Favorite moments in Rocky Mountain Cup history

The first Rocky Mountain Cup match is this week. RSL has an 8-4 advantage on Cup wins. Let’s poor some salt on Colorado’s open wounds and highlight our favorite RSL vs. Colorado Rapids moments. Share yours in the comments. Maybe we’ll share some of your stories on social media to throw in the Rapids’ faces. This is about gloating!

Andy Graff

My favorite Rocky Mountain Cup memory was the August 2, 2014 match in Commerce City when RSL snagged the Cup in Cassar’s first year as coach. Chris Wingert made Marvell Wynne look silly then passed the ball off to Javier Morales who blasted the it past Clint Irwin and gave RSL the lead in the 14th minute of play. In the second half things went wrong. Aaron Maund received a red card just after the half kicked when he was caught alone with Vicente Sanchez and bulldozed over him. But we stuck it out with true heart. Rimando came up with some great saves. We powered through and won the match 1-0, regaining the Rocky Mountain Cup. It was an invigorating win in front of a lot of empty seats.

CJ Guadarrama

My favorite Rocky Mountain Cup Victory is also from the August 2, 2014 match in Commerce City. My friends and I drove down to Colorado the night before and walked around the Orange and Navy city of Denver (do the Rapids even have fans there?) all day before someone finally yelled at us at Voodoo Donuts (from a car, mind you). It was awesome to hold the trophy up to their supporters group section. I have never seen 25 people so upset in my life.

Ryan Kelly

I just love a good local derby. Growing up as a fan of Bayern München, I love how their supporters always get up for any match against Augsburg, Nürnberg, Ingolstadt, or any Bavarian club. I was happy to see that our supporters and Colorado’s created a Cup from the beginning, and regardless of the history or current form of either club, it’s a big rivalry for me because it’s the regional derby for our club. I love every match, and love to see RSL walk away with all the points, and the Claret-and-Cobalt ribbons tied on the RMC.

Ben Smith

I've usually stayed up late UK time to watch RSL vs Colorado games because I'm a huge fan of the fact that MLS rivalries have actual silverware involved! For me, my favourite moment has to be the 5-1 victory in September 2014. I remember watching the game late and ending up waking my partner at the time with all my shouting because I was getting increasingly rowdy over the goals, coming back from one down. Looking back at the highlights for this I remembered Plata with the wonder goal in the top corner but I think this game was probably one of the best under the Cassar reign for actual quality on the pitch and tactical execution too. We just made Colorado look like minnows and they've yet to rebound mentally against us since.

Kreg Asay

My favorite memory from the Rocky Mountain Cup comes from the waaaay back at the end of 2010. Plenty had gone right for RSL in 2010; we were reigning MLS Cup winners, went undefeated at home, 2nd overall in the league, the Open Cup run (and eventual fall), first US team to win a Champions League group. But the first of the two RMC games resulted in a 1-1 draw, and the final showdown was the last game of the season on October 23rd - in Colorado. Things looked dismal with the Rapids running up a 2-0 lead going into extra time, the RSL colors had already been stripped off the cup in preparation for the handover; then Saborio did his magic. In the 91st minute he forced an error from GK Matt Pickens and made it 2-1, then a minute later earned a PK and put it away to even the game and return the cup to Utah.

You comment!

We want to hear about your favorite Rocky Mountain Cup moments. It’s an invitation to bash on Colorado (be tasteful, folks—let’s show why RSL fans are truly better than Rapids fans). Anything from the strange smell of Commerce City to the dumb way they have “rad” in the demonym Coloradan. They’re not rad at all.

We’d love to take this from a little article to an all-out social media war. Enlist today.