The Town FC - 2, Colorado Rapids 2 – 4
MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs, Western Conference Semifinal | Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025
PayPal Park | San Jose, CA
The Big Picture
Colorado Rapids 2 defeated The Town FC in a 4-2 win at PayPal Park that saw both teams play 120 minutes to determine who would advance to the Western Conference Final. The victory punched Colorado’s ticket to the final, marking the team’s third appearance in the playoff contest in the last three seasons.
The Western Conference Semifinal got off to a rather slow start with both sides taking the first 20 minutes to find their rhythm. Despite a handful of early set piece opportunities for the home side, The Town FC wasn’t able to find the opener.
It would be Colorado who would get on the board first in the 24th minute after earning their first corner. Midfielder Sam Bassett stood over the delivery and sent a ball to the near post, which found the head of captain Daouda Amadou for a clean flick across the face of goal. Leading goal scorer Mamadou Billo Diop was there to tap it into the back of the net for his first postseason goal and his 15th of the season across all competitions.
The team’s lead wouldn’t last long as The Town FC drove down the field four minutes later to convert their opening goal. A shot from Nonso Adimabua took a deflection off defender Vincent Rinaldi for an own goal and the home team’s equalizer.
The two sides would head into the halftime break at a level 1-1 scoreline with 45 minutes left to find the game-winning goal.
The second half got off to an unfortunate start for The Town as Jamar Ricketts was shown a second yellow, putting the team down to 10 players for the remaining 36 minutes of regular time.
The additional player proved advantageous for Rapids 2, as the team found the go-ahead goal just four minutes following Ricketts’ sendoff. Sydney Wathuta would start the play on the left side of the box, dribbling past a single defender to lay off a short pass to an unmarked Alex Harris at the top of the six-yard box. Harris scored his second postseason goal on a first-time finish, giving Colorado its second lead of the evening.
The Town FC proved to still have some fight in them despite being down a player. In the 73rd minute, Adimabua received a pass in the box from Nick Fernandez, putting his name on the score sheet to give The Town FC its second equalizer.
In the final seconds of stoppage time, Campagnolo was asked to make a crucial save on a free kick. The initial shot was parried away by the U.S. Youth National Team goalkeeper and collected by The Town for a follow up shot. Campagnolo made himself big to make one last save to keep Colorado’s hopes of a Western Conference Final alive.
The two teams headed into extra time after ending regular time at 2-2. Just one minute into the first half of extra time, defender Steve Flores would earn Colorado a penalty kick after being fouled on a run into the box. Anderson Rosa stepped up to the spot and sent his kick straight up the middle to give Colorado the early lead in extra time and convert on his first goal of the season.
Bushey would opt to make his second and third changes of the night, bringing on Wayne Frederick and Josh Copeland for Daouda Amadou and Wathuta in the 97th minute.
The home team proved to be relentless, continuing to test Campagnolo and the backline. In the 104th minute, Brazilian defender Rosa made a goal line clearance to maintain Colorado’s lead and send the visitors into the second half with a goal in hand.
The final act of the night came in the 114th minute of the match. Substitute Antony García would put away the final goal off an assist from Harris that found the Honduran in open space with just the goalkeeper to beat. García did well to maintain control on the breakaway and juke the keeper to put away the final goal of the 120-minute match.
Colorado Rapids 2 will face Minnesota United FC 2 in the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Western Conference Final at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park. More information regarding the date, kickoff time and tickets sales will be made available in the coming days.
Scoring Summary:
COL – Mamadou Billo Diop (Daouda Amadou) 24’
TTFC – Vicent Rinaldi (Own Goal) 28’
COL – Alex Harris (Sydney Wathuta) 60’
TTFC – Nonso Adimabua (Nick Fernandez) 73’
COL – Anderson Rosa (PK) 92’
COL – Antony García (Alex Harris) 114’
Notables:
- F Mamadou Billo Diop recorded his first postseason goal and his 15th of the 2025 season.
- Diop has scored three goals in his last five games for Rapids 2.
- F Alex Harris scored his seventh goal for Rapids 2 across all competitions.
- The forward has now scored and added an assist in back-to-back playoff matches for Colorado.
- Harris added his fifth assist of the season on García’s 114th minute goal.
- D Anderson Rosa scored his first goal of 2025 on a penalty kick in extra time.
- F Antony García scored his sixth goal of the 2025 season across all competitions.
- The forward has now scored in back-to-back playoff matches for Colorado.
- M Daouda Amadou added his second assist of the season in all competitions.
- F Sydney Wathuta contributed his fourth assist of the season across all competitions.
- M Wayne Frederick made his first appearance in an MLS NEXT Pro Playoff match.
- Colorado Rapids 2 returns to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2023, marking the team’s second appearance in the final in the last three seasons.
