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Wednesday night’s U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 games presented a pair of weather-related events for both Colorado teams in action.
The Colorado Rapids were thunderstruck after just 18 minutes even after goals from both sides in its battle against Minnesota United, while Northern Colorado’s dream run came to an equally-stormy end in a 2-0 loss.
Union Omaha 2, Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC 0
The Hailstorm’s dream finally got derailed.
Northern Colorado’s historic start came to a heart-wrenching end Wednesday with a 2-0 loss to fellow USL League One side Union Omaha. The Owls, also of the third-division, became the first team from USL League One to reach the Round of 16 in the modern era, dating back to 2014.
“We’re all disappointed,” Hailstorm head coach Éamon Zayed said. “If I’m being brutally honest, we had a good cup run and we had two good wins. For me, the fight and effort of those first two games was just not replicated tonight and that’s just me being honest.”
The game was tied at halftime at 0-0, as the Owls had a number of good chances but the Hailstorm’s back line held their own to keep it level.
In the second half, Union Omaha scored a pair of goals. Just after halftime in the 46th minute, Noe Meza struck a first-time shot to beat Hailstorm goalkeeper Thomas Olsen to make it 1-0. Twelve minutes later, Conor Doyle, the Owls’ captain, added a second through one-touch football as Meza delivered a through ball as Doyle ran onto it and chipped Olsen to make it 2-0.
Westminster native Trevor Amann hit the crossbar in the 83rd minute, which would have given the Hailstorm a lifeline back into the game, but the Windsor side ran out of luck.
The first-year franchise will open its stadium in June after notching two “Cupset” wins over in-state rival Colorado Springs Switchbacks and MLS side Real Salt Lake.
“It’s gonna be a tough message, but as cheesy as it may sound, it’s true: you win or you learn,” Zayed said. “We just have to learn.”
Minnesota United 1, Colorado Rapids 1, postponed
Two goals in 15 minutes, then a severe weather delay stalled the Rapids’ return to the Open Cup.
After a three-and-a-half hour severe weather delay, the teams announced the remainder of Wednesday’s game will be finished at noon MDT Thursday. The teams were tied at 1-1 just 18 minutes into the match before weather kicked in.
Abu Dinaldi opened the scoring for the Loons in the eighth minute and Nico Mezquida answered for the Rapids in the 15th minute.
One hour into the delay, Allianz Field looked more like another one of Minnesota’s 10,000 Lakes than a proper pitch.
welcome to Lake Allianz, plenty of shoreline available … pic.twitter.com/sLxMFy3GCc
— Andy Greder (@andygreder) May 12, 2022
The Round of 16 draw will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPN Plus.
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