February in Colorado is generally a crisp time of year, but this is ridiculous.
Tuesday's first leg of the Colorado Rapids vs. Toronto FCCONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 series at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park will be remembered as one of the coldest ever involving an MLS club, with a gametime temperature of 3 degrees Farenheit, according to the National Weather Service.
That temperature reading easily surpasses the MLS regular-season and playoff marks for coldest match on record by some 16 degrees:
- 19 degrees – Minnesota United FC vs. Atlanta United (March 12, 2017)
- 22 degrees – Sporting Kansas City vs. Real Salt Lake (Dec. 7, 2013 – MLS Cup)
- 25 degrees – Toronto FC vs. Portland Timbers (March 26, 2011)
- 28 degrees – Toronto FC vs. Seattle Sounders (December 10, 2016 – MLS Cup)
- 28 degrees – New York City FC vs. D.C. United (March 12, 2017)
Colorado vs. Toronto will also go down as one of the coldest matches in recent memory in the CCL, a tournament which has typically kicked off its knockout round matches in February.
While Montreal has hosted CCL knockout round matches in 2009 (vs. Santos Laguna) and 2015 (vs. Alajuelense) on nights with lows of 11 degrees and 12 degrees, those contests were played indoors at Olympic Stadium.
Other matches widely believed to be among the coldest in CCL history featured Columbus Crew SC hosting Real Salt Lake in a 0-0 draw in February 2011 (low of 21 degrees) and the Seattle Sounders beat Santos Laguna 2-1 a year later on a night when temperatures dropped to a low of 27 degrees Farenheit.
