That's when the Rapids will host a playoff game at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City for the first time since 2021. And the Rapids fan base is ready: It's dedicated, constantly showing up in large numbers over the past few years when times were lean.
Part of what makes the love between the team and its fans so special this season is the return to the playoffs, of course. However, the number of homegrown players on the 2024 Rapids squad also creates a unique bond with fans who have watched those athletes grow from children in the stands to stars on the field. Seven athletes raised in Colorado logged minutes for the team this year: Cole Bassett, Oliver Larraz, Darren Yapi, Sam Vines, Jackson Travis, Sebastian Anderson and Michael Edwards.
“When you see Yapi score his first goal, what it means for him to the fans, and the fans to him, is a real connection here that happened a long time ago,” Rapids head coach Chris Armas said at a media gathering on October 23. “Ollie Larraz runs for the club — the people that have believed in him. He runs for the club that has shown so much trust in him.”
Larraz began playing for the Rapids Academy, the team’s pipeline for developing local talent, in 2014. The 23-year-old has spent almost half his life training for the team, finally earning a full-time roster spot this year after rebounding from an injury with Rapids 2, the Rapids’ minor league team, in 2023.
“Being from here, there's a lot of pride that comes from playing for the club,” the Denver-born player says. “The culture of this club is to be very culture-oriented and really connect with the people and play a style of play that they like. So there's definitely a connection straight away, and you want nothing more than to bring something special back to the place that you love.”
Along with the seven Rapids Academy players, the roster has three athletes who played for the MLS academy of a different team, leading the Rapids to top the Western Conference in homegrown minutes this season. Only Real Salt Lake had more minutes played by players from its own academy, with 9,046 to the Rapids’ 8,965.
“There's nothing better than winning with guys that you've gone through the tough times with,” said Rapids president Pádraig Smith. “Some of our younger players, they've played with each other since they were eleven, twelve years of age, and that really does build an understanding. … When you've played with each other for six, seven, eight, nine, ten years, you know a lot more about each other and you're going to be willing to do things for each other.”
Smith said the mix of young, homegrown talent and experienced players signed by the club — such as captain Keegan Rosenberry — has given the team the stability to maximize its potential. Ironically, one of the experienced teammates is 23-year-old Cole Bassett, who started playing with the Rapids in 2018 at just seventeen. Bassett spent time playing in Europe in 2022 and has now had two full seasons back with the Rapids.
This year has been outstanding for Bassett, with the midfielder scoring nine goals and taking on a leadership role. He also sealed the victory in one of the biggest Rapids victories of the year, the August 20 game against Real Salt Lake.
Annually, the two teams vie for the Rocky Mountain Cup, which is decided based on their record in head-to-head games. The Rapids hadn’t won since 2020, but this year Bassett’s late penalty goal secured the victory for the Colorado team.
“That was big for the club,” Bassett says. “To bring the cup back to the fans, that was huge for us to win that.”
Other huge wins this season for the Rapids came during the Leagues Cup, an annual competition between clubs from MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX. The Rapids placed third while becoming the first MLS team to beat four Liga MX teams in a row during the tournament. Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen was named player of the tournament.
Homegrown Larraz scored a goal in the second half of the third-place game to even the score, allowing the Rapids to advance to a shootout that won them the match. Having Larraz join the team was fulfilling for Bassett, who shares the midfield with Larraz and Connor Ronan, another good friend.
“Last year, when [Larraz] was with the 2s after coming back with his injury, I was always like, ‘I want you up here. When are we going to get to play with each other?'” Bassett says. “I used to go up against this guy when we were like, eight or nine, and then to transition to being on this team, it’s a good partnership.”
How Homegrown Talent Can Help The Rapids in the Playoffs
They’ll take that partnership to the playoffs as a seven seed facing a two seed in the Galaxy. Armas says the team’s resilience in the Leagues Cup and throughout the season gives him confidence that the Rapids can pull off an upset.“It's a team that wants to win and has found ways to win,” Armas says. “The body of work this year gives me a hell of a lot of confidence watching them go after it, never ever shrinking, never giving in. That's what playoff teams, the best teams, have.”
During the press conference, Armas, Smith and Rosenberry all reiterated that while beating L.A. is the current mantra, they have their eyes set on the MLS Cup. The team encourages fans who may not have watched a ton of soccer this year to get on board, promising exciting play.
“We've tended to play a pretty attractive style of football this year that's energetic and fun to watch,” Bassett says. “Typically, there's a lot of goals in our games so I think a lot of people like to watch that....If you get a chance to play L.A. and beat L.A. in L.A. and then you get to come home and have a chance to eliminate them from the playoffs with the home crowd here, that would be something pretty special.”
Bassett says he’s seen his teammates blossom this year, finally showing the world the talent that the organization has always known they had.
“You can see the character, the spirit, the mentality, and just, quite frankly, the fun that the group is having when they play together,” Smith said. “We're going into this playoff run with a lot of confidence and knowing that we can play with anybody.”
Rapids president Pádraig Smith, coach Chris Armas and captain Keegan Rosenberry are excited for the fans to bring the energy.
Bart Young
“We really do care about each other here on this team, it's almost more than teammates,” he adds. “To see players, even when they're gone like when Cole was in Europe and when he was with the national team, you love to see it and it feels like a part of you is almost there because you’ve played together for so long.”
Both Bassett and Larraz credit first-year head coach Armas for helping the group gel with his energy. Bassett says he would “run through a brick wall” for Armas.
“He's just one of those guys that you love,” Bassett says. “He connects well with all the players, which I think helps, because even if there's a guy that's not necessarily playing all the time, he's really connected with them and makes sure that they're staying in tune with what we're doing, and that they're always staying ready in case we need them, because we do need everybody.”
For this playoff run, everybody includes the fans. Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is described as a fortress for the team because of the success the Rapids have had there and the extra boost the fans give the team.
The homegrown players hope to see young faces in the crowd, too.
“There's a sense of responsibility, I think, that we have for the younger kids just to show them that it's possible for them because we were in the same spot back then,” Bassett says. “To show them that there's a pathway to achieve their dreams if they want to do this as well.”
Armas promises “there will be fire everywhere” for the November 1 match-up as the Rapids look to complete the first leg of their MLS Cup run after a 1-5 loss against Los Angeles October 26.
This story has been updated to include the outcome of the October 26 game.
