Rapids Advance to U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 with 4-2 Win Over Sacramento

May 10, 2023 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Colorado Rapids News Release

Heart Health Park, Sacramento, CA

The Big Picture

Jonathan Lewis scored his second consecutive brace in the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as the Colorado Rapids defeated Sacramento Republic FC 4-2 on the road to advance to the tournament’s Round of 16. The result extended the Rapids’ unbeaten run across all competitions to nine games (4-0-5).

View highlights & match summary >>

Stats attached.

Notable:

F Jonathan Lewis opened the scoring in the fourth minute to collect his fourth goal in three appearances across all competitions. The brace is his second in as many Open Cup games after Lewis recorded two goals and an assist for the Rapids in their victory over Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC in the Third Round.

M Danny Leyva delivered the assist on Jonathan Lewis’ opening goal, marking his first contribution as a member of the Rapids since joining the club on loan from the Seattle Sounders FC.

D Michael Edwards recorded his first start and collected his first goal as a member of the Rapids in the 15th minute of tonight’s match.

D Alex Gersbach delivered his first assist as a member of the Rapids on Edwards’ goal.

M Sam Nicholson scored the Rapids’ game-winner in the 55th minute, his first goal of the season.

F Michael Barrios delivered the assist on Nicholson’s goal and scored the fourth goal of the match. The Colombian has scored a trio of goals and has delivered a trio of assists across all competitions thus far in 2023.

M Braian Gálvan delivered his first assist of the season in the 81st minute of tonight’s match.

Select postgame quotes transcribed below.

COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH ROBIN FRASER

On the match:

“Obviously happy to advance. As I’ve been saying all week, we certainly intend to take this tournament seriously, and we’ve talked a lot about mentality, we talked about what it’s like to play in an arena like this. And they were every bit as good as I thought they would be, probably actually better, even. I thought Sacramento, after giving up a couple of early goals, really applied a lot of pressure late in the game. I was certainly pleased with how we handled it, and then obviously, to relinquish the lead, and then come back in and find two more goals to win it. I was really proud of the group for that. A lot of credit to Sacramento. I think they’re a very good team and a very committed team in the way they play. And it was a tough, tough night for us. But as I said, the bottom line is…