The Colorado Rapids begin play in the Desert Diamond Cup on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. and fans will get their first look at the team in action this winter. The game will be .
Between now and March 6, the Rapids will play four preseason games in Tucson, which should give some insight into which 11 players are most likely to take the field when the games begin to count.
Here’s our best guess, based on the current roster and conversations with coach Pablo Mastroeni and the team:
Zac MacMath, Eric Miller, Axel Sjoberg, Sean St. Ledger, Mekeil Williams, Sam Cronin, Dillon Powers, Marco Pappa, Luis Solignac, Shkelzen Gashi, Kevin Doyle.
The Denver Post’s projected opening day lineup for the Colorado Rapids in 2016.
If this ends up being the opening day 11, it’s interesting to note that only one player from the 2015 opening day lineup would remain the same: Sjoberg.
For reference, here’s the 2015 starting 11 from opening day:
Clint Irwin, Michael Harrington, Axel Sjoberg, Bobby Burling, James Riley, Lucas Pittinari, Marcelo Sarvas, Dillon Serna, Gabriel Torres, Vicente Sanchez, Dominique Badji.
Serna has a chance to make the opening day 11, but has gotten off to a slow start this winter due to a sore back. Pappa is also off to a slow start as well as he .
Powers played in the opener a year ago, but was a second half sub. He slots in as a box-to-box No. 8 in this 2016 projection.
Cronin figures to be the opening day captain, although .
Disagree with our projection? Post your 2016 opening day starting 11 in the comments below.
