It was a memorable night at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night. Real Salt Lake earned its first victory since August 26, 2016, going 0-7-5 in the 12 matches since last posting a win. Albert Rusnák had a breakout performance with one goal – his first in MLS – and two assists and Danilo Acosta made his MLS debut. And Mike Petke made his debut as head coach after being promoted one week earlier.
However, when asked what he would remember most about his first match on the RSL sideline, Petke referenced not the explosive play on the field or the stingy defense that posted its third shutout in six matches this season.
“That my toes are frostbitten and I had to have my pants tumbled dried at halftime,” Petke quipped after enduring freezing rain and snow for 90 minutes. “Oh, and the three-nothing win. I will remember that too.”
It was a unique game on Saturday as the first half saw wind and rain in temperatures that hovered around 37. While that caused some challenges in a scoreless first 45 minutes, the snow that started to fall as the players went to the locker room for halftime and continued through the final whistle was a different trial altogether.
As the snow accumulated and the field crew was called into action to plow the lines on the pitch, it became a test of wills between RSL and Vancouver.
“Soccer goes out the window at a certain point. Every pass is slowed up, it is like you are building a snowman when the snow is building on the ball and guys are slipping all over the place,” Petke said. “You can’t really see through it so then it just comes down to who wants it more, I guess.”
Even though they had played in parts of the world where snow and cold temperatures can be normal throughout the winter, Yura Movsisyan and Albert Rusnák had never seen anything like Saturday’s snowfall. Most European leagues take a winter break to avoid those circumstances, but little could have been done to avoid the sudden weather conditions in Sandy.
“I come from a pretty cold country and winter gets really cold,” Rusnák smiled. “But these conditions today have definitely been the craziest that I have ever played in.”
RSL made the proper adjustments in the second half, going to a more direct style to keep the ball from slowing in the snow when played on the ground. That slight change proved fruitful as Salt Lake scored three second-half goals to earn the victory, the club’s first of the season.
“Sometimes you have to realize it’s going to be tough playing soccer in this condition. The ball really bites down on the ground,” said Movsisyan, who scored his third goal in the last four matches. “It was just the smarter thing to do–just to go direct and put it in their half and win the ball there and go there in their half. Keep it as far away from our goal as possible.”
Added midfielder Luke Mulholland, who scored his second goal of the season in the win, “None of the teams have experience with playing in the snow and how the ball holds up, so at that point it’s all about being just willing to fight for it. I’m just delighted that we were able to get our first win of the season and hopefully we can build on that now.”
While there were several key performances that fueled RSL’s victory, Movsisyan pointed to the thousands of fans that braved the rain, sleet and snow to bear witness to the spectacle. With each goal and each gathering inches of snowfall, the chorus rang louder.
“I’ve got to give a big shoutout to our fans. They were just amazing. We were running around and we were cold, I can imagine the fans just sitting there and being cold,” he said when asked about the importance of the win. “I think it’s just the most rewarding thing for us to do for the fans is to reward them for their efforts. To reward them for sticking around until the last minute. So I just want to say thank you from the whole team, from the whole club, thank you to the fans that stuck out there and froze way more than we did. This is the way this fan base is. This is the way they’ve been. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to come and play in front of them because that’s how great they are. Not many stadiums, not many fans in the league, would have stuck around in weather like this.”
It’s certainly one that will go down in RSL lore.
