4/03 News

AreliusII · 04-04-2005, 10:09 AM

Real debut ends in draw

On a windy, rainy evening, weather is the only winner

By James Edward
Deseret Morning News

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — In the 82nd minute of Real Salt Lake's inaugural game, Clint Mathis lined up for a free kick near midfield. Just prior to running toward the ball, the wind started blowing the ball away.

MetroStars' Carlos Mendes and Real's Jason Kreis head the ball during Saturday's game.

Laura Seitz, Deseret Morning News
That about summed up what was supposed to be a historic day for the MLS expansion franchise. Wind gusts approaching 50 mph played tricks with the ball all game as RSL battled the MetroStars to a 0-0 tie Saturday.

"Those kinds of conditions, sometimes you had to laugh at the way the ball would spin and move away from the players," said RSL coach John Ellinger. "We came in with the purpose of trying to win, but we'll definitely take a point right now."

The wind was so strong, Clint Mathis said he felt like he was running in place at times. Jason Kreis said it was like pinball on the field. The wind was so strong at times, players had to hold the ball in place for teammates for free kicks and goal kicks.

"It was one of those nights when strange things happen," RSL keeper D.J. Countess said. "There's going to be fluke plays. There's going to be things that happen that don't normally happen."

Fortunately for Salt Lake, when those things did happen, he was up to the challenge.

The game's craziest sequence occurred in the 18th minute on a harmless goal kick by Zach Wells — which was held in place by a defender. With a steady wind gust behind him, Wells unleashed a mammoth kick that bounced once and then sailed over the head of every Salt Lake defender. The MetroStars' Sergio Galvan Rey slipped in behind that defense, chased the ball down, and had a glorious one-on-one situation with Countess.

Rey tried blasting it past the charging Countess, who turned the poorly struck shot away easily.

"D.J. was awesome. He stepped up," said Ellinger. "That's why we picked him. If he plays like that all season, we'll all be happy."

That one save helped RSL preserve a first-half shutout — not bad, considering the MetroStars had the luxury of gusting winds at their back for the opening 45 minutes.

MetroStars' Chris Leitch and Real Salt Lake's Andy Williams fight for control of the ball during Saturday's MSL opener in East Rutherford, N.J.

Laura Seitz, Deseret Morning News
Having endured the two-on-one advantage the wind provided the MetroStars, Salt Lake was extremely confident about stealing the road victory with a goal in the second half.

It nearly happened just 12 seconds into the half when RSL right midfielder Dipsy Selolwane uncorked a wicked shot near the top of the box, but Wells was able to push it wide. Two minutes later, Kreis pushed another excellent scoring chance wide.

Despite those two quality close-range scoring chances early in the second half, Salt Lake seemed content shooting long-range shots the remainder of the game.

"I thought we could've been a little more patient and got into the box a couple of times to try and put one away," said Ellinger.

With RSL struggling to generate quality second-half chances, the MetroStars had an excellent opportunity to sneak in a second-half goal despite the wind disadvantage in the 60th minute.

Left midfielder Eddie Gaven's fancy footwork near the edge of the penalty area freed himself up enough to loft a cross into the box. After the ball pinged off a few bodies, the MetroStars' John Wolyniec had the ball land near his feet, six yards from goal. He quickly shot it, but Countess made a fantastic reactionary save to preserve the shutout again.

Countess finished the game with three saves, as did Wells.

"Overall, I think both teams have to be content. I think it was a fair result," said Kreis.

Salt Lake returns to action next Saturday when it travels to Los Angeles to face the Galaxy. Its home opener is April 16 against Colorado.

AreliusII · 04-04-2005, 10:10 AM

Players used to bad weather

Many can tell horror stories about wind, rain

By James Edward
Deseret Morning News

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — As bad as the weather was in Real Salt Lake's inaugural game against the MetroStars, it wasn't the worst condition some of the players have endured in their careers.

Real Salt Lake's Marlon Rojas keeps the ball from a MetroStar defender.

Laura Seitz, Deseret Morning News
Defender Rusty Pierce recalls a preseason scrimmage during his rookie season with New England in which snow made the conditions "a nightmare."

"That's the most miserable I've ever been," said Pierce.

Brian Kamler remembers a game in Tampa in 1997 when it dumped buckets and buckets of rain.

"The first half you almost had to lift the ball up to play any kind of pass, because if played anything on the ground it wouldn't roll," said Kamler.

Saturday's game played in intermittent driving rain and wind gusts up to 50 mph nearly topped Jason Kreis' worst weather moment in 1997. During a cup game against a Mexican team in Dallas, wind gusts reached the 40s, but the 40-degree temperature was much colder than the 57-degree kickoff temperature at Giants Stadium.

RSL's Eddie Pope may have played in the most memorable MLS bad-weather game ever. During the league's inaugural season in 1996, he scored on a header in overtime in the MLS Cup to lead D.C. United past the Los Angeles Galaxy.

POWER OUTAGE: Shortly before halftime, about 65 percent of the lights in Giants Stadium went out because of a power surge caused by the high winds. The referee halted play for a few minutes, but then both coaches agreed there was enough light to continue playing. When the half resumed, the stadium lights were back to full strength.

N.Y. HOMECOMING: Real Salt Lake starters Clint Mathis, Eddie Pope, Andy Williams, Nelson Akwari, Brian Kamler and D.J. Countess all played for the MetroStars during one point in their careers.

LUKE'S DEBUT: Luke Kreamalmeyer made his MLS debut Saturday, coming on for Marlon Rojas as a 72nd-minute substitute. He was mostly ineffective, as the wind was blowing the ball away from his side of the field.

ATTENDANCE SKEWED: Instead of announcing the opening-night attendance in the press box, the MetroStars media relations department announced that the tickets distributed was 12,657. Only about 1,000 fans weren't scared away by the weather and actually showed up.

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AreliusII · 04-04-2005, 10:15 AM

Real Salt Lake Notes: Big duo held in check by bad weather
By Michael C. Lewis
The Salt Lake Tribune

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - It was the first game not only for Real Salt Lake, but for its potentially lethal scoring combination of forwards Clint Mathis and Jason Kreis.
Who were hardly lethal.
The miserable weather kept the high-profile pair from doing any damage in the 0-0 season-opening draw with the MetroStars at Giants Stadium on Saturday, except for the yellow card Kreis received in the 30th minute for a tackle from behind on the MetroStars' Jeff Parke.

Headed to the Hall

The National Soccer Hall of Fame sent a representative to the game, hoping to procure a piece of memorabilia from the historic meeting.
"Whatever the players are willing to share," director of communications Jack Huckel said.
It might be hard to take the rain and wind back to in Oneonta, N.Y., though, so the hall might wind up simply with the original lineup card, signed by both coaches before the game.

Injury update

Midfielder Andy Williams was all right, team officials said, after a nasty collision in extra time.
Williams had just gotten a foot on a MetroStars free kick when teammate Rusty Pierce went up trying to head the ball away. Instead, Pierce fell hard onto Williams'

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neck and shoulders, and Williams lay on the turf for several minutes as the game ended.

New experience

Owner Dave Checketts attended the game, and acknowledged being new to the notion of being happy with a tie. Still, he learned quickly. When his wife approached him near the locker room after the game, she asked:
"Do I say congratