REAL SALT LAKE
CLIMBS INTO TIE ATOP MLS STANDINGSWITH 0-0 DRAW
AT SEATTLE
RSL’s First-ever Visit to League’s
Summit Puts Defending Champs Even with Los Angeles and Columbus on 44 Points;
League-best 12th Clean
Sheet of the Season Lengthens RSL’s Shutout Streak to 442 Minutes
SANDY, Utah (Thursday, September 9, 2010) – Another stout defensive effort by Real Salt Lake (12-4-8, 44 pts.) allowed the defending MLS Cup champions to wring a hard-fought road point from a 0-0 draw withSeattle Sounders FC (9-9-6, 33 pts.) in front of 36,078 at Qwest Field.In RSL’s first visit back to Seattle since last November’s championship triumph, the visitors continued their record-setting defensive pace, the team collecting its 12th shutout of the season despite missing four regular starters due to injury or suspension. With the point, Real Salt Lake climbed into a tie atop the overall MLS standings alongside the Los Angeles Galaxy and Columbus Crew on 44 points.
Real
Salt Lake Match Notes
- This marks the first time in Real Salt Lake’s six-year
history in which the Utah side has had at least a share of the League’s
top spot. The stay at the summit will be short-lived, however, as the
co-leading Crew and Galaxy will square off head-to-head this Saturday
night at The Home Depot Center.
- The draw also marked the 18th time in RSL’s last 19 League contests in which it has claimed at least a point, the defending champs going 11-1-7 since May 1 after a 1-3-1 start to the season.
- Tonight marked the MLS debut for DF Chris Schuler, who played a standout 90 minutes next to Nat Borchers in place of Jamison Olave, who missed his first game of the year due to disciplinary reasons (caution accumulation). The rookie out of Creighton had previously played only 62 minutes in an RSL uniform during RSL’s 1-2 (AET) defeat at D.C. United in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open qualifying action on June 2.
- The match also marked just the second career start in League play for GK Kyle Reynish, who stepped in for regular starter Nick Rimando, who sat out due to a slight Achilles strain. The shutout was the first in professional action for the fourth-year pro and former national champion out of UC Santa Barbara. On the injury front, Real Salt Lake was also without FW Fabian Espíndola (L hamstring strain) and MF Ned Grabavoy (R knee ligament strain).
- With its 12th clean sheet of the season, Real Salt Lake pushed its current shutout streak to 442 minutes, which now stands as the third longest in MLS play this season. The Utah side also possesses the longest such streak of the 2010 campaign, its 567-minute stretch from May 29 (v. KC) through July 17 (@ DAL) also ranking as the third longest such run in League history. Reynish began the streak in his MLS debut back on August 11 with 82 scoreless minutes after allowing an 8th minute goal at Philadelphia in an eventual 1-1 draw at PPL Park.
- In partnership with Real Salt Lake’s shutout streaks is the team’s record-setting goals against pace. After allowing just 16 goals in 24 League contests, the RSL’s subsequent 0.67 GAA is well below the record of 0.77 set by the 2007 Houston Dynamo. In addition, despite tonight’s zero on the offensive end of the field, RSL’s 1.54 goals scored average still ranks tops in MLS this season.
- The road point moved RSL’s away record on the season to 3-4-5, the 14 points counting as the most on the road during a single-season. RSL will have three more chances to improve upon that mark with League away matches remaining at New England (Oct. 2), New York (Oct. 9), and Colorado (Oct. 23).
- Seattle GK Kasey Keller’s save on Findley’s penalty kick in the 32nd minute marked the first PK miss in regulation play for RSL since May 31, 2008 vs. San Jose (Morales), snapping an 8-for-8 streak across all competitions.
SEATTLE
SOUNDERS FC (9-9-6, 33 pts.) v. REAL SALT LAKE (12-4-8, 44 pts.)
THURSDAY,
SEPT. 9, 2010 – XBOX PITCH AT QWEST FIELD – SEATTLE, WA
Goals by
Period
1
2 F
Seattle Sounders
FC
0
0 0
Real Salt
Lake
0
0 0
Scoring Summary:
None
Misconduct Summary:
RSL -- Alvaro Saborío
(caution; Reckless Tackle) 54
Real Salt Lake -- Kyle Reynish,
Tony Beltran, Nat Borchers, Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert, Nelson Gonzalez (Will
Johnson 65), Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales, Andy Williams, Robbie Findley
(Pablo Campos 89), Alvaro Saborío.
Substitutes Not Used: Jean Alexandre, Paulo Araujo Jr., Robbie Russell,
Collen Warner, Nick Rimando.
TOTAL SHOTS: 7 (Robbie Findley 2, Alvaro Saborío 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Robbie
Findley 1, Andy Williams 1); FOULS: 15 (Nelson Gonzalez 3, Andy Williams 3);
OFFSIDES: 2 (Robbie Findley 1, Alvaro Saborío 1); CORNER KICKS: 2 (Nelson
Gonzalez 1, Javier Morales 1); SAVES: 2 (Kyle Reynish 2)
Seattle Sounders -- Kasey Keller, Zach Scott, Patrick Ianni, Jeff Parke,
Leo Gonzalez, Alvaro Fernandez (Sanna Nyassi 74), Osvaldo Alonso, Nathan
Sturgis (Mike Seamon 85), Steve Zakuani, Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua (Michael
Fucito 70).
