A New Rivalry Dawns In The Open Cup?

Tonight the draw was made for the third round of the U.S. Open Cup, where the Rapids enter the competition.  Colorado was put into a group with other regional teams including FSL (though MLS teams can't be matched up in the third round), Phoenix rising, New Mexico United, Las Vegas Lights, and after a repeat of their upset over the Switchbacks last year, the Northern Colorado Hailstorm.  Last night the Hailstorm went down to the Springs and beat the Switchbacks 3-1 after extra time.

The Rapids were the first team drawn for the group, earning hosting rights to their match (Northern Colorado didn't submit a bid to host due to their ongoing stadium delays).  After Vegas and New Mexico were also drawn as hosts the next team out was FSL.  Since, as mentioned, MLS teams can't be matched up in this round FSL was bounced down a spot to travel to Las Vegas.  The next team out?  The Northern Colorado Hailstorm.  That's right, Colorado will face Northern Colorado for the first time competitively.

This is the Hailstorm's second season, and in both preseason they've hosted Rapids 2, but this is the first competitive match for either Rapids 1 or 2 against the new team in the state.  The game will be played either Tuesday April 25th or Wednesday April 26th at the Dick.  The winner moves on to the 4th round where once again a regional group will be created with a random draw in the group (at which point MLS teams can face each other).  The Rapids haven't won a U.S. Open Cup game since their 3-2 win over OKC in 2017.  That was also the last time the Rapids advanced in a knockout competition of any sort.  This is a chance to get this Open Cup campaign off on a good foot, playing at home against a squad two levels below them.