Real Salt Lake 3 - Austin Aztex 1
March 22, 2009 by f4denz.
Well it was the nicest day of the year so far, not bad for the first full day of Spring, and Real Salt Lake’s open house and exhibition match were a hit with about 10,000 fans in attendance. I actually expected more people but from what I have heard the lack of parking may have caused many people to simply turn around and go back home, the expo center parking wasn’t an option as the scrapbooking show was in town.
For those who did show up, it was an exciting match and here are a few pictures from Saturday:
It was a breezy day but the temps were in the mid 60’s
The team appeared in high spirts
Clint gets a early shot by the keeper but it goes just off the post
and Clint is amazed, as the Atzex players argue, that the ball didn’t find the back of the net
The ball comes off Olave’s head and
he waves to fans in celebration of the goal
While it was an exhibition match, both sides were throwing their bodies into the fray on a regular basis
and Austin is putting together a good side, they played Houston to a tie and beat Columbus in the preseason
Ian Joy went out early with what appears to be a slight injury, but it gave Tony Beltran a chance to get some action
Yura showed his grit in both the first and second half
Javi had a bit of a slow first half but in the second half he created a number of chances
The match stayed physical
In addition to the Olave goal assist, Javi had some great balls played in from set pieces
The praise for Horst’s improvement this preseason appeared to be well warranted as he had a solid match when he came in
Escalada had a solid match and it is easy to see why the staff is excited by the potential, he did take a hard knock in the second half. Hopefully he will be ready for Seattle
In the second half it paid off as he poked this ball past the keeper to put RSL back in front
after he put the ball in the back of the net, he rang the gong (someone was in my way of that shot)
and then a more traditional celebration
Late in the match Javi got behind most of the Austin defense and put one past the keeper
He avoided the gong and went for a shine as part of his celebration as RSL sealed the victory 3-1.
There are more pictures at (http://connect.roguecavaliers.com/photo/albums/rsl-vs-austin) and as I finish going through my photos from the match I will post more there. Also if you need a computer wallpaper you might try this, use the link on the bottom right to get a full sized copy of this picture.
It was a great opening weekend for MLS, some good matches as Chivas came back on two goals by Nagamura to beat Colorado 2-1, Chicago proved why they might be the team to beat by winning 3-1 in Dallas, New England beat San Jose 1-0 in San Jose, TFC beat the Wizards 3-2 in KC as it was a rough weekend for the home side. Chivas and Seattle were the only home teams to win in week 1, while the 2007 and 2008 Champions battled to a 1-1 draw as neither home side Houston or visitors Columbus could pick up all 3 points. On Sunday the Galaxy came from behind to get a 2-2 draw with DC United at the Home Depot Center in a match that saw a huge collision between Devon McTavish and Greg Janicki in which both left the pitch bloody. Janicki would come back but McTavish had a huge cut on the back of his head. I am not sure LA would have come back without those injuries, both of their goals came after the incident.
For RSL they will get their MLS season on at Seattle in just 6 days, and I will be there to get pictures and try to bring you as close to the action as I can.
OFF MY SOAPBOX
