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Recap | Colorado Rapids fall in second leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup despite scoring three goals on the road | Colorado Rapids

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Recap | Colorado Rapids fall in second leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup despite scoring three goals on the road | Colorado Rapids


The Colorado Rapids were defeated by Real Salt Lake in the second edition of the 2024 Rocky Mountain Cup, with a final score of 5-3 at America First Field. Despite goals from Cole Bassett, Rafael Navarro, and Djordje Mihailovic, the Rapids couldn’t overcome braces from Chicho Arango and Andres Gómez, along with a goal from Anderson Julio. With one win each, the 2024 Rocky Mountain Cup will be decided at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park on July 20, 2024.

  • D Keegan Rosenberry played all 90 minutes, totaling 13,467 minutes as a member of the Rapids, surpassing Marcelo Balboa for the fourth-most regular-season minutes (13,379) in club history.
  • M Cole Bassett scored his fifth goal of the season, the 24th goal of his MLS career. Bassett scored the opening goal in the fifth minute, marking the fastest goal for Colorado this season.
  • The Homegrown midfielder has scored a goal in consecutive matches against Salt Lake and the third of his career against the Utah side.
  • F Rafael Navarro scored in his fourth consecutive match, putting him into a tie with Kei Kamara and Conor Casey for the second longest single season scoring streak in club history since 2010.
  • Navarro’s goal ties him for the fifth-most in MLS this season with eight, the Brazilian now has logged six goals across his last seven appearances and has recorded a goal in consecutive appearances against Real Salt Lake.
  • Bassett and Navarro have now scored a goal in the same match for the fifth time this season.
  • M Djordje Mihailovic recorded his third goal of the season, the 23rd of his MLS career. The midfielder has now logged eight goal contributions in his last eight appearances.
  • The Colorado Rapids have scored in 13 of their 14 games in MLS this season, scoring in their last eight matches. Surpassing their longest run of games with a goal in MLS play since a 10-game stretch from July 5, 2022, to August 21, 2022.

COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH CHRIS ARMAS

“The only thing I’m going to say to start here is we didn’t lift the trophy tonight. But our guys played like champions. We said we’re going to come here and go for it. We did that. The guys came out and did that, they set the tone and had a good response at halftime even and we’re two minutes away from stoppage time. So, for that I’m really proud of the team and those behaviors and those performances and those have to come before you lift the trophy. You don’t need to lift the trophy to become a winner. I saw a bunch of winners out there today, I’m really proud of my team.”

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On Rafael Navarro scoring in four consecutive matches:

“We promised early on in the year that we were going to be a team that attacks in all ways and our team has scored goals. All of a sudden you see guys producing. Rafa, you can see his confidence is high. He can get in certain goal-scoring spots, he can deliver, which is a big positive on the night. We score three, we create some big chances, we gotta keep at that part of it. I even think you see with Mihailovic, he’s in and around lots of moments to give us final plays, so he has eight or nine gold contributions this year already. All those guys are heating up. That’s that.”

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What worked well tonight, what needs to change going forward:

“I think each game we’re creating chances. What I would like to see in the attack is just more moments of that ability to sustain attacks, create even more chances, be more ruthless in moments. On the night, we create three, four really big chances, we score three. So we’re scoring goals, so we’d like to continue that. We’d been pretty stingy defensively tonight for the most part. The floodgates open a little bit as we’re pushing but we want to dust ourselves off. This was a tough one. It means so much to the guys, so much to all of us. That’s the price you pay for that love of it and desire, so when you don’t get it and you’re close, that’s the hurt that it is. I’m proud of the guys and this will pay dividends. We’re just really disappointed for not beating the first place team, win two games in their building. They haven’t lost since the last time we played them. Imagine that. They have one loss at home all year. Really close. We have a good team. I think they showed that tonight.”

COLORADO RAPIDS DEFENDER KEEGAN ROSENBERRY

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“We get them a third time and we’re looking forward to that. This was tough result but we’ll take it on the chin we’ll move on and learn from it.”

