A year removed from winning a national championship at Vermont, Sydney Wathuta has become one of the best-kept secrets in MLS NEXT Pro for Colorado Rapids 2.
Quiet as he is on and off the pitch, the forward has led the Rapids’ second team to its second Western Conference final appearance in three seasons. He’s been a staple for Erik Bushey’s squad when available — he’s missed 10 games this season for stints with the first team and nagging injuries — and he’s done so from all over the field.
In 18 games for R2, the 6-foot-3 21-year-old has scored six goals and added four assists, good for second on the team in goal contributions behind Mamadou Billo-Diop (16).
He’s recorded an assist in each of the last two MLS NEXT Pro playoff matches, including on the winner of Sunday night’s 2-1 conference final win over Minnesota United 2 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
Both of them have been glowing reflections of what the club sees in him: “He’s a playmaker. He’s got magical feet,” Rapids 2 coach Erik Bushey said on Sunday.
In last week’s conference semifinal against San Jose Earthquakes affiliate The Town FC, he dribbled by a defender to the byline and held the ball long enough for the defense to track back to the goal line, then laid it off for Alex Harris for a neat finish. On Sunday, he ran into space on a quick throw-in, then beamed a cross to James Cameron’s head for the eventual winner — a strike with the power of a shot on a play Cameron said they attempted earlier this season but couldn’t convert.
Wathuta’s sweet feet and Rapids 2 will have one more shot at a higher height: the MLS NEXT Pro Cup final at New York Red Bulls II next Sunday.
For Wathuta, drafted by the Rapids as a sophomore last offseason, a national championship and a chance for professional hardware were unimaginable when the lanky freshman walked on the pitch for the first time at Vermont back in 2023.
“Winning the natty itself is, I mean, it’s crazy. And it wasn’t something I was so sure I would do,” Wathuta said. “And then coming here and winning this trophy … this is unbelievable.
“… With each game I play, I feel like I’ve just grown into myself and been able to trust my ability more.”
It certainly helped when Wathuta got his first shot at first-team minutes in a meaningless but entertaining Leagues Cup game back in August against Liga MX great Cruz Azul.
His impact was instant: He got a foot to a goal kick mid-air at the top of the box, then assisted Rafael Navarro for the opening goal of the game. It was just another moment of chaos Wathuta took in stride — calmly and coolly.
His control with the ball drew the club to Wathuta ahead of the MLS SuperDraft last December. With his hold-up play and ability to slow the game down, he helped the unranked Catamounts lift their first-ever NCAA trophy with upsets over the Nos. 7, 2, 3 and 13 seeds, respectively, one of which was now-teammate Sam Bassett’s DU Pioneers. The eyes on Vermont for the run, plus the calm with which he played, intrigued the Rapids enough to make him their 16th overall pick.
“I think his superpower is that he’s really good in all the areas that make everybody good in the final third. He’s a final-third guy,” said Brian Crookham, Rapids director of player personnel and general manager of R2. “Clearly, he’s got athletic ability that he can do a lot of things all over the field, but when it comes down to getting into the final third, his ability to create through dribbling, passing or shooting — and the fact you can’t defend all those things — makes him extremely effective.”
With a smirk, Crookham said he “wouldn’t be surprised” to see Wathuta and others like Diop around the first team a lot more next season and beyond. The first chance they’ll have to do so will be for preseason next year — likely the team’s fourth straight trip to Mexico for friendlies.
First-team appearances, even if just showing up on the game-day roster, may not be too far in the future, either.
“This is the art part of player development, where we need to figure out where we turn up the heat a little bit and start moving a little bit closer toward the fire and see how they react to that,” Crookham said. “I think you’ll see a lot more of that as we go.”
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