It’s never easy to fill the shoes of a player the caliber of Nick Rimando, but that’s the task of Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Matt VanOekel on Saturday afternoon as RSL faces the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. While Rimando is away with the U.S. National Team – which throttled Honduras 6-0 on Friday evening in San Jose – VanOekel gets his first start as Salt Lake looks for its first win of the 2017 season.
The 30-year-old NASL and USL veteran is quite different from the player he is filling in for, though.
“There aren’t a lot of similarities, that’s for sure,” quipped RSL Interim Head Coach Daryl Shore in the pregame radio show on Saturday.
While Rimando is an undersized keeper who uses his reflexes and athleticism to become the all-time MLS leader in wins, shutouts and games played and is legendary for his ability to stop penalties, VanOekel is a large physical presence at six-foot-four who has a commanding air in the box.
He also has plenty of experience in big games while with FC Edmonton and Minnesota United, playing in playoff games and Canadian Cup contests in addition to his 125-career regular season appearances. While this will be his first MLS start, Shore is confident he is up to the task.
“We felt that when we lost Jeff Attinella, this was going to be the best guy for us to bring in. Not the same type of goalkeeper as Nick, but he’s a guy who has some experience,” Shore said. “He’s been really good in training leading up to this. He’s had a sharp week and he’s excited for his chance.”
Beyond the goalkeeper position, RSL is dealing with injuries, suspensions and international absences all over the field. That left Shore with just 18 eligible players to travel to New Jersey for the match on Saturday, but he is still confident in the players that will fill out the starting XI.
“It made the 18 very easy. We didn’t have but 18 players that could travel. The lineup decisions, I don’t think were difficult,” he said. “I still think it’s a pretty strong group – a good mix of young guys with veteran guys. A good week of training has led to these guys being ready to play today.”
The lineup will be: Matt VanOekel; Chris Wingert, Aaron Maund, Chris Schuler, Demar Phillips; Luke Mulholland, Sunny; Brooks Lennon, Luis Silva, Sebastian Saucedo; Yura Movsisyan.
On the bench will be: Lalo Fernandez, Danny Acosta, Reagan Dunk, Justin Schmidt, Omar Holness, Jose Hernandez, Ricardo Velazco.
Among those unavailable are: Nick Rimando (U.S. National Team), Albert Rusnák (Slovakia National Team), Kyle Beckerman (suspension), Tony Beltran (back), Chad Barrett (knee), Joao Plata (hip), Justen Glad (knee), Jordan Allen (quad) and David Horst (knee).
