Real Salt Lake vs. Kansas City Wizards

[Arelius]

Originally Posted by SoccerPrime

My only thing about Benhcke is that when I saw him play in several preseason matches, I thought he was struggling. He was out a lot last year at Dallas, so maybe he was just not fit. In any case, glad he scored today. Good job Matt (and Jason and whoever else scored).

BTW RSL's front office rocks.

What’s the secret to getting these “breaking news” emails?

[Arelius]

RSL over Wiz 3-2. Whew! Sounds like it was closer than originally reported...

[Rover]

Originally Posted by montgjules

My statements are rarely meant to apply to everybody everywhere. So nobody specific should take offense. (Frankly nobody at all should take offense, but that's not in my control.)

Ditto. Don't see any offense. Just wanted to debate.

April, yet is it?

[montgjules]

April? No. You have me confused with someone else. :D

[Rover]

Happens all the time.

[SoccerPrime]

RSL vs. KC press release:

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release Contacts: Ronell Hugh – Real Salt Lake
www.RealSaltLake.com 801.924.8584 / rhugh [at] RealSaltLake.com
Spencer Checketts – Real Salt Lake
801.924.8579 / schecketts [at] RealSaltLake.com

REAL SALT LAKE DOWNS KANSAS CITY, 3-2

Kreis Adds Another Goal to Preseason Totals, with Assist (Again) from Selolwane;

RSL Improves to 3-1-1 in Preseason

SALT LAKE CITY (Thursday, February 17, 2005) – Real Salt Lake, Major League Soccer’s 12th team, notched another preseason victory today with a 3-2 win over the Kansas City Wizards in Bradenton, Fla., bringing RSL’s preseason record to 3-1-1. Goals from FW Jason Kreis, DF Matt Behncke and MF Luke Kreamalmeyer provided the scoring.

“We played very well in the first half and our starting lineup was very impressive,” said Head Coach John Ellinger, whose team enjoyed a 2-0 lead at halftime. “We’re just very happy that we’re making progress and today’s game demonstrated exactly that.”

Today’s RSL lineup was as follows:
GK – Countess (Nolly 46); DF – Behncke (Jackson 46), Dunseth (Lookingland 46), Pope (Knowles 46), Akwari (Halilovic 46); MF – Kamler (Ara 46), Mathis (O’Brien 46), Brenes (Kreamalmeyer 46), Whitfield (Novak 46); FW – Kreis (Flores 46), Selolwane (Watson 46)

RSL entered the game with high energy after winning two games on Sunday against the San Jose Earthquakes (1-0) and the Columbus Crew (2-0), while Kansas City rolled out a lineup that included 10 of the 11 players who represented the Wizards in MLS Cup 2004. KC Head Coach Bob Gansler started the following:

GK – Oshoniyi (Will Hesmer); DF – Zotinca (Roberts 46), Conrad (Graham 80), Garcia, Burciaga;
MF – Klein, Zavagnin, Gutierrez (Walsh 76), Minagawa-Webster (Alberts 46); FW – Arnaud, Wolff (Preki)

Real Salt Lake’s first goal came off a corner kick in the 25th minute, when DF Matt Behncke connected on a cross from Kreis, heading the ball into the goal. Behncke beat the Wizards defense with a near-post run, heading the ball home from just outside the six-yard box.

Just 10 minutes later, Kreis tallied his third preseason goal in the last two games. MF Clint Mathis started the play with a chip to Kreis, who then made a deft one-touch pass to FW Dipsy Selolwane. The Botswanan international, who assisted on both Kreis goals in Sunday night’s 2-0 win over Columbus, dribbled through several Wizards players before distributing the ball back to Kreis, who launched a first-time shot that sailed into the net.

“We showed good defensive organization throughout the game, which is very encouraging to me,” Kreis said. “Offensively we’re doing pretty well, considering it takes time develop and we’re progressing. I can’t wait to see where we are in another 45 days before our opener in New York.”

The Wizards narrowed the RSL lead to 2-1 on a Josh Wolff penalty kick in the 60th minute. Senad Halilovic went in on a strong tackle against Davy Arnaud and was whistled for the foul, which resulted in the Wolff penalty kick. Just 15 minutes later, RSL regained the two-goal margin when Smithfield, UT native Sergio Flores made a breaking run down the right side before finding 2005 MLS Combine MVP Kreamalmeyer in the box, with the Bradley University product slamming the ball home for the 3-1 lead.