Substitutes Not Used: Roger Levesque, Tyrone Marshall, Tyson Wahl, Terry
Boss.
TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Osvaldo Alonso 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Osvaldo Alonso 2); FOULS:
11 (Osvaldo Alonso 3); OFFSIDES: 1 (Fredy Montero 1); CORNER KICKS: 6 (Nathan
Sturgis 4); SAVES: 2 (Kasey Keller 2)
<span style="font-size: medium;"><em><span>Referee:</span></em><span> Paul Ward </span></span> |
<span style="font-size: medium;"><em><span>Referee's
Assistants:</span></em><span><span style="color: white;">-</span>Peter Manikowski; Anthony Vasoli </span></span> |
<span style="font-size: medium;"><em><span>4th Official:</span></em><span> David Gantar </span></span> |
<span style="font-size: medium;"><em><span>Attendance:</span></em><span> 36,078 </span></span> |
<span style="font-size: medium;"><em><span>Time of Game:</span></em><span> 1:52 </span></span> |
<span style="font-size: medium;"><em><span>Weather:</span></em><span> Partly Cloudy<span style="color: white;">-</span>and<span style="color: white;">-</span>59<span style="color: white;">-</span>degrees </span></span> |
All Statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
THURSDAY, SEPT. 9, 2010
QWEST FIELD –
SEATTLE, WA
SEATTLE SOUNDERS
FC 0 : 0 REAL SALT LAKE
Jason
Kreis - RSL Head Coach
(On coming
away with a draw in the match....) "I'm thrilled for more reasons than
just the result. The guys put in great effort tonight and the attention to
detail was amazing. The commitment level was just second to none."
(On the
play of Kyle Reynish and Chris Schuler...) "Just amazing, in my opinion
they were in the right position to make plays for our team. We have been really
patient with Chris and have taken our time with him. He stepped into arguably
one of the most difficult places in the entire league and just didn't put a
foot wrong. He has so much personality and competitive fire."
(On
Robbie Findley pressing too much...) "I think he is a confident player. I
have to give credit to the guys for having him take the penalty. We have a real
family spirit and gave him the opportunity to score. To watch two or three of
our guys go grab him after he misses and let him know it is ok; that for me is
special stuff."
Kyle
Beckerman - RSL Midfielder
(On his
thoughts on tonight match...) "This is a tough place to play; now they are
getting desperate with the playoffs. They are really attacking with everything
they have. We were able to match their intensity and knew that at the 75thminute we could get out of here with a
draw."
Robbie
Findley - RSL Forward
(On
missing the penalty kick . . .) "I was taken down in the box and stepped
up to take the shot. I didn't hit it that well and he made a good save. Nothing
more than that really."
Sigi
Schmid - Sounders FC Head Coach
(On
the game) "I think we battled and we fought, but I don't think we played
great soccer tonight so it was a little disappointing from that regard because
I know we have more in us. For whatever reason all of our passing was
disjointed and we didn't click in that regard. I'm still proud of the fact that
we've played what's probably the best team in the league twice now and have
tied them twice. But I know we're capable of better soccer and I don't think we
played as well tonight as we could have."
(On Kasey
Keller's game) "Kasey Keller made a great save on the penalty. It probably
was a PK because he [Parke] probably did get a piece of him in the box, but we
thought the ball was out of bounds before it ever got there. At the end of the
day, Keller came up with a great save and it was probably justified because I
don't know if they deserved it 100 percent for sure. He came up with a big save
there and it garnered us a point tonight."
(On RSL
starting Kyle Reynish in goal and putting pressure on him) "With any
keeper, you just have to put shots on goal. [Kyle] Reynish did well, but I
don't think we put enough things on goal to really test him often enough. Ossie
[Alonso] did a couple of times on some shots, but there was nothing clean that
I felt really put him under pressure. He did well. And we find out about that
when the lineups are exchanged so when we put the lineups for the guys, they
knew then."
(On
Alonso's long-distance attempts on goal) "When he has a clean look, it's
perfectly fine. He had the one that the goalkeeper had to make the save on and
then the one that he just barely put over. If we're forcing it, sometimes it's
not good. When he gets clean looks, he strikes the ball fairly well."
(On not
getting as many shots on goal as of late) "Our movement just hasn't been
as good as it could be. There are times when we're mis-hitting clearances. Our
passing out of the back was not real good tonight - I think we missed James
Riley a little bit there because he helps us with that. But also the passing
from our other defenders wasn't as sharp. Our hold-up play wasn't as good. I
think that's one thing that (Blaise) Nkufo adds to our team - he's able to hold
the ball up for us and that allows people to get into attacking positions. It's
the same thing on a different scale that (Javier) Morales or (Alvaro) Saborio
does for them. Nate Jaqua battled hard, but didn't necessarily hold up the ball
for us. It's not that we're eons away from where we need to be - we're very
close."
