COLORADO RAPIDS v CALIFORNIA VICTORY
Tue., July 10, Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colo., 7 p.m. MT
The Colorado Rapids, who survived a play-in match to reach the tournament proper, play host to expansion USL First Division side California Victory in Commerce City.
COLORADO RAPIDS
IN THE OPEN CUP: The 1999 U.S. Open Cup Finalists haven't had much success over the recent past, losing their first match in the competition in four of the last seven years, and not getting past the quarterfinals since their final appearance. ... Three times in that stretch the losses came to second-tier competition. In 2000, Colorado lost to the Richmond Kickers 3-0, in 2001 to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2-0, then in 2005 sufffered a 4-1 defeat by the USL First Division Minnesota Thunder. In 2004, they were thrashed 3-0 by the Dallas Burn in the fourth round. ... In 1999, the Rapids faced A-League competition in three of their four ties, but fell in the final 2-0 to the Rochester Raging Rhinos. They knocked off the Seattle Sounders in the third round and the Charleston Battery in the semifinals, defeating the Tampa Bay Mutiny in between. ... Each of the first five years the Rapids were in the competition they were defeated by lower-division competition, losing twice to Rochester (1996 semifinal, 1999 final), to Richmond and Pittsburgh, and in 1997, to the D3 Pro League Chicago Stingers in the third round.
LAST YEAR: A year ago, the Rapids faced MLS competition at the first hurdle for the first time in three years - and again won, defeating Real Salt Lake 1-0 (Peterson 61). ... But the run came to an end in the quarterfinals, falling 3-1 to the Los Angeles Galaxy (Kirk 45, Donovan 93, 115 - Mathis 3) - the only time all season the Galaxy defeated the Rapids.
THIS YEAR: The Rapids advanced to the U.S. Open Cup tournament proper with a 2-1 victory against Real Salt Lake in their second-round play-in game in Commerce City. Jacob Peterson continued to be Real's nemesis in Open Cup games, scoring two goals, including the game-winner in stoppage time. ... Peterson drove home a half-clearance three minutes after the halftime restart, but Chris Klein finished off a Mehdi Ballouchy pass in the 64th minute to pull RSL level. Peterson banged a shot off the far post from a tight angle to send the Rapids into the round-of-16. A year ago, Peterson scored the lone goal in Colorado's fourth-round Open Cup win against Real. ... As the fourth-place finisher in the Western Conference a year ago, the Rapids came in at the second round of play-in games; the four non-qualifiers for the playoffs began a round earlier.
CALIFORNIA VICTORY
U.S. OPEN CUP: The expansion USL First Division side has won the club's first two Open Cup matches. In the first round, the Victory went on the road and defeated the PDL BYU Cougars in Provo, Utah. Raul Palomares scored halfway through the first half and Yuri Morales midway through the second to guarantee advancement with a 2-1 win. ... In the second round, Ricardo Sanchez's goal just before the end of the first extra-time period secured the Victory's 1-0 win against the Minnesota Thunder in St. Paul, Minn., as both teams had two players sent off by the end of the contest.
FORM GUIDE: In their inaugural season, the California Victory tied for 11th place in the 12-team USL First Division with 11 points from 15 matches, level with the Minnesota Thunder. The Victory come into the Open Cup match off a pair of home losses last week, 3-1 to Miami FC and 3-0 to the Portland Timbers. ... Josh Hansen has scored four goals to lead the Victory, while Yuri Morales has added three.