“The last three or four games, the team has been playing really well together,” Kreamalmeyer said. “Kansas City had most of their first team out in the second half and it was pretty even with our second team playing very aggressive soccer.”

The game’s final margin came when Kansas City MF Chris Klein scored following a Diego Walsh assist. Walsh entered the game for MF Diego Gutierrez following a late second half injury.

The latest RSL preseason roster follows:
RSL PRESEASON ROSTER (as of February 17, 2005)
# Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate Hometown College Status
2 Nelson Akwari DF 6-0 180 02/04/1982 Houston, TX UCLA
4 Kevin Ara MF 6-2 170 02/08/1982 Upland, CA Harvard
16 Matt Behncke DF 6-3 190 02/20/1980 Williamsburg, VA Princeton
20 Nikolas Besagno MF 6-0 175 11/15/1988 Maple Valley, WA -- Gen.adi
19 Pablo Brenes MF 5-9 132 08/04/1982 San Jose, Costa Rica --
11 Chris Brown M/F 5-11 170 03/10/1977 Portland, OR Portland
1 D.J. Countess GK 6-1 185 01/09/1982 Fair Oaks, CA UCLA
17 Kenny Cutler MF 5-9 140 03/08/1982 Richmond, VA Clemson
13 Brian Dunseth DF 6-1 180 03/02/1977 Upland, CA Cal-State Fullerton
21 Sergio Flores MF 5-11 168 02/22/1985 Smithfield, UT --
12 Senad Halilovic DF 6-5 205 12/04/1981 Sarajevo, Bosnia --
24 Martin Hutton GK 6-1 180 01/21/1982 Spring, Texas St. Louis
26 Bryan Jackson MF 5-9 160 04/16/1982 La Canada, CA --
5 Brian Kamler MF 6-1 180 02/12/1972 St. Louis, MO Creighton
32 Cameron Knowles DF 6-3 195 10/11/1982 Auckland, New Zealand Akron
29 Luke Kreamalmeyer MF 5-9 155 09/28/1982 Edwardsville, IL Bradley
9 Jason Kreis FW 5-10 155 12/29/1972 Omaha, NE Duke
31 Michael Lookingland DF 6-2 180 09/12/1983 Fallston, MD Bucknell
10 Clint Mathis FW 5-10 170 11/25/1979 Conyers, GA South Carolina
30 Derek McElligott FW 5-8 155 08/13/1982 Baltimore, MD Maryland-Baltimore Cty
18 Jay Nolly GK 6-3 210 01/02/1982 Littleton, CO Indiana
27 Kevin Novak MF 5-8 150 09/01/1982 Huntington Beach, CA Loyola Marymount
15 Leighton O’Brien MF 5-10 160 03/14/1976 Tacoma, WA San Diego
0 Noah Palmer GK 6-3 195 04/21/1983 Williamsburg, VA Maryland
3 Rusty Pierce DF 5-10 165 07/24/1979 The Woodlands, TX UNC-Greensboro
23 Eddie Pope DF 6-1 180 12/24/1973 High Point, NC North Carolina
28 Steven Rhyne MF 5-9 165 12/25/1981 Atlanta, GA Clemson
14 Dipsy Selolwane FW 5-9 150 01/27/1978 Gaborone, Botswana --
6 Jeff Stewart DF 5-11 165 06/02/1980 Bellevue, WA Santa Clara
22 Jamie Watson FW 5-9 150 04/10/1986 Dallas, TX North Carolina Gen.adi
8 Evan Whitfield MF 5-11 155 06/23/1977 Phoenix, AZ Duke
7 Andy Williams MF 5-8 155 09/23/1977 Chicago, IL --