On what he can message to the team as captain:

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“Try to try to be proactive, try to communicate in a way that you’re kind of one step ahead at all times. Almost trying to kind of predict the flow of the game a bit. And again, it’s difficult in a loud stadium, you can only say so much and communicate with so many people around you, and for me, to even communicate to the front line is difficult. But again, it’s it happens hours and hours and hours before the game happens, it happens on the training field. That’s what we strive to do, is we rep all these things so that we can do them all together all at the same time and without communicating, because you can’t communicate. That’s what makes a sport fun. It’s hard to get perfect.”

On the three goalscorers tonight, what worked well to get them in those spots and what needs to be better:

“I think in general we’re generating a lot of chances. We’re scoring goals. I think the first goal tonight comes from the hard work defensively that we put in, we put them in really uncomfortable positions. I felt like they turn the ball over a lot. That’s how we started the game. We made them uncomfortable, a lot of turnovers and good spots for us. I think Cole exaggerates that by catching the goalie off his line, that they turned the ball over in a spot that they weren’t wanting to, but that’s another challenge for us is to try to keep our foot down and continue to push like that throughout the entire game, but it can be exhausting. The way that we want to play can tire us out at times and that’s when we need to kind of come back and kind of feel that ebb and flow of the game. But it’s encouraging for all of us that we’re scoring goals like that. Coming into this game, if we score three away we’re looking at a really good result and I think all of us would take that and see what happens.”

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Colorado residents should prepare for Xcel power outages this week as fire danger surges, utility says

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Colorado residents should prepare for Xcel power outages this week as fire danger surges, utility says


Xcel Energy is warning its customers along the Front Range to be prepared for possible power outages this week as the risk of wildfire surges due to hot and dry weather.

“Due to the elevated risk of wildfire, enhanced powerline safety settings are active across out Front Range service territory,” according to a social media post from the utility. The settings make the powerlines more sensitive and prompt a line to stop the flow of electricity if an object touches a line.

The highest risk for wildfire danger will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday, when strong gusty winds are forecasted, according to the National Weather Service.

Humidity could be as low as 10% and winds may top 25 mph, leading to critical and extremely critical fire weather between Thursday and Saturday, forecasters said.

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Tens of thousands of customers have lost power in recent months from planned outages during fire danger and powerline damage from high winds.

In December, 86,040 Xcel customers lost power because of a mix of planned shutoffs and downed powerlines from high winds. The decision led some customers to criticize the utility, asking it to fine-tune its weather responses.

Some schools in northern Colorado schools preemptively canceled classes in January after Xcel announced a planned power shutoff for 9,000 customers in the area.



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An Evening Against Edmonton | Colorado Avalanche

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An Evening Against Edmonton | Colorado Avalanche


Edmonton Oilers (31-25-8) @ Colorado Avalanche (43-10-9)

8 p.m. MT | Ball Arena | Watch: TNT, truTV, HBO Max | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM) 

After back-to-back shootout victories, the Avalanche concludes its two-game homestand on Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers. This game is an Avalanche Cup Classic, presented by KeyBank, which will honor the 2022 Avs team that won the Stanley Cup and defeated the Oilers in the Western Conference Final. Tuesday’s game is the second of three regular-season meetings between the teams, as the Avalanche won 9-1 in Edmonton on November 8th, and they’ll play in Alberta on April 13th. 

Latest Result (COL): MIN 2, COL 3 (SO) 

Latest Result (EDM): EDM 4, VGK 2 

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Sunday Success

The Avalanche defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in a shootout on Sunday at Ball Arena. Nathan MacKinnon and Nicolas Roy both scored for Colorado while Nazem Kadri posted an assist in his second Avs debut. In net for Colorado, Scott Wedgewood stopped 32 of the 34 shots he faced. MacKinnon opened the scoring at 12:19 of the second period with his 43rd goal of the season via a right-circle one-timer set up by Kadri, who began the play with an interception below the offensive-zone goal line. Kirill Kaprizov tied the game for Minnesota with a power-play goal at 4:17 of the third period when his pass from the right circle deflected into the net. The Wild took a 2-1 lead at 7:01 of the third period when Nico Sturm scored a shorthanded breakaway. Colorado tied the game at 12:39 of the third period when Nicolas Roy scored his first goal as an Av and sixth of the season via a net-front deflection on Brett Kulak’s slap shot. In the shootout, Valeri Nichushkin scored for Colorado in the first round, Matt Boldy scored for Minnesota in the second round and MacKinnon tallied the winner in the fourth round. 

