Colorado Rapids' Open Cup Path Continues To Weave Through Commerce City

The Colorado Rapids have, perhaps, one of the easier roads to the US Open Cup quarterfinals ahead of them. The Atlanta Silverbacks are all that stands in the way of the Rapids and one of their farthest runs in the oldest American soccer tournament in quite some time -- remember, they made the final in 1999, but are also one of the losingest teams in the Cup's history, otherwise.

If the Rapids take down the Silverbacks -- there's really no reason why they shouldn't, unless Pablo Mastroeni decides to focus his efforts on the Vancouver Whitecaps game four days later instead -- they'll have another match at Dick's Sporting Goods Park to show for it. The quarterfinals will go through DSGP against either the Chicago Fire or Columbus Crew, two teams with Open Cup victories and two teams that both have made the final in the past several seasons, both losing to the Sounders during their run of Open Cup wins.

After several years of not so much as sniffing a home game in the USOC, there's a run of them for the Rapids. Perhaps that's enough to sow the seeds for an eventual trophy for Pablo's Pids.