Justen Glad is often asked why he chose to sign a professional contract with Real Salt Lake instead of playing out his stay with the RSL-Arizona Academy and then collegiately at Stanford. On Sunday, Glad was reminded why he made that decision when he made his first home start in a league match for RSL in a 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City at Rio Tinto Stadium.
“I love it. It’s an amazing experience and I’m just trying to soak it all in,” Glad said in an interview on The Bill & OC Show on ESPN 700 on Monday. “It definitely makes it more exciting. There’s no comparison to stepping on the field when you have a sold out stadium. To be playing in that atmosphere is what makes it great.”
Glad made his second MLS start for RSL on Sunday, but it was his third competitive appearance for the club after he started on May 30 in a 2-1 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC on the road, then against last week in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup win over Seattle Sounders FC 2. With each appearance he shows more and more what endeared the club to him as a 17-year-old with the club’s residential academy in Arizona.
The MLS opposition was no easy task for any defender, let alone an 18-year-old who only recently celebrated his high school graduation.
Against Vancouver, he went toe-to-toe with some of the speediest wide midfielders in MLS while playing right back. Then against Kansas City, he slowed and frustrated the explosive Dom Dwyer. And while he wasn’t without flaws in the match, Head Coach Jeff Cassar didn’t withhold praise for Glad.
“Fantastic,” he said after the match. “We can all live with mistakes and we had some bad passes that got away from us. But he put his hand up, he knows it and then he moves on. That’s very rare for a young player to make a big mistake then regroup and have a fantastic game. I thought both him and Aaron (Maund) did a great job but Justen’s maturity is growing on the field all the time. I’m just really pleased.”
To hear Glad’s full interview, click here.
