It was another tremendous year for Real Salt Lake with many great memories for The Claret-and-Cobalt. Here is a look back at the 14 top stories from 2014.
1. Captain Kyle
Entering 2014, Real Salt Lake midfielder Kyle Beckerman was widely viewed as one of the top players at his position in Major League Soccer. In landing a spot on the U.S. National Team in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, he furthered his legacy. When Jurgen Klinsmann opened the tournament against Ghana with Beckerman in his midfield it showed just how well-respected the RSL midfielder is and how influential in a match he can be. He started in all three group stage matches for the U.S. and the Americans advanced out of the so-called “Group of Death” of Ghana, Germany and Portugal with a 1-1-1 record and Beckerman was among the more consistent contributors. He finished with nine international matches in 2014, giving him 42 career caps.
2. The Wall of the Wasatch
Nick Rimando has long been among the best goalkeepers in MLS history. He is among the league-leading shot-stoppers year-in and year-out. 2014 was no different and Rimando again led the league with a 1.04 goals against average. The hallmark moment of the season came on August 9 when Rimando held D.C. United scoreless to earn his 113th career MLS shutout to break Kevin Hartman’s career mark. He finished the year with seven shutouts in just 24 matches while missing chunks of time on international duty, giving him 115 clean sheets in his illustrious career.
3. An Emerging Star
In his first two seasons in MLS, Joao Plata showed promise, but inconsistency. When Real Salt Lake traded a second round pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft for him, he was given more opportunity to shine and took advantage in his first season in 2013, netting four goals and eight assists in 29 appearances. This season, he exploded for a team-leading 13 goals while also contributing six assists. At just 22 years old, there is still plenty of progress to be made for the speedy forward. In October, he also returned to Ecuador’s national team and scored his first international goal in a friendly against El Salvador, later adding his second in the same match as he continues his rapid rise.
4. The Fountain of Youth
At 34 years old, not many expected Javier Morales to have a career-best season for Real Salt Lake. However, the creative playmaker did just that in 2014, finishing with a career-high nine goals to go with 12 assists, a total surpassed just once in his eight MLS seasons. The biggest statement game for Morales came in May against the Houston Dynamo. Entering the match, he had three assists in eight appearances – setting a decent pace for the season, but not yet making the impact that had grown to be his calling card. With three goals and one assist against the Dynamo, he proclaimed emphatically that he was not to be taken lightly, even at 34 years old.
5. A Dozen Unbeaten
Real Salt Lake entered unknown territory in 2014. After seven seasons at the helm, Jason Kreis left his head coaching post for NYCFC, putting control of the club in new Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s hands. If the club’s longtime assistant coach was ready for his new responsibilities was answered in the affirmative when RSL opened the season unbeaten in the first 12 matches with a 6-0-6 record. In that stretch, RSL oustcored its opponents 23-13 while recording five shutouts. It wasn’t until Kyle Beckerman, Nick Rimando and Alvaro Saborio all left for World Cup duty that the unbeaten streak was finally halted.
6. From Heartbreaking to Hearwarming in 14 Seconds
Alvaro Saborio was among three RSL players that departed in May for World Cup preparations, but he was unable to contribute to Costa Rica’s run to the quarterfinals when he suffered a fractured foot in camp for “Los Ticos.” Not only did that eliminate him from contention for the World Cup, but it also kept him off the field for RSL for nearly four months. The veteran forward scored in three straight matches before he left in May and picked up right where he left off upon his return. Salt Lake was desperate for a goal against FC Dallas and Saborio’s return to action in the 76th minute offered promise. Nobody could have predicted that he would run into the box and that his first touch would be to head a Javier Morales corner kick into the net. The smile on his face told the whole story and Saborio finished the season with eight goals in just 16 matches.
7. The English Wonder
Around the league, there are tales of players emerging from the lower divisions of the USL and NASL. Real Salt Lake is no stranger to those stories and in 2014 saw the fruits of the relationships with those clubs in the signing of midfielder Luke Mulholland. After successful runs with the Wilmington Hammerheads and Tampa Bay Rowdies, Mulholland jumped right into a deep RSL midfield and snatched playing time right from the start. The 26-year-old Englishman scored in his first start and finished the season with six goals and seven assists.
