South Platte River Derby debut: Inside the Hailstorm's first game against the Colorado Rapids

COMMERCE CITY — They're calling it the South Platte River Derby.

The Northern Colorado Hailstorm had high hopes for their first-ever meeting against the state's Major League Soccer squad in a third-round U.S. Open Cup game vs. the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday night.

It was a scene for the second-year USL League One franchise based out of Windsor.

More than 100 Hailstorm fans (Stormchasers as they're called) congregated in Section 130 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Players recorded their entrance to the field via cellphone, regarding it less with awe than a conquering mentality. Rapids fans heckled Hailstorm players like they were longtime rivals.

And Hailstorm and Future Legends Complex owner Jeff Katofsky surveyed the pitch before the match.

"Maybe we'll catch lightning in a bottle again," Katofsky said, only half-joking in an aptly-phrased reference to the Hailstorm's U.S. Open Cup upset over Real Salt Lake in the same round last year.

The Rapids ultimately prevailed 3-1 in a hard-fought match, only breaking a 1-1 tie through 55 minutes with a pair of quick-hit goals.

The Coloradoan spent the day with the Hailstorm, from preparation to travel to pregame and the match itself. Here's what we saw:

Pregame prep at the Ritz

The team arrived to Denver's downtown Ritz-Carlton at 3 p.m. and posted up in a second-floor ballroom, first enjoying a team meal.

"This is not our typical standard for hotels," said Blake Baker, Future Legends' pro sports communications manager.

The next hour was more unstructured and really just team bonding time.

Some Hailstorm players discussed the Nuggets' close-out win in the NBA playoffs on Tuesday. Lively conversation between a close-knit group from a diverse array of backgrounds and nationalities touched on everything but soccer.

They took time to stretch, work out physical kinks with massage guns or even watch YouTube soccer highlight compilations on a big-screen TV — pro athletes, they're just like us!

Meanwhile, head coach Eamon Zayed and staff game-planned out in the hallway, periodically meeting with individual players for pregame check-ins.

"It's more about getting guys' mind right and specific strategy reminders than a huge game plan," assistant coach Tim Murray said.

Then, Zayed let loose.

The fiery Irish native gathered the Hailstorm for a 20-minute talk that was part tactical breakdown and part fire-breathing, profanity-laced motivational crusade.

He addressed nearly every player on the team personally, verbally building them up. Zayed doesn't care who the Rapids do or don't play in a match that matters more to the Hailstorm than the MLS squad in the grand scheme.

"I don't give a s--- who plays for them," Zayed said with his thick accent. "Same job on our hands. We are every bit capable of beating these guys."

The hotel prep portion ended with Zayed showing the team a famous speech from the 2006 movie "300" before heading to the stadium.

Calm before the (Hail)storm

On the bus en route to the stadium, Hailstorm players were locked in.

Many listened to music on their headphones, while others meditated or did visualization exercises. The coaching staff oscillated between silence ("the calm before the storm") and further strategy talk.

As the bus reached the stadium, impressed but unbothered best describes the Hailstorm's reaction. The game is a clear step-up in magnitude, but one they embrace.

Zayed himself layed down cones and markers for pregame drills. The forecast originally called for rain, but that gave way to early evening sun and a beautiful Colorado spring evening.

"It's a good sign, yeah?" Zayed said, after being asked about his pregame mood.

"I'm confident because I know we have a good plan and our guys are fighters. Nervous because I need to see how we handle the first (five to 10) minutes to know we're ready in the head."

The Hailstorm prepared on the field for nearly a half-hour before the Rapids joined them. Fans slowly trickled in, and the park ultimately never approached its approximately 19,000-fan soccer capacity.

Hailstorm drown out slow start

The start was inauspicious, to say the least.

The early nerves were on full display, as Colorado's Jonathan Lewis buried a slow-rolling grounder in the corner of the net just five minutes into the match.

"I was actually afraid after the first goal to see how they’d react," Zayed said.

Pretty well, as it turns out.

The Hailstorm actually had more scoring opportunities the rest of the half, getting four corner kicks and several looks in the box to put Colorado on its defensive spikes.

"The last 15 minutes of that first half, we were dominating them, in my opinion,” Hailstorm midfielder Jackson Dietrich said.

Dietrich was responsible for NoCo's lone goal, heading in Bruno Rendon's nifty back-post pass across the box.

It sparked a massive celebration, as Dietrich jetted screaming toward the sideline before shushing the home crowd as teammates finally leaped atop him. Zayed even joined the fray.

“That back post ball is very hard to defend,” Dietrich said. “I had a gut feeling that the ball was going to land there, and I’m glad I made that run.”

“The guys fought back,” Zayed said. “They fought back and really created some dangerous moments. And I loved the equalizer.”

The momentum lasted a half-hour of real time through the halftime break. But the Rapids quickly took the air out with two goals in a 10-minute stretch early in the second half.

The third goal was especially deflating, as a defensive breakdown handed Max Alves a 1-on-1 chance he easily finished.

"When you play a team at this level, one or two small mistakes like missed passes can lead to a goal,” Dietrich said.

'Everybody was buzzing'

The postgame reaction said plenty.

The Hailstorm didn't think they were a fun story or just happy to be there. This wasn't an outclassed mismatch between different-tiered teams.

"I'm proud of the guys, the resilience they competed with," Zayed said. "But I'm also disappointed because that game was there for us."

Rapids players showed a lot of respect in the postgame handshakes for the Hailstorm. NoCo fans still roared as players approached to greet them following the loss.

This wasn't a breakthrough victory, but everyone recognized it as a seminal moment for the team.

Hailstorm players walked off the field, hanging their heads in disappointment only at the outcome, not the effort.

"We held our own," Dietrich said. "We were toe to toe. I think everybody was buzzing, and it will only help us grow. We should go into league full of confidence knowing that we can play with these MLS teams.”

There's a lot going for this Hailstorm organization right now.

They're 1-1 against MLS teams to date. And 2-1 against Colorado pro teams after a pair of U.S. Open Cup wins over the Colorado Springs Switchbacks.

Real home games at Future Legends are coming this summer, with the team's Windsor debut and a full summer home slate set to begin May 27.

"We're just getting started with where this team can go," Zayed said. "This game will definitely help us get there."

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Inside Hailstorm soccer's first-ever game against the Colorado Rapids