Colorado Soccer Footy is revving into top gear within the coming days: The Colorado Rapids have been playing in their season, but there's plenty more Box State Footy happening.
The Switchbacks started their campaign this past weekend, Denver Summit kick off this week, local leagues like the Colorado Premier League and Mountain Premier League are eyeing their Spring starts as well and The U.S. Open Cup is right around the corner. It's all kicking off and there's plenty to follow along with this edition of the BSFN!
ICYMI - Last Week's Newsletter:
Juan Fernandez
Topics:
🌊 Another Strong Rapids Home Performance
🐐 Switchbacks Kick-Off Their Season
⛰️ Summit FC's Inaugural Season Approaches
📦 Box State Footy Player of the Week
🌊 Rapids Pounce On 10-man LA Galaxy For Another 3 Points At Home.
The Colorado Rapids were home once again this weekend and earned another three points beating the LA Galaxy by a score of 4-1. Just like the home opener against Portland, there's plenty to like but also some nitpicks and slight caveats to address.
Juan Fernandez
Rafael Navarro opened his 2026 account and added two goals to his tally for the season. Darren Yapi's play on the wing was extravagant; the Denver born forward notched a goal and an assist. Alexis Manyoma scored the winner, his first for Colorado after coming off the bench.
Three of the four goals came after Gabriel Pec's reckless challenge on Navarro which was awarded a second yellow card. Joseph Paintsil was also forced off due to injury meaning the Galaxy were without the two focal points of their entire game plan. Without them to worry about, the Rapids piled on the pressure and vanquished the 10-man Galaxy team.
Ahead of a three game road spell, the Colorado Rapids currently stand in 5th place with two wins, one loss, and zero draws. The next Rapids home match isn't until April, giving us plenty of time to refine the edges on the Burgundy Banter live show!
I still maintain we're short some games before being able to fully assess this team. Wells tactical approach is providing a strong floor; what is the team's ceiling? These next three road games will be very telling.
🦁 Switchbacks Escape El Paso With a Point In Season Opener
Despite the authorization of a strike, the 2026 USL Championship Season kicked off over the weekend. Each game featured a pause of play, initiated by the players, to highlight and bring more awareness to the ongoing CBA negotiations between the USLPA and the league itself. Because the broadcast is controlled by the league, many of the commentators awkwardly, and eerily, made no mention of the situation.
The league has done their best to clean up a lot of their image following the authorization of the strike. The strike remains looming and while they players across the league did play in the opener, there's been rumblings that the actual strike is set to commence this upcoming weekend.
I spoke with a player of a USL Championship club last night. There seems to be a plan by the players to play in the opening game but have some sort of league wide protest within the game. And then for match week 2, that’s when the strike would likely initiate if an agreement…
— Benno Nagel (@benno_nagel) March 6, 2026
Whether or not these rumblings have any weight to them, what remains clear is that coverage of the USL Championship remains mired in this labor dispute. With the Switchbacks Home Opener this weekend, we are tentatively awaiting for further action from the PA, but remain focused on providing general coverage of the match ahead.
The Switchbacks 2-2 draw was a shaky performance. Matt Mahoney and new center back signing Talen Maples are still building chemistry and they're expected to be the two catalysts for the Switchback's commitment to playing a more possessive style of footy.
Khori Bennet's fifth minute goal off a corner took the early lead, but Rubio Rubin would equalize before the end of the half and the teams went to halftime with a 1-1 deadlock. El Paso would then take their turn scoring early. El Paso took the lead five minutes into the second half following a poor sequence of play in which the Backs' failed to clear their lines; Rubin scored his second of the night pouncing on the Springs' mistake.
The Switchbacks opened their shape a bit more and started taking much more chances shooting from distance and continually tested the opposing keeper. Their equalizer came off a long throw from Chicago Fire loanee Sam Williams who found the towering Isaiah Foster whose header helped secure the point on the road. El Paso is a rather difficult place to play given the baseball field dimensions – some things you just can't escape – and a point on the road to start the season is not too shabby. However, with a scheduled match at home, I expect to see the Switchbacks team not have to go into pure desperation mode to close a half and execute on their game model a bit more effectively than they did on the road here.
⛰️ Denver Summit FC Prepare For Their First Ever Competitive Match in NWSL Season Opener
Denver Summit FC kickoff their debut season this weekend to round out the first trio of Pro Box State Footy matches in 2026! Summit will play on the road to Bay FC who finished in 13th place last season in their inaugural season.
After years of anticipation and excitement, the Summit are finally here! Here's some curated content to keep you pre-occupied ahead of the season's start.
American Soccer Analysis' Season Preview:
ASA Staff
Expected Own Goals Summit FC Season Preview:
The 5280 Pitch interview with center back Kaleigh Kurtz:
Head Coach Nick Cushing featured on The Sports Agents Podcast:
Center back Eva Gaetino featured on the latest episode of The SoccerGirl Podcast:
Finally, the Summit released a "Get to Know the Rookies" video:
The 14ers Supporters Group will be hosting a watch party this weekend at Number 38:
📦Box State Footy Player of The Week
With a plethora of players to choose from in the coming weeks, it's time to relaunch the Box State Footy Player of the Week! This weeks' honor goes to Darren Yapi. His goal and assist helped Colorado to two different leads and while Rafael Navarro received all the plaudits, Yapi beats him out of the award here given his Denver roots!
This pic taken by Mitchell Carroll of Commerce City Radio will be the stand-in for a graphic this week!
Yapi with the shades in the postgame. Finished the game after a head injury scare, Wells said he is “absolutely fine”. pic.twitter.com/2CQ2gUsxN9
— Mitchell Carroll (@mitch__carroll) March 8, 2026
