Rapids eliminated from Open Cup by St. Louis

Colorado Rapids 0-3 St. Louis CITY SC

COMMERCE CITY, CO–Colorado’s quest for the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup ended with a thud in the semifinals as St. Louis CITY SC continued their unbeaten streak to 17 matches in all competitions with a 3-0 victory. St. Louis will go to Columbus Crew in the Final on October 21st.

The Rapids fell behind in the 32nd minute after an errant touch by keeper Adam Beaudry allowed Sang Bin Jeong to score into an empty net (despite being initially tripped by Beaudry who escaped punishment as a goal was scored).

St. Louis doubted their advantage 20 minutes later on a counter attack as Conrad Wallem fed Simon Becher who got in behind the Rapids’ defense and made it 2-0. Alexandru Matan put the match out of reach seven minutes later after catching the Rapids out on a quick restart.

St. Louis CITY SC will be in the open Cup Final for the first time ever while Columbus, 2-1 winners over Orlando on Wednesday, Columbus will be in their fourth Cup Final and looking for their first cup win since 2002. St. Louis teams have won ten cups pre-MLS, the last being St. Louis Busch Seniors in 1998. The Rapids last made the Open Cup Final in 1999 losing to Rochester Rhinos–the last non MLS club to win the trophy.

The Rapids return to league play on Saturday at home to Seattle (7:30pm MT, Apple TV), while St. Louis will look to keep their unbeaten run going on Saturday at home to Toronto FC (7:30pm CT, Apple TV).

Photos by LA Brothers