KREIS RETURN TO RIO TINTO STADIUM:
The first-ever player in RSL’s history, acquired from Dallas for “future considerations” prior to the club’s expansion draft, current NYCFC head coach Jason Kreis served as RSL’s captain for 2+ seasons ... In 2005 / 2006, Kreis scored 17 goals and registered 9 assists, starting 55 games (appearing in 58) for a team that won only 15 out of 64 games ... Four games into a winless 2007 (0-2-2), former RSL owner Dave Checketts tapped the shoulder of his captain - then Major League Soccer’s all-time goal-scoring leader (108 goals) - to become the youngest manager in league history ... As head coach, Kreis quickly recruited assistants JeffCassar and Robin Fraser, posting a 6-13-7 mark in the 2007 campaign, learning the league and shaking up the roster, trading stalwarts Chris Klein, Jeff Cunningham, Mehdi Ballouchy and others, while bringing in ChrisWingert, Kyle Beckerman, Robbie Findley, YuraMovsisyan, Javier Morales and Fabian Espindola as RSL looked towards a move out of Rice-Eccles Stadium.
In 2008, paired with GM Garth Lagerwey, his former teammate at Duke and in Dallas in the early MLS days, Kreis brought Jamison Olave, Clint Mathis, RobbieRussell, Nat Borchers, Will Johnson, Ian Joy and Tony Beltran to the Wasatch Front ... That year, RSL’s dominant home-field advantage was formed, as the lone loss in the 8-1-6 / 24-10 goal +/- run came in an 0-1 to Chivas in the final match at Rice-Eccles ... RSL rebounded from that disappointment to win a dramatic comeback at San Jose, 3-2, a week later – only the 2nd road win of the season - set up a move into Rio Tinto Stadium, drawing 1-1 v NY Red Bulls, Olave’s historic goal cancelled out by a Dave van den Bergh finish ... After Movsisyan slammed home an Andy Williams rebound in the dying moments at Colorado for a 1-1 draw in the 2008 reg. season finale, RSL eliminated Chivas - the 2008 Western Conference top seed - 3-2, again a Movsisyan goal the difference - to advance to host the West Finals against the Red Bulls, who had knocked off Houston as the Eastern “crossover” team ... Kreis later said the 2008 team - only 10-10-10 – achieved success a year earlier than planned, despite the 0-1 home West Final loss to the Red Bulls ...
2009 saw the arrival of Ned Grabavoy, added off waivers from San Jose and continuing the RSL resurrection for players seeking second chances ... Home-field dominance continued, RSL going 9-1-5 at its sparkling new Sandy home, but the club struggled on the road in the diamond midfield, going 2-11-2 overall.
A late-season 20-day break from MLS play allowed Kreis to essentially put everyone’s starting spots up for grabs in a mini-camp, the club defeating Chivas de Guadalajara in an exhibition game before closing the season with home wins against New York (2-0) and Colorado (3-0), sandwiched around an 0-1 loss at Toronto ... That 3-0 home win over the rival Rapids on the final day of the season - combined with Toronto’s 0-5 loss at New York, Seattle’s win over Dallas and Kansas City’s tie with D.C. allowed RSL to improbably clinch the final MLS Cup Playoff spot, flipping Kreis’ team over to the East ... RSL opened the postseason against Supporters’ Shield winners and defending champion Columbus Crew, winning 1-0 at home and 3-2 in Ohio to advance to the East Final in Chicago ... RSL battled the Fire to a 0-0 score after extra time, meaning that after 120 minutes, a shootout would decide who earned a trip to Seattle for MLS Cup ... RSL found itself down 1-3 in the tiebreaker, then turned the tide as GK Nick Rimando displayed his heroics, saving 3 spot kicks as Chicago natives Ned Grabavoy and Will Johnson buried their attempts for a 5-4 win ... Kreis’ team - built on the ethos “Team is the Star” and “Fortune Favors the Bold” - audaciously “BELIEVED” it could go toe-to-toe with the star-studded LA Galaxy, led by David Beckham, Landon Donovan, and old friend Chris Klein ... Coached by Bruce Arena - the man against whom Kreis earned his first-ever point as a head coach with a dramatic 3-3 draw at Rice-Eccles on May 3, 2007 against New York Red Bulls - the Galaxy were prohibitive favorites ... Beckham and Donovan set up Mike Magee on a 41st minute goal to give LA the lead, 30 minutes after a Beckham tackle crushed Javier Morales’ knee in the center circle - removing the RSL maestro from the game - and 4 minutes before Will Johnson had to be removed due to food poisoning ... RSL battled in the 2nd half, Movsisyan and Findley connecting on a 64’ equalizer, LA GK Donovan Ricketts breaking his hand on the play and paving the way for GK Josh Saunders to enter the match ... Saunders stood tall the remainder of the match, making key saves to stone RSL in overtime and during penalty kicks, but the 7-frame tiebreaker belonged to RSL, Rimando’s heroics again on display to set up Robbie Russell’s Cup-clinching conversion ... That improbable Cup win - road shootout victories by a sub-.500 team that narrowly advanced to the postseason - vaulted RSL into its golden era of 2010-13, one that saw the club advance to the CONCACAF Champions League Final (2011), U.S. Open Cup Final (2013) and MLS Cup 2013, Kreis posting an 80-45-40 all competitions mark in that period, including a dominating 56-16-16 home record at Rio Tinto Stadium in MLS reg. season, playoff, US Open Cup and CCL play ... Following the club’s heartbreaking shootout loss in MLS Cup 2013 - just weeks after dropping the 2013 Open Cup Final at home, making RSL the only club out of 11 to advance to both finals in the same year and fail to win either - Kreis accepted the once-in-a-lifetime offer from Manchester City to build its expansion 2015 MLS club, NYCFC ...