Leading the Way

Nate the Great

MacKinnon leads the NHL in goals (43) while ranking second in points (104) and third in assists (61). 

All Hail Cale

Among NHL defensemen, Cale Makar is tied for second in points (66) while ranking fourth in goals (19) and assists (47). 

Marty Party

Martin Necas is tied for seventh in the NHL in points (76). 

Series History

In 135 regular-season games against the Oilers, the Avalanche has a record of 74-49-6-6. The teams have met three times in the playoffs, with the Avs winning the 1997 Western Conference Semifinals in five games and the 2022 Western Conference Final in four contests.  

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Sunday in Sin City

The Oilers defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday. In the second period, Trent Frederic opened the scoring for Edmonton at 3:21 before Vegas’ Noah Hanifin tied the game at 13:09. The Oilers took a 3-1 third-period lead after goals from Vasily Podkolzin at 2:34 and Leon Draisaitl at 11:53. Jack Eichel cut the Golden Knights’ deficit to one with a shorthanded goal at 16:43 of the third period. Edmonton took a 4-2 lead when Kasperi Kapanen scored an empty-net goal at 18:03 of the third period. 

Producing Offense Against the Oilers

MacKinnon has posted 39 points (13g/26a) in 29 regular-season games against the Oilers, in addition to five points (3g/2a) in four playoff contests. 

Makar has registered 13 points (5g/8a) in 13 regular-season contests against Edmonton, in addition to nine points (2g/7a) in four playoff games. 

Kadri has recorded 25 points (12g/13a) in 30 regular-season games against the Oilers, in addition to four points (1g/3a) in three playoff contests. 

Edmonton’s Elite

Connor McDavid leads the Oilers in points (108), goals (35) and assists (73). 

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Draisaitl is second on the Oilers in points (92), goals (34) and assists (58). 

Evan Bouchard is third on the Oilers in points (73) and assists (55) while ranking fourth in goals (18). 

A Numbers Game

34

The Avalanche are 34-0-0 when leading after the second period this season. 

85

Colorado leads the NHL with 85 second-period goals this campaign. 

.806

The Avalanche’s .806 points percentage at home this season is the best in the NHL. 

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Quote That Left a Mark

“Emotional seeing the support I get here. It’s absolutely incredible. It makes me want to play harder for these fans and this team.” 

— Nazem Kadri on the support he received from Avalanche fans at Sunday’s game



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Colorado Rockies spring training game no. 17 thread: Kyle Freeland vs. Jedisxson Paez

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Colorado Rockies spring training game no. 17 thread: Kyle Freeland vs. Jedisxson Paez


In his first spring training action of 2026, Kyle Freeland faced the daunting task of pitching against Team USA in an exhibition game on March 4. He gave up a solo homer to Aaron Judge in a two-hit, one-strikeout performance in one inning.

Today, Freeland and the Rockies (8-6-1) will take part in his first Cactus League action against the White Sox (10-7) at Camelback Ranch. The Rockies are 5-2 on the road this spring vs. 3-5-1, including the showdown vs. Team USA, at Salt River Fields.

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Today’s game represents a rematch of a Feb. 23 showdown where the Rockies beat the White Sox 5-4. Chicago will send Jedisxson Paez to the mound to start the game. The 22-year-old RHP will be making his third spring appearance. He’s posted a 23.14 ERA in 2 1/3 innings over two starts with six earned runs, six hits, including one homer, three strikeouts and one walk. Former Rockie Drew Romo will be starting at catcher for the White Sox.

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On Sunday, four pitchers combined to throw five scoreless innings and Kyle Karros and Tyler Freeman each had two-hit performances in the Rockies 4-4 tie with Cleveland. Even though it’s only spring training, the Rockies offense has been much improved thus far. The Rockies rank among all Major League teams this Spring in: on-base percentage (.381, T-1st), home runs (23, T-4th), average (.287, 3rd), HBP (14, T-2nd), slugging (.492, 3rd), OPS (.871, 3rd), runs scored (98, 5th), RBI (91, 6th) and total bases (254, 6th).

Earlier on Monday, the Rockies released a new motto for the 2026 campaign: “New era. At altitude. We are here for the climb.”



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