MLS Real Salt Lake

Late Saborío Brace Gives RSL Draw at Rapids

Published on October 24, 2010 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (Saturday, October 23, 2010) - Real Salt Lake saw its hopes for a first-ever MLS Supporters' Shield title stay alive tonight at Dick's Sporting Goods Park thanks to some late-game heroics by FW Álvaro Saborío, his brace in second half stoppage time salvaging a 2-2 draw for the defending MLS Cup champs.

With tonight's crucial standings point, Real Salt Lake (15-4-11, 56 pts.) once again drew even with the Los Angeles Galaxy for the League's top overall spot, meaning an FC Dallas win tomorrow evening over the Galaxy at The Home Depot Center (6:00 p.m. MT kickoff) would give the Utah side the regular season Supporters' Shield crown courtesy of the second tie-breaker of overall goal differential (teams are even on first, head-to-head points tie-breaker).

Another unknown heading into tomorrow's ultimate contest of the MLS regular season in Carson, Calif., is who Real Salt Lake will square off against in its upcoming Western Conference Semifinal Series that will kick off the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs. A Galaxy loss tomorrow evening would give RSL the #1 seed and set up a marquee match-up against #4 Seattle Sounders FC, while a Galaxy win or draw puts RSL in with the #2 seed, thereby opening its title defense with another tough draw against #3 FC Dallas. The only thing about the series that is known is that Real Salt Lake will host the second leg of the series at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday, November 6 (time TBA); the date and time of Leg 1 of the series will be announced by Real Salt Lake and MLS on Sunday evening following the Galaxy-FC Dallas showdown.

Colorado would shoot out of the gates in tonight's contest, and it took just 16 minutes for Rapids FW Omar Cummings to move the scoreboard, his one-touch redirect off a cross from the left by DF Anthony Wallace putting the home side up early. Not to be outdone by his strike-mate, FW Conor Casey added one of his own six minutes after the halftime break, his close-range header off a DF Kosuke Kimura cross seemingly wrapping up the result for the Rapids, especially as the half wore on and the visitors began to run out of time.

Despite struggling through one of its more disjointed efforts of the season, Real Salt Lake would be rewarded for playing the full 90 minutes thanks to the hustle of Saborío, who blocked GK Matt Pickens' clearance at the beginning of stoppage time, the ball bouncing off the striker and then the crossbar before the Costa Rican slammed home the rebound to give the road side hope. Two minutes later, DF Jamison Olave was hauled down in the area by Rapids MF Brian Mullan as he tried to reach MF Javier Morales' free kick as it looped towards the penalty spot. That's where referee Ricardo Salazar pointed, and Saborío would make no mistake from there, placing his shot inside the right post and past Pickens to send the hundreds of Claret-and-Cobalt supporters in attendance into frenzy.

Real Salt Lake Match Notes

* Tonight's draw kept a pair of streaks alive for Real Salt Lake, most notably the club-record 14-match undefeated streak in League play (6-0-8) the Utah side began with a 1-1 draw with Chivas USA back on July 24 at Rio Tinto Stadium (previous loss was 0-2 defeat at FC Dallas on July 17). Thanks to tonight's last-second tie, Real Salt Lake responded to a 1-3-1 start to the campaign by closing with just a single loss across its final 25 contests (14-1-10).

* Also continuing tonight was RSL's grip on the Rocky Mountain Cup, with the pair of draws in this year's home-and-away series allowing Real Salt Lake to claim the trophy for its supporters for a fourth straight year, this marking the third-year of retention following an even series after the Utahans won it outright for the first time in 2007.

* Despite the rare pair of goals given up, Real Salt Lake still easily managed to finish the campaign with the best defensive effort in MLS regular season history, its 20 goals allowed besting the 2007 Houston Dynamo's record of 23. Tonight marked only the second time in RSL's last 26 contests in which it had allowed multiple goals (5th time this season).

* A large part of that record was due to RSL's stout defensive play on the road, its 13 away goals allowed falling just one shy of equaling the MLS record of 12 set by D.C. United during its 2005 campaign.

* In addition to those League-wide records, Real Salt Lake also bested or evened numerous club records in 2010, finishing the season with 56 points (previous best of 40 in 2008 & 2009), 15 wins (11 in 2009), a +25 goal differential (+8 in 2009), 45 goals scored (tied w/ 45 from the 32-game season in 2006), 1.50 goals per game (1.43 in 2009), 15 shutouts (10 in 2009), 19 road points (15 in 2006), and a +1 road goal differential (-8 in 2006).

* With his 11th and 12th goals of the regular season, Álvaro Saborío not only easily wrapped up RSL's 2010 Golden Boot award, but he also tied Robbie Findley's 2009 campaign as the second-most prolific goal-scoring regular season by an RSL player, trailing only Jeff Cunningham's 16-goal haul in 2006. The Costa Rican striker now has 18 goals in 32 appearances across all competitions for Real Salt Lake in 2010 (6 in CONCACAF Champions League play).

* The 2010 regular season campaign for GK Nick Rimando will not only go down as the greatest of his stellar 11-year MLS career, but one of the best in MLS history. The All-Star netminder's 18 goals allowed in 27 League appearances this season gave him a 0.67 GAA, which smashed the previous single-season high of 0.82 set by Houston GK Pat Onstad in 2007; however, FC Dallas 'keeper Kevin Hartman could reset the mark tomorrow, as he carries a 0.62 GAA into the Hoops' season finale at Los Angeles. Rimando's 14 clean sheets were also the second most in an MLS season, behind only Tony Meola's 16 shutouts for the Kansas City Wizards in 2000, while RSL's 15 total shutouts ranked behind only the 2000 Wizards' 17 clean sheets.

Check out the Real Salt Lake Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Major League Soccer Stories from October 24, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central