Inside MLS: Real Salt Lake

Inside MLS: Real Salt Lake — page 1 — CHAPTER 1 AN IMPROBABLE RUN Real Salt Lake entered 2009 with high expectations The club was coming off the best of its four seasons in Major League Soccer MLS RSL as the club is commonly known had finished seventh in the league in 2008 Then it reached the conference finals before falling to the New York Red Bulls 1 0 at home in Sandy Utah a suburb of Salt Lake City Confidence also stemmed from the club’s belief in relying on its system rather than star players to carry the squad Each member of the team had a role in helping RSL reach its full potential Despite those high hopes RSL got off to a rocky start in 2009 The club won just three of its first 12 matches However all three of those victories were at home marking Robbie Findley went on a scoring binge early in the 2009 season 4

Inside MLS: Real Salt Lake — page 2

Inside MLS: Real Salt Lake — page 3 — the start of a season-long trend Real Salt Lake proved to be nearly invincible at Rio Tinto Stadium which had opened late in the previous season In those first three victories RSL outscored its opponents 12 2 Forward Robbie Findley scored the first hat trick in team history in a 4 1 defeat of the Columbus Crew He tacked on another goal in a 6 0 blowout of the New England Revolution But the early home wins did not translate into momentum for Real After the New England win RSL went over a month without posting a single victory HOME COOKING ROAD WOES Missing the playoffs was a distinct possibility throughout the season The drastic difference between the team’s play on the road where it won only two matches all season and at home made it difficult to create and maintain momentum A road date in mid-June against the mighty LA Galaxy provided the toughest test yet LA’s roster boasted soccer royalty in David Beckham and Landon Donovan But star power didn’t intimidate RSL whose team-oriented approach overwhelmed the Galaxy Forward Yura Movsisyan scored early in the match and defender Nat Borchers added another goal shortly after halftime 6

Inside MLS: Real Salt Lake — page 4 — Yura Movsisyan celebrates his first-half goal in RSL’s big victory over the LA Galaxy The Galaxy never recovered Real Salt Lake earned its biggest road win of the season 2 0 over LA The win was proof that Real Salt Lake could match up with the best in a hostile environment Even though the squad was not known for its star players RSL’s core of Findley Movsisyan 7

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