LEHI, Utah — For a midweek tune-up after having the weekend off, Real Salt Lake faced local PDL soccer club Brigham Young University at their practice facility in Lehi, Utah. The match was divided into three 30-minute periods and saw Real Salt Lake dominating all facets of the match, ultimately winning by a 6-0 margin.
Throughout the match, Real Salt Lake scorched BYU along the left side. Initially it was Javier Morales, Nelson Gonzalez and Fabian Espindola doing the damage. About five minutes into the match Espindola found himself in alone against the goalkeeper and he easily slotted it to the right of him for the opening goal.
RSL kept possession for most of the first stanza, with Espindola again scoring about 15 minutes later with a chip over the ‘keeper from the edge of the area. Before the opening 30-minute period came to an end Espindola was again involved as he delivered a quality cross that appeared to have gone off of a defender and into the net, although teammate Nelson Gonzalez was also in the area.
The second period had several roster changes, including a surprising look at Jean Alexandre playing in a right back role instead of his familiar holding midfielder role. However, the defense would rarely be called upon as RSL again dominated the action. The fourth goal came about 10 minutes into the period as Will Johnson kept sliding to the left at the top of the area, before finding the opening he was looking for and taking a left-footed blast that left the goalkeeper flat-footed.
Before the end of the period Kyle Beckerman received a pass after a free kick and ended up with a long range left-footed shot that closely resembled the one by Johnson a few moments earlier.
The final 30-minute segment of play saw the introduction of a trialist at striker, Ats Purje from Estonia. He looked to have some decent skills but did not get on the board as the final goal of the match came from a header by Jamison Olave off of a free kick.
Throughout the match Gonzalez and Espindola remained extremely dangerous and played a key role in the compete dominance that occurred.
Coach Jason Kreis was pleased with what he saw in the scrimmage.
“We expect to win," he said. "We expect to be dominant."