REAL SALT LAKE NUMERICAL ROSTER AND PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
# Player Pos. Pronunciation Place of Birth Last Club
0 Noah Palmer GK Virginia Beach, VA University of Maryland
1 D.J. Countess GK Fair Oaks, CA Chicago Fire (MLS)
2 Nelson Akwari DF uh – KWAH - ri Houston, TX Columbus Crew (MLS)
3 Rusty Pierce DF The Woodlands, TX New England Revolution (MLS)
4 Kevin Ara MF ARE - uh Upland, CA D.C. United (MLS)
5 Brian Kamler MF St. Louis, MO New England Revolution (MLS)
6 Jeff Stewart DF Bellevue, WA Colorado Rapids (MLS)
7 Andy Williams MF Toronto, Canada Chicago Fire (MLS)
8 Evan Whitfield MF Phoenix, AZ Chicago Fire (MLS)
9 Jason Kreis FW KRYSE Omaha, NE Dallas Burn (MLS)
10 Clint Mathis FW Conyers, GA Hannover 96 (German Bundesliga)
11 Chris Brown M/F Portland, OR San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
12 Senad Halilovic DF ha – LEEL – oh – vitch Sarajevo, Bosnia --
13 Brian Dunseth DF Upland, CA Bodens BK (Swedish Supperettan)
14 Dipsy Selolwane FW sell – o – WAH - nay Gaborone, Botswana Chicago Fire (MLS)
15 Leighton O’Brien MF LAY - ton Tacoma, WA Bodens BK (Swedish Supperettan)
16 Matt Behncke DF BAIN - key Williamsburg, VA FC Dallas (MLS)
17 Kenny Cutler MF Richmond, VA U.S. U-20 National Team
18 Jay Nolly GK NAW - lee Orlando, FL Indiana University
19 Pablo Brenes MF San Jose, Costa Rica MetroStars (MLS)
20 Nikolas Besagno MF buh – ZAN – yo Maple Valley, WA U.S. U-20 National Team
21 Sergio Flores MF Smithfield, UT U.S. U-20 National Team
22 Jamie Watson FW Dallas, TX Univ. of North Carolina
23 Eddie Pope DF Greensboro, NC MetroStars (MLS)
24 Martin Hutton GK Spring, TX St. Louis University
26 Bryan Jackson MF La Canada, CA
27 Kevin Novak MF Los Angeles, CA Loyola Marymount University
28 Steven Rhyne MF Raleigh, NC Clemson University
29 Luke Kreamalmeyer MF KREM – ull – my - ur Alton, IL Bradley University
30 Derek McElligott FW Baltimore, MD U. of Maryland/Baltimore Cty.
31 Michael Lookingland DF Fallston, MD Bucknell College
32 Cameron Knowles DF Auckland, New Zealand University of Akron

Head Coach: John Ellinger (Bradenton, FL)
Assistant Coach: Peter Mellor (Long Boat Key, FL)
Assistant Coach: Brian “BJ” Johnson (Livermore, CA)
Assistant Coach: Chris Agnello (Salt Lake City, UT)
Team Administrator: RJ Noto (Pittsfield, MA)
Athletic Trainer: Jacob Joachim (Portland, OR)
Equipment Manager: Braden Chandler (Bradenton, FL)
Press Officers: Trey Fitz-Gerald (Albuquerque, NM)/Ronell Hugh (Knightdale, NC)/Spencer Checketts (New Canaan, CT)

[bordelais7]

Wow. I know that scoring a goal in the pre-season doesn't mean everything, but with as many times as I've seen Krispy's name pop up, are we looking at a potential Rookie of the Year candidate?

Looks like Dipsy moved to forward and Mathis was in the midfield for this one. Will be interesting to see how that all pans out this season.

[Aero]

In reading the DN article on the game (was this written by James?), the thing that most impressed me was this:

"Salt Lake goalie D.J. Countess didn't have to make a save in the first half thanks to the outstanding play of defensive starters Behncke, Brian Dunseth, Eddie Pope and Nelson Akwari." - http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600112969,00.html

To me, that is pretty impressive. Especially when you consider that this was the team that was in the MLS Cup last year. If they can hold them without a shot on goal, that is doing pretty good.

Of course, I know it is preseason and probably doesn't mean all that much, but I'm impressed anytime a team can hold another team to no shots on goal no matter what the circumstances.

[Jose Luis Luviano]

Probably everybody except me knew that Clint was wearing the #10 shirt, right?

That's pretty interesting to me.

Pablo's name should be (I am pretty sure) "BREH-ness"

Does RSL have anyone who can send out a press release to Nelson Moran at Radio Unico, Telemundo, etc?

[SoccerPrime]

Originally Posted by Jose Luis Luviano

Probably everybody except me knew that Clint was wearing the #10 shirt, right?

That's pretty interesting to me.

Pablo's name should be (I am pretty sure) "BREH-ness"

Does RSL have anyone who can send out a press release to Nelson Moran at Radio Unico, Telemundo, etc?

Yeah I noticed Mathis's number last week at the Crew game. Didn't suprise me.
Also I don't know if RSL has the spanish language media's contact info. Can you forward it to me and I will make sure RSL gets it?