rockies? Let’s take a look at the matchup.
When: Saturday, May 16th @ 7:30 p.m. MST
Where: America First Field, Utah
TV/Streaming: Apple TV
Gutsy Win in Minnesota
The Rapids snapped a five-game winless streak in a place where they weren’t expected to be very competitive. Minnesota United are no scrubs, and the Rapids were dealing with a few crucial injuries. Rotation and personnel forced Wells to change up his usual approach, and he played a game much more similar to St. Louis than their usual selves. It worked.
It was only the second match in which the Rapids didn’t have the lion’s share of possession. The other game was in Toronto, where an early red card made that dream quite difficult. The second red card made it even harder. Even without possession, the team found a way to win, and it was through their expensive players. Paxten Aaronson found Rafa Navarro expertly, and a Minnesota defender was caught napping on the offside trap. The Rapids only have two shots on target. It was a problem in Houston and against St. Louis. In this game, it worked. It wasn’t a pretty win, but to win away from home, it can’t always be pretty. The best stat to win in is the goals, and the Rapids won in that stat.
This win was the Rapids’ second win away from home this season. In the last 21 away matches for the Colorado Rapids, they have won three times. Two of those times were against Minnesota. It was another gutsy game, as Darren Yapi’s brace lifted the Rapids in 2025. Winning in MLS is hard. Winning away from home in MLS is even harder. It hasn’t been easy for Wells to do it. It took him going away from his usual style to get that elusive win. It’s not a bad thing that Wells was fluid in his tactics. Being stubborn was one way another British Rapids coach found his way out of the league. It was a mighty impressive result from Wells, who made some bold changes to his usual tactics in this one.
Lineup Prediction
Hansen / Thompson, Herrington, Holding, Travis / Ojediran, Atencio, Aaronson / Yapi, R. Navarro (c), Sealy
Alex Harris is the new name on the injury report. Ted Ku-DiPietro and Zack Steffen remain out. Josh Atencio has been upgraded to questionable after his concussion kept him out of the last few games.
Colorado’s midfield is starting to come back together. Wayne Frederick and Connor Ronan had to make the start even with them coming off some long-term injuries when Hamzat Ojediran and Josh Atencio were made unavailable against Minnesota. Frederick and Ronan’s injuries were a key factor in how Wells set up his team. He won’t have this restriction in Utah with Atencio and Ojediran making their way back into the squad.
Rotation will be a key factor for Wells in the upcoming games. The Rocky Mountain Cup was sandwiched between the trip to Minnesota and a US Open Cup quarter-final at home against San Jose. Wells wants to win the US Open Cup. This is the furthest the Rapids have gotten in the tournament since 2006. Wells wants to start with a strong lineup. The players will have to endure a tough schedule the rest of the way before the World Cup break.
Ugh, RSL Might be Good this Year
It’s never a good sight when RSL looks to be a dangerous team. It has been forced to be a young side, with many injuries forcing RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni to put his trust in the young guys, and it has worked. And now RSL are healthy, and the young guys have left the team in a good spot.
RSL started the year with five wins in their first seven, only losing to Vancouver and drawing in San Diego, which would have felt more like a win than a loss. RSL were flying high, but were winning against teams they should have beaten. Austin, Sporting KC, San Diego, and Atlanta are not the greatest teams. They then played Inter Miami and lost, couldn’t beat LA Galaxy away from home, and lost to FC Dallas. The Rapids and RSL have scored the same number of goals, but RSL has conceded three fewer goals and gained six more points as a result. All of a sudden, they have just two wins in their last five, and look beatable. Still a very dangerous team, but not David vs Goliath.
It might feel like David vs Goliath, however. Utah has not been too kind to the Rapids over the years. Even during the two years of Rocky Mountain Cup wins, the Rapids only won once in the three trips across the Rockies. This matchup has historically been on RSL’s side. Especially in Utah. In 23 games, the Rapids have won twice. They have avoided losing just seven times, with five draws. Matt Wells says that this is a different Rapids team. It will have to be to get anything out of Utah.
Prediction: The Rapids look different on the field, but it will be much of the same on the other side of the Rockies. RSL takes this one 3-1.
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Eamon Shaw 
Matt Pollard 