Dillon Serna (17) of MLS Homegrown is defended by Edson Alvarez (281) of Club Am erica U-20s during the first half, Tuesday, July 28, 2015. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)
Dillon Serna became the answer to a trivia question Tuesday night at the MLS Homegrown game: Who was the first player to wear the captain’s armband for coach Landon Donovan?
“It was fun,” the Rapids’ homegrown midfielder said after the game. “It was a special moment for me being able to play here in front of my home fans and play in my home stadium and being able to wear the captain’s armband was special.”
Serna started at right midfield and Rapids teammate Shane O’Neill started at right back for the MLS Homegrown team, both playing 45 minutes, and coming out of the match with a 1-0 lead at halftime. 5-4 on penalty kicks.
Donovan said Chicago Fire midfielder Harry Shipp was one of the “obvious choices” to captain the MLS Homegrown squad, but when the decision was made to hold Shipp out of the starting lineup, he turned to Serna.
“In the end, it meant a lot to him (Serna),” Donovan said. “When a kid’s from here, from this part of the country, and his friends and family are all in the stadium, we knew that would mean a lot him. I was happy for him.”
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Donovan said he broke the news to Serna in the meal room the night before the match.
“He was walking away, and I said ‘Dillon, we want you to wear the armband tomorrow,'” Donovan said. “He played it cool. I was proud of him. But I think inside he was probably excited, so it was good.”
MLS Homegrown coach Landon Donovan. (Aaron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)
Serna said he was excited when Donovan asked him to lead the squad.
“I told him, ‘Yes and thank you very much,'” Serna said. “I thought it was maybe a possibility because being in my home stadium, but I definitely was surprised a little bit when he asked me.”
In 45 minutes of work, Serna had 26 touches, 17 passes with 94.1 percent passing accuracy, one chance created and one tackle. He also took the free kicks and corners for the Homegrown squad. It was his first appearance since playing 17 minutes for the Rapids on July 4.
“I thought it was a good game,” Serna said. “I’ve had an injury the last couple weeks and just starting to get back into the swing of things and I thought we played well. It’s tough to play these games when we get an hour of training before the game and you’re playing against a team that’s trained together every day. I think we did good.”
O’Neill saw his first game action since June 24 with the Rapids. In 45 minutes, he had 29 touches, 20 passes with 80 percent passing accuracy, one tackle and took one shot but failed to put it on target. He said it felt good to get on the field and play.
“A little rust for sure. I was playing fullback obviously, which is a bit of a change, but I enjoyed it, it was nice,” O’Neill said. “It was a good atmosphere and I was a little disappointed because I thought me and Dillon could have done a little better together. I was hoping we had a goal or two in us and obviously it didn’t work out. Overall, it was really nice to play.”
Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni was on hand to watch the match. He’ll at 7 p.m. at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park .
“It was exciting. He (Serna) created some decent looks, tried to come inside,” Mastroeni said. “Obviously it was a hard fought match, but both of them (Serna and O’Neill) fared well and showed well and it was great to see them play in front of their fans, and for Dillon to wear the armband, it was a special night for both of them.”
Rapids’ Dillon Serna at the MLS Chipotle Homegrown game, July 28, 2015. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)
