It is not just that Real Salt Lake's captain, Kyle Beckerman, has been working on his
dreadlocks longer than the LA Galaxy's David Beckham has been coifed with an under-cut resembling a
mullet with a racing-strip, that leads me to predict RSL as the 2009 MLS Cup winner.
Rather, it is that RSL is peaking at the right time and relishes the underdog role.
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Andy Williams Seals the Deal for Real in Win
Andy Williams seals the deal for RSL with a late goal in Real's 4-2 aggregate win to
advance in the 2009 MLS Playoffs and move on to the Eastern Conference Final. Last week
after Real Salt Lake beat Columbus at home in Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, Jason Kreis said
something interesting after the game.
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Robbie Findley, MLS's Player of the Week during the last week of the regular season
slipped a late goal past the diving Columbus Keeper from a beautiful Yura Movsisyan pass, and
delivers the victory to Real Salt Lake in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semis.
The score came late in the game, and it became apparent early on that Columbus would have been
happy to get out of Rio Tinto with a nil-nil draw, but RSL was just as determined to get a win at
home.
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I have been surfing the soccer blogs today and not many people are giving Real Salt lake
much of a chance to get past defending MLS Champions, The Columbus Crew. I just want to remind
people of three things:
1. Overall, RSL has scored 23 more goals than its opponents in home games this season.
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Robbie Findley - MLS Player of the Week
Conference Semifinals Begin
Finally, after seven months of play the real contest for Major League Soccer bragging rights
begins on Thursday night in Seattle. Who would have thought that Seattle, the newest team in the
league, would be playing post-season?
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Why does everyone in Utah have a big smile this morning? I will tell you why,
because (imagine the Urkel happy dance) Real Salt Lake put the hurtin' on the Colorado Rapids with
a 3-0 win and the stars aligned when the Red Bulls decided to see just how slackidaisical
they could make Toronto FC look.
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You Don't have to be Einstein to figure the MLS Playoff picture out, but it wouldn't hurt.
Seriously, I have been mulling over the various scenarios that will still allow Real Salt Lake to
make the playoffs and it makes my head hurt. As I write this there are several tiebreaker scenarios
most involving the full-moon, crop-circles and the Mayan calendar predicting the end-of-the-world
in 2012 but the simplest way for RSL to make the playoffs is for them to beat the Colorado Rapids
in the final leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup on Saturday night and Toronto FC, New England, D.
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I'm not read to give up the dream of post-season play for Real Salt Lake yet, but things
look pretty bleak. As Coach Jason Kreis lamented after the 1-0 loss in Toronto on
Saturday, this has been a frustrating season for RSL where one can look back at missed
opportunities at every turn.
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Yes We Can!!! Real Salt Lake was at the base of Mount Timpanogos last night and things
looked bleak, but now RSL is half way up the mountain. When the game game began last night
in Rio Tinto, RSL was four points out of a potential playoff spot with three games left. After
Andy's winning goal, and then the cracking insurance goal by Fabian Espindola, RSL is now one point
out of the playoffs with two games left.
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Tonight, in just about two hours, RSL goes up against the New York Red Bulls in a must
win game. RSL is up against the wall after 18 days off from league play. RSL is currently
sitting four points out of a playoff spot with three games left. Two of the games are home in Rio
Tinto, tonight's match and the final match of the season at home against the Colorado Rapids.
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Only Two Things Come from Texas...
Click here to find out what.
Now I may be going out on a limb, but after the past couple games, I'm a bit testy. I mean, if
you think back to the way RSL started the season (except playing away of course), I was pretty darn
optimistic.
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Now why would you think I am worried about RSL making the playoffs?
But sometimes, you have to face reality. Real looked awful out of the blocks in Houston. It was
as if RSL was still working at fifty percent effort at the start of the game while the Houston
Dynamo was playing at high tempo.
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Jamison Olave played his heart out on a beautiful Saturday night in Sandy Utah and although a
win would have been better, at least Real walked away with a tie and a point. A win and full points
would have placed RSL into a three-way tie with Chivas and Colorado for fourth place in the West,
but it is what it is.
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Real Salt Lake's Fabian Espindola is ecstatic about two things this week: 1) scoring a nice goal
in Wednesday's match against Chivas-USA at home in Rio Tinto; and 2) probably getting the start in
Kansas City today when RSL faces off against the Wizards. Even without Javier Morales or Yura
Movsisyan in the lineup, RSL saw great play from Espindola, Robbie Findley , Kyle Beckerman, and of
course Nick Rimando.
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Tomorrow, RSL heads off to New England to play the Revolution and the game promises to be a
cracker as most of the RSL games have been recently. Seriously, I am not sure that the game can
reach the level of the cage-match against the Dynamo last week in Rio Tinto, but Real and the
Revolution are sitting at similar places in their respective tables and both teams need points to
have a chance at the playoffs.
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