RSL Reserves Win 2-0 at FC Dallas

RSL RESERVES RETURN TO PLAY WITH 2-0 WIN AT FC DALLAS RESERVES
FW Chris Agorsor and M/F Arturo Alvarez Find the Back of the Net for Claret-and-Cobalt

FRISCO, Texas (Tuesday, August 9, 2011) - Chris Agorsor and Arturo Alvarez scored to lead Real Salt Lake Reserves (2-3-0, 6 points) to a 2-0 win over FC Dallas Reserves (3-2-0, 9 points) this morning on the adidas Field at Pizza Hut Park.

Real Salt Lake Reserves' first goal came early, in just the 10^th minute on a buildup started by Alvarez. Running at the heart of the FC Dallas defense, Alvarez played a one-two pass with Paulo Jr. After receiving the return pass, Alvarez had his shot blocked by an FC Dallas defender, but the redirection fell to the feet of Agorsor, who knocked a shot off the crossbar and left post of goalkeeper Chris Seitz. Several RSL players celebrated the near goal, but no whistle came until Agorsor collected his own rebound and put away a shot low to the far post for the 1-0 lead.

FC Dallas Reserves gained several minutes of possession near the 25^th minute, but the RSL defense was too much to break down and the home side could not produce any clear chances on goal. 

RSL's right back Tony Beltran played a long ball down the right flank in the 29^th minute that put Paulo Jr. in on goal against Seitz, but the 6-3 goalkeeper stood tall and made a nice right-handed save to deny RSL a second goal.

FC Dallas had its best chance of the half in the 37^th minute when Daniel Cruz played a give-and-go with Andrew Wiedeman and hit the return pass with his first touch. Unfortunately for the recently-acquired Colombian midfielder, his hard shot went directly at RSL goalkeeper Kyle Reynish, who plucked the line drive out of the air to preserve the one-goal lead heading into halftime.

FC Dallas started off the second half by applying high energy pressure to Real Salt Lake's defenders. The adjustment paid off as Dallas earned two chances on goal. The latter of the two opportunities came in the 52^nd minute when FC Dallas won the ball back in its offensive third and got the ball to the feet of Ruben Luna. Luna held the ball up long enough for Jonathan Top to run off his left shoulder. Luna slid a pass in front of Top, but Reynish came charging off his line forcing Top to push his shot well wide of goal.

A counter-attack in the 60^th minute produced FC Dallas' best opportunity of the day. The play began with a lead pass in behind the Salt Lake defense from Bryan Leyva. Wiedeman took the pass in stride, headed towards the left post and dished a centering pass to Luna, who one-timed a shot low to the far post. Unfortunately for the FC Dallas Home Grown player, the shot went inches wide of the far post.

Real Salt Lake picked up its second goal of the game via a penalty kick converted by Alvarez in the 75^th minute. The play that resulted in the penalty kick began with a through ball played into the feet of Cody Arnoux, who received the ball and turned on goal before going to the ground after a tackle by FC Dallas midfielder Victor Ulloa. Alvarez's penalty kick beat goalkeeper Richard Sanchez low to the left side to make the score 2-0. 

Real Salt Lake had an opportunity to push its lead to three in the 84^th minute when a lofted ball up from the back crossed up two FC Dallas defenders. Agorsor was in position to take advantage, winning the ball near midfield and racing towards goal for a one-on-one opportunity against goalkeeper Sanchez. The Mexican U17 World Cup Champion came to the top of the box to cut down Agorsor's angle and was able to make a solid save with his right hand before covering up the rebound.

Real Salt Lake Reserves Notes

• The win by Real Salt Lake marked its first in any competition at FC Dallas since Aug. 2008, breaking a run of five straight winless contests in North Texas. RSL has only won in Dallas in Reserve League action, its 4-1-0 record in reserve play coming in stark contrast to the 0-10-1 ledger compiled at FCD in other competitions (0-8-1 in regular season, 0-1-0 in playoffs and 0-1-0 in U.S. Open Cup).
• Today’s match featured the return of FW Paulo Jr. to action for Real Salt Lake. The Brazilian striker, who has missed more than three months of action due to hamstring and hip flexor injuries, started up top for RSL and got a run of 33 minutes in before exiting the contest in place of FW Cody Arnoux.
• Speaking of Arnoux, he and fellow forward Chris Agorsor played their first official minutes in an RSL uniform in this morning’s Reserve League contest. The 57-minute stint off the bench for the 23-year-old Arnoux marked his first minutes since returning from off-season microfracture surgery on his left knee, while the 20-year-old Agorsor saw his first action since being signed by the Utah side on July 21.
• Real Salt Lake had a pair of RSL-Arizona Academy players suit up for the match, with both FW Ricardo Velasco (25 minutes) and DF Julio Alarcon (16 minutes) appearing off the bench. Velasco has now appeared in four of RSL’s five Reserve League contests to date, while Alarcon has seen time in two of the three reserve matches he has been called up for in 2011.
• In addition, Real Salt Lake had three guest players see action in this morning’s game, with former FC Dallas defender Blake Wagner (82 mins.), DF Leone Cruz (90 mins.) and MF Paulo da Silva (8 minutes) and seeing time in Claret-and-Cobalt.
• Real Salt Lake (2-3-0, 6 pts.) will return to the Lone Star State for its next Central/Mountain Conference contest in MLS Reserve League play on Sunday, Aug. 21, when RSL and the Houston Dynamo (3-2-0, 9 pts.) will follow the previous night’s regular season fixture with a 9:00 a.m. MT (10:00 a.m. local) kickoff.

Scoring Summary:
RSL - Chris Agorsor  (unassisted) 10
RSL - Arturo Alvarez (penalty kick) 75

Misconduct Summary:
RSL - Donny Toia (caution; unsporting behavior) 70
RSL - Richard Velasco (caution; reckless foul) 71

FC Dallas Reserves - Chris Seitz (Josh Lambo 45, Richard Sanchez 69), Victor Ulloa, Bobby Warshaw, Moises Hernandez, Michael Ambrose, Eric Alexander (Mark Ashby 30), Daniel Cruz (David Robledo* 45), Bryan Leyva, Andrew Wiedeman, Ruben Luna, Jonathan Top (Daniel Garcia* 72).

* = FC Dallas Academy player

Real Salt Lake Reserves - Kyle Reynish (Tim Melia 69), ^Leone Cruz, Rauwshan McKenzie, Tony Beltran (Julio Alarcon 74), ^Blake Wagner (^Paulo da Silva 82), Jean Alexandre, Donny Toia, Collen Warner (Richard Velasco 65), Arturo Alvarez, Paulo Jr (Cody Arnoux 33), Chris Agorsor.

* = Real Salt Lake Arizona player
^ = Real Salt Lake guest player

Referee: Pedro Trejo Jr
Referee's Assistants: Christopher Mercado, Jeffery Greeson 
4th Official: Fernando Galvan
Weather: Clear, 90 degrees

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE
CENTRAL/MOUNTAIN
DIVISION STANDINGS