COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Dillon Serna is a Colorado kid, and on Tuesday night he’ll get a chance to suit up in front of his hometown fans in the 2015 Chipotle MLS Homegrown Game (9 pm ET, LIVE STREAM on MLSsoccer.com).
The 21-year-old Serna has emerged as one of the bright young prospects for the Rapids, enjoying a breakout year in 2014, notching three goals and four assists across 27 appearances, including 18 starts. And though he’s not quite had the same opportunities in 2015 – playing 379 minutes, though Serna does have two goals to his name – he’s especially excited to step out in front of his hometown fans alongside some of the brightest young talent in MLS and put on a good show.
“It’s exciting, it’s definitely going to be a special moment when I get on the field to play tomorrow night in front of a bunch of friends and family coming to the game and a bunch of hometown Rapids fans as well,” Serna told MLSsoccer.com after training with the Homegrown team on Monday. “So, I’m looking forward to the experience, and it should be something special.”
Serna and the 21 other Homegrown players have a unique opportunity, not only to test themselves against a highly-regarded group of young players in the Club América Under-20 squad, but to do so under the tutelage of ex-LA Galaxy and USMNT star Landon Donovan.
It’s no easy task for the group of youngsters, who will have precious little time to prepare against an opponent that has played together for many years and for whom the altitude in Denver will not be an issue, considering América’s home base in Mexico City.
Still, Serna is hopeful about finding success on Tuesday night.
“I think just being able to be around all these guys and being able to be coached by Landon has definitely been cool,” he explained. “We had our first training today, to get a little bit of chemistry and get to know the guys, so you know hopefully we’ll get a result tomorrow night.”
Serna pointed to the team’s hunger and attacking quality – including Chicago midfielder Harry Shipp, LA Galaxy forward Bradford Jamieson IV, and San Jose Earthquakes forward Tommy Thompson – as two potential reasons the Homegrowns could defeat their counterparts from south of the border.
“I think there are a lot of guys who are coming in here to kind of prove themselves a little bit,” he said, "so they’re eager to get the game going, they’re confident, we’ve got a lot of good attacking guys, so hopefully we’ll score some goals tomorrow night.”
