Devon Sandoval joined the Bill & OC Show on ESPN 700 on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after wearing the captain’s armband on his 24th birthday in RSL’s 2-1 win over Seattle Sounders FC 2 in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
When talking about the win, Sandoval lamented a great header he had in the second half that was swatted out of the corner of the net by the Seattle goalkeeper.
“I had nightmares about that,” Sandoval said.
However, one thing he has learned in his time as a forward in MLS and collegiately at New Mexico, it’s that the best medicine for a missed scoring chance is a goal.
“It’s a little frustrating. I remember hearing when I was young that the best strikers in the world have a short-term memory. If they miss, they forget about it and move on to the next one,” Sandoval said. “The next chance, hopefully it’s in the back of the net.”
RSL had little trouble finding the net against S2, with Joao Plata and Javier Morales scoring in the comeback win that sends Salt Lake to the Round of 16, where it will host the Portland Timbers either June 30 or July 1 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
“It was good to get the win and move on to the next round in the Open Cup,” Sandoval said. “It was a little ugly in the first half, but I thought the guys responded great and everybody came out to play and got the two goals and got the win. It was great.”
That match extends RSL’s schedule to now include five matches in a 14-day stretch from June 21-July 4. While daunting, Sandoval and RSL is taking the approach that each game is its own challenge, starting on Sunday when Sporting Kansas City visits Rio Tinto Stadium.
“Right now, the main focus is Sunday against Kansas City. If we can get a win that game, it would start off this next stretch off huge,” he said. “It’d be awesome.”
To hear the full interview, click here.
