By Daniel Feuerstein | Commerce City, CO | September 16th, 2026
This was the biggest game for the Colorado Rapids since they won the MLS Cup back in 2010 against FC Dallas. For the third time in the club’s history, they have reached the Semifinal and advanced to the Open Cup Final once back in 1999, losing to the then lower-division Rochester Raging Rhinos two goals to nil. They hosted St. Louis City SC at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for the right to travel across the country to face the Columbus Crew in the Championship Final on October 21st. From start to finish, the Rapids looked inept and played poorly; they allowed St. Louis to score with ease. After the final whistle, it was City advancing to their first Open Cup Final with a final score of three goals to nil.
Howler by the goalkeeper
It was a meaningless play. Nothing was happening. The Rapids had possession of the ball, and they were passing it around as Reggie Cannon just passed the ball back to his goalkeeper, Adam Beaudry. A back pass that was supposed to reset the attack for the Rapids and make an attempt to go down the pitch and create something dangerous. When Beaudry received the ball inside his area, he misplayed the ball with his right foot, and pouncing on the opportunity was St. Louis’s Jeong Sang-Bin. Sand-Bin tapped the ball away from Beaudry, got taken down, but got back on his feet and smacked the ball into the open net in the 32nd minute for the one-goal lead.
Hustling play leads to a goal
With the clubs returning to the pitch to start the second half, the Rapids were back on the front foot, looking for the equalizer. But once again, that one moment of losing concentration led to them getting scored on again, and St. Louis took advantage. After stopping the Rapids, St. Louis went on the counter. As the ball was going along the near side, Conrad Wallem received the ball and made the run against the defenders. As he reached near the area, Wallem made the pass to Simon Becher toward his left. Then Becher, who got close to the area, made the Rapids believe he was going for the far post, but he went short side and scored inside the near post and converted in the 52nd minute.
After Becher scored, VAR was reviewing a play that began well before St. Louis went on the counter. Paxton Aaronson looked to have been fouled before the play began by the St. Louis side of the pitch. But referee Joe Dickerson announced to the Dick’s Sporting Goods Park crowd, after his review, that the ball was touched first and the contact was second, allowing the goal to stand and the two-goal lead to be cemented.
More confusion from the Rapids allowed St. Louis to take advantage
Paxton Aaronson committed a foul and was booked in the 58th minute as he showed his frustration when the VAR Review didn’t wipe out the second goal for St. Louis. The free kick for St. Louis was taken quickly as Tomas Totland took it quickly and sent a looping ball towards the path of a running Alenadru Matan, and it landed right in front of him and was onside. Matan got control, forced Beaudry to track back quickly, and smashed it home in the 59th minute to make it three. With 30 minutes left to play, including what would be added in second half stoppage time, the Rapids had nothing left to dent the scoreboard and couldn’t threaten their opponent’s net.
The Rapids played poorly
This was the match where the Colorado Rapids were going to cement a new direction for the club. They had a great opportunity to play a fantastic match, and it all came crumbling down in front of their supporters. Poor passing and poor concentration led to the goals being scored; then their attitudes changed, and they started to get overly physical, with St. Louis City trying to bait them into a fight or trying to get St. Louis into a card situation. They were lucky that Loic Williams, who did create a dangerous challenge, slid into a St. Louis defender and never caught him with studs. While he was originally sent off on a straight red card, VAR saved him and got the color reversed from red to yellow in the 83rd minute.
The attitude and professionalism of the Rapids were poor, and they were very lucky the first three yellow cards that were dealt to them weren’t red, because their feelings were hurt. They had no one to blame but themselves. Beaudry misplayed the back pass that led to the first goal, poor defense on the second goal, and falling asleep as a unit allowed the third goal to be scored. Then another poor back pass later in the second half almost got tapped in if not for the defender helping his keeper get to the ball first. The Rapids gave the game away, and now it’s St. Louis City flying to Columbus for the final on Wednesday, October 21st.
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