Commerce City, CO– The Colorado Rapids (5-1-8, 11th West) host FC Dallas (6-4-4, 5th West) in the last match for the Rapids before the league takes a break for the World Cup. In the last game for just under two months, the Rapids face another high-flying Western Conference side. This time, it is FC Dallas. The Texas side hasn’t made a whole lot of headlines, but they are silently becoming a real contender in the West. The Colorado Rapids will face yet another former player, this time in Lalas Abubakar. It’s always good to see Lalas. Let’s take a look at the matchup.
When: Saturday, May 23rd @ 7:30 p.m. MST
Where: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
TV/Streaming: Apple TV
Loss in Leg One of the Rocky Mountain Cup
The vibes might have changed since the win over San Jose in the US Open Cup midweek, but for MLS, the Rapids are fresh off a derby loss at RSL. It was the same old story. Good start, bad mistake, momentum shifts, RSL score more, Rapids lose. This time, the good start came from a goal, and a set-piece goal at that. It was a well-worked play to get Paxten Aaronson free in the box, and Aaronson did very well to find Wayne Frederick for the youngsters’ second MLS goal.
The mistake came from another Rapids youngster, as Jackson Travis inexplicably gave the ball away in the build-up, playing RSL forward Sergi Solans through, and a pass to Zavier Gozo made it easy to equalize. Travis was lackadaisical on the ball and paid for it. Some blame must be put on the style of play, as Matt Wells’ system does make this style of goal-conceding a distinct possibility.
The Colorado Rapids didn’t play a horrible game in Utah, but it just wasn’t good enough on the night. They now need a result in the return leg at DICK’s on August 29th. It wasn’t the worst result, however. The Rapids will only need a one-goal win to retain the Rocky Mountain Cup. Win and keep the cup in August. If you don’t win at least one of the games against RSL, you don’t deserve the cup. All to play for.
Lineup Prediction:
Hansen / Thompson, Holding, Herrington, Travis / Ojediran, Atencio, Aaronson / Minoungou, R. Navarro (c), Manyoma
The Rapids will be without Ted Ku-DiPietro and Zack Steffen for this match. With Nico Hansen playing the way he is, it is not clear whether either of the injured players would even start. The bigger loss will be Matt Wells, who is suspended for this match due to yellow card accumulation. This will be the first match for Wells as a coach that he won’t be able to be on the sidelines for. At least it’s not for an awards ceremony.
In the last match of a three-game window, rotation will be in order. It is a more interesting case, as there will be no game after this for the Rapids to plan for. Not for two months. You don’t want to start a tired starting lineup, but Wells could get away with a lack of rotation due to this break. It will be interesting to see which way Wells goes.
It would not be surprising to see a surprise in the starting lineup for this match. Games without a whole lot of rest tend to get lineups with Frederick at left-back, Miguel Navarro in the middle, something of the sort. Expect a strong lineup from Wells.
Extra Rested FC Dallas Without Big Star
FC Dallas did not have a game midweek and will come to Colorado on a full week of rest, compared to the Rapids, who have two days off. This could come into play, but with both teams taking a little under two months off after this match, they can throw everything at the wall in this match.
FC Dallas has had an interesting start to 2026. They sit in fifth in the West and have one of the better attacking productions in the league. They tend to leak goals and tend to lean on their two stars up top. Petar Musa is the big name, but Logan Farrington has become a good find in the MLS SuperDraft for the Dallas side. The pair have combined for 17 of the 28 Dallas goals. Musa has 12 of those. The next best is Sam Sarver with three goals. Petar Musa will not be available for FC Dallas as he is on international duty. Big loss for Dallas, and Colorado will have to capitalize on the absence of Musa. Dallas also has the second-worst defensive record of the teams in the Western Conference playoff spots.
FC Dallas also played San Jose in their last match and won. It was in much more dramatic fashion, however, and has recently become viral for an unusual reason. FC Dallas won the game 3-2 on the back of a stoppage-time winner by Sam Sarver. The Dallas player then celebrated by shotgunning a beer thrown onto the field. This moment got a lot of attention within the league and nationally. Sarver has become a cult hero as of late. How much this will affect the match is undetermined. Probably very little. Still a funny story going into this one.
Prediction: In a back-and-forth affair, there will be nothing to split the two sides going into a long break. This one ends in a 2-2 tie.
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Eamon Shaw 
Matt Pollard 