COMMERCE CITY — A substitution made late in a soccer game usually elicits a polite applause from the crowd, but when Dillon Serna entered the Rapids’ season opener in the 79th minute last Saturday, the crowd erupted in cheers.
Serna, a crowd favorite and Brighton product, signed with the Rapids as a “home-grown” player four years ago, injured his right knee last June and was lost for the last five months of the season. The crowd knew the significance of his return, and when he came on for Dillon Powers late in Colorado’s 1-0 win over New England, it looked as if the hug Powers gave him while coming off the field had extra emotion.