8. Consistency is Consistent
There are only two teams in MLS history to record five consecutive seasons of 15 wins and 50 points – the 2010-2014 editions of the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake. There is also only one team that has reached the MLS Cup playoffs in each of the past seven seasons. That team is Real Salt Lake and The Claret-and-Cobalt extended both streaks in 2014 with its consistency on the field that has become the club’s hallmark. RSL finished third in the West and fourth overall with a 15-8-11 record in 2014.
9. Veteran Reslience
A large contingent of RSL’s core put in career-years in 2014 due in large part to their ability to stay on the field. The club had four players start in 30 or more matches this season, each of them over the age of 30. Nat Borchers, Ned Grabavoy, Javier Morales and Chris Wingert all put in career-best totals for starts with each surpassing 30, while Kyle Beckerman and Tony Beltran also started 28 games apiece. By comparison, only one other team in MLS – D.C. United – had four field players make 30 or more starts.
10. A Growing Giant
Chris Schuler has always been a promising MLS center back with his combination of size, strength and speed. He took another step in his development in 2014, his fifth MLS season, making a career-high 25 starts on a solid RSL back line, partnering with Nat Borchers in one of the league’s best center back pairings. If he can continue that progress in 2015, a call to the U.S. National Team can’t be far away.
11. Dazzling Debut
When one of the league’s most successful head coaches leaves a club, the pressure is on immediately for his replacements. That was the case when Jeff Cassar stepped into the head coaching role previously occupied for seven seasons by Jason Kreis. Rattling off a 12-match unbeaten streak to start the season gave Cassar quick credibility and he continued RSL’s successful string of playoff berths and 15-win, 50-point seasons despite losing forward Alvaro Saborio for nearly four months with a fractured foot and midfielder Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando to international duty at various points throughout the season. Mixing his veteran core with some youthful depth enabled Cassar to keep the continuity of RSL’s long-running success.
12. Embrace the Future
A new era for Real Salt Lake will start in 2015 and the club will have the opportunity to continue the extension and expansion of its highly successful youth academy with the addition of a USL club in the Salt Lake Valley. In 2014 it was announced that Real Monarchs would take the field next season as an expansion club in the USL, allowing Real Salt Lake to further harvest the culture of winning soccer in Utah while also nurturing the development of the young talent that has risen from the RSL-AZ Academy in Casa Grande, Arizona, over the last several years. Former RSL-AZ Academy Coach Freddy Juarez was appointed Head Coach for the new club, which will start play at Rio Tinto Stadium in March.
13. A New Man at the Helm
Craig Waibel came to Real Salt Lake as a well-thought-of assistant coach prior to the 2014 season. He had spent three seasons as a collegiate assistant coach with the University of Michigan and the University of Washington, helping his alma mater at UW reach the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Quickly he established himself as a great contributor on the practice field and in the film room and when it became clear that longtime General Manager Garth Lagerwey would not be returning in the 2015 season, heads within the organization quickly turned to Waibel as the next in line to head the technical staff. Earlier in December, the four-time MLS Cup champion was named Technical Director.
14. Lagerwey’s Goodbye
After eight seasons as Real Salt Lake’s Senior Vice President and General Manager, Garth Lagerwey said goodbye after the conclusion of the 2014 campaign. During his tenure, RSL made seven consecutive playoff appearances, won the 2009 MLS Cup and appeared in another MLS Cup final in 2013, also reaching the final in CONCACAF Champions League in 2011 and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2013. The club also made critical acquisitions of Alvaro Saborio, Joao Plata, Luis Gil, Tony Beltran, Chris Schuler, Ned Grabavoy and Jamison Olave all while absorbing the losses of key players like Will Johnson, Fabian Espindola and Olave. All the while, Lagerwey was able to keep the majority of the club’s core intact for a majority of his time with the club, establishing Real Salt Lake as one of the top clubs in Major League Soccer during his reign as General Manager.
What did we miss? What were your favorite memories from 2014? Leave your top moments in the comments below.