(On Fredy
Montero not having as much an impact the last few games) "His success is a
reflection of how our team's playing as well. I thought he worked very hard and
he battled. I think sometimes what happens is he gets frustrated and tries to
maybe do too much at times, but it's because he's trying to help the team. He
really wants to help the team in that regard. Again, hold up play next to him
is important because that allows him to get into good positions and our passing
is important to him. So he thrives off the team just as the team thrives off of
him."
(On the
approach to upcoming Champions League matches) "As far as I know, we have
zero points. There are a couple of teams with three and there's one team that
has six and if that team with six wins their game and we win our game then
you've got three teams with three so I think that would put us right in the
thick of it. So we have to be smart and we're going to try and put our best
lineup out there for each game. We'll base our lineup on injuries, fitness and
everything and the same thing when we go to play Columbus - every time we step
on the field we want to win. We don't want to do anything less than win."
(On any
update on Blaise Nkufo's condition) "He seems to feel better, but we have
to see how he does Saturday in training."
(On
Osvaldo Alonso's play) "I thought Ossie's play was good. He covers and
fills a lot of gaps for us at midfield. I thought he did a pretty good job of
containing [Javier] Morales. I don't think Morales did a whole lot to hurt us
tonight so I thought he did a good job there. Defensively we were okay with a
couple of exceptions. Even though they knocked the ball around, it wasn't where
they were penetrating a lot. There were a couple that were close, a couple that
... offsides, not offsides, but overall I thought we were okay. It was when we
transitioned and the ball turned over to us, I don't think we did a good enough
job of keeping it and as a result that made us defend more than we should
have."
(On being
surprised about the amount of whistles) "Tonight, with whistles, nothing
surprised me."
(On the
team's passing and possession play . . .) "We just have to work on that
part of our game. That was the reason we brought in [Mike] Fucito. Even though
he's a smaller stature player, he does a good job of keeping the ball and
connecting. He laid a couple of good balls out to [Steve] Zakuani and got him
involved, and actually had a very good shot himself. We just have to work on
that aspect. The problem with the games is you really don't get any time to
train so you're going from game to game and you have to talk about it then hope
they understand it from talking about it."
Kasey
Keller - Sounders FC Goalkeeper
(On his
save on the penalty kick attempt . . .) "I mean, penalty saves are penalty
saves. You just hope you go the right way. You hope he puts it somewhere where
you can save it and today he did that, which was nice. It was great to be able
to come up with that save at that time. I would love to see it on replay
because I thought he went down pretty easily. In the end, it didn't hurt us so
that is good."
(On the
home crowd . . .) "There's going to be far more years when they don't
chant my name so it's nice when they do. The most important thing was getting
away with this game. It was one of those games where they came here to get at
least one point and if they got something more then they were very happy about
that. I thought the first 10 or 15 minutes we were tremendous and then we kind
of didn't quite play as well after that. But some guys really stepped up. Ossie
[Osvaldo Alonso] continued to play great. Zach Scott came in for James [Riley]
and did a tremendous job. We are doing OK. We are frustrated. Sure. We want to
win every time we step on this field. But people have to understand that teams
are going to come here and really make it difficult for us because they respect
what we have done here and what this crowd is like. Like I said, we could've
gotten a little more today but it's definitely not the end of the world."
(On
stopping penalty kicks . . .) "You can do whatever but in the end if you
can come up with a few saves at the right time then great, maybe make them miss
a couple. Great. But you got to understand that more often than not they are
going to score. That's just the way it is."
Jeff
Parke - Sounders FC Defender
(On the
penalty . . .) "It was a good play by him [Robbie Findley] and a dumb play
by me. I shouldn't have lunged in like that. I should've just kept him outside
and my mistake."
(On Kasey
Keller saving the penalty kick attempt . . .) "It was great. It definitely
kept the game obviously with a tie for us. It lifts you, gets you back on
track. A goal there and it's difficult to get back in but he did a great job
saving it and kept us in the game."
(On the
match . . .) "It was good. They are a good team. I think they are the best
team that I have played against this year, just on movement and just
players-wise they know where each other is supposed to be. They are always
playing balls into the forwards feet and guys playing off and they are always
moving. They are a tough team. On our part, I didn't think we played to our
best. We weren't that sharp. Obviously there were some clearances that I
should've done better with but for the most part we edged out a result and
that's alright."
(On
holding RSL scoreless . . .) "It's good. Obviously the PK was frustrating.
As a team, I think we played good enough to keep them out of the net. I don't
think they had too many good chances. After giving up three crappy goals last
week, to give up none this week is good."
(On the
result . . .) "You feel like you got something but it's frustrating
because obviously we need points. Every time you get a tie you give space for
other teams to gain on you. It's frustrating because we are at home and we want
to win at home. There was only seven games, now six left, so we need to get
some good results and buckle down because we have a big road trip coming up and
then another road game against a tough team in Columbus.
Mike
Fucito - Sounders FC Forward
(On
playing at Qwest Field . . .) "It felt great. I love playing here. I love
the fans. It's been a long time. That was the first time I got somewhat
significant minutes. I think my fitness is coming along and I would like to
hopefully start banging away some goals again."