Yankee Stadium • Apple TV Weather: 40s and breezy After the horrendous first match in the Matt Wells era, the Rapids have won two in a row at home playing with confidence and poise. Now it’s on to the compressed confines of Yankees Stadium to face NYCFC on the smallest pitch in MLS (110 by 70 yards - there are coaches who believe it’s actually narrower and not meeting MLS standards) as they look to continue implementing their new system. NYCFC is coming off a 5-0 home win v Orlando. All five goals came after Orlando keeper Maxime Crépeau got a straight red for catching the ball just outside the box in the 16’. Thus it’s hard to evaluate their style of play based on this match. They opened the season on the road with a 1-1 draw at the Galaxy followed by a stoppage time winner goal at Philly by right back Tayvon Gray. With two wins and a draw combined with a +6 GD they sit in first in the Eastern Conference. Note that these two matches also finished with NYCFC up a man. Pascal Jansen has them in a 4-3-3 with Maxi Morales pulling the strings at the #10 spot with some good talent in front of him. Nicolás Fernández came in from Elche in La Liga last summer and anchors the front line. To his left is Austrian Hannes Wolf and on the right is Augustín Ojeda. Midfielder Keaton Parks has had some big moments this season going forward. Matt Wells is still working to implement his system fully while getting results. Fortunately, they have a couple of wins and sit fifth in the Western Conference. With Zach Steffen out last week and with Adam Beaudry recalled from Loudoun United it appears that Nico Hansen will again start this weekend. Last week Conner Ronan and Reggie Cannon went out of the match with injuries; the starting lineup for this match may be impacted. Otherwise, look for most of last week’s starters to do so this week. With a narrow field, will the Rapids’ tactics change to something more direct? Look for them to continue to string passes together in build up play and to get physical with Maxi Morales in the midfield.
2-1 loss, goal by Yapi. I'm tempted to predict a draw here based on our play the last couple of weeks, but on the road is a different beat than the friendly confines of the Dick, as we saw in Seattle. Add to that the tight dimensions in Yankee Stadium and I think that's too much to overcome. I do think we finish with all 11 men on the field though. https://view-from-the-couch.blogspot.com/2026/03/one-last-trip-to-old-ballpark.html
And I second unkiemark's hope that the narrow field will dampen our couch's desire to play so consistently out of the back. It's fightening enough on a proper field. On that note, isn't there something that MLS or FIFA or anybody else can do to make them move from that baseball stadium? Are they building an actual soccer stadium somewhere?
Its under construction and they announced a couple of weeks ago they will open it for the 27-28 season.
Plus, we’re Rapids fans. Just when I see a big carrot dangling there, a giant evil rabbit jumps up and eats it. 2-0 loss. While I hate this field for soccer, I’m hoping to see the Rockies play there in September.
OFFICIAL: The club has called up defender Jabari De Coteau on a Short-Term Agreement for tonight's game against New York.📰 » https://t.co/9RNf1kVYlk#Rapids96 pic.twitter.com/sE6TGeqWbV— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) March 14, 2026
Rapids XI in the Big Apple:Manyoma gets the start!Keegan with the armband!Wayne starts for Atencio!Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/Xi8rqoLN4U— Commerce City Radio (@CommCityRadio) March 14, 2026
BTW, the fact that our bench includes a same-day first-team signing and a emergency R2 callup shows how thin this roster is
Well better than the Seattle game. Are road games gonna be a challenge or are Seattle and NYFC just tougher opponents? Might be both. Seattle's turf has always made their games a hard watch and Yankee Stadium has the narrow field. They're both better teams than the Galaxy and the Timbers. It's clear that an organized persistent press is the way to get at the Rapids. I do think that generally, unlike Seattle, the Rapids were competitive, remained organized, and looked like they could catch a break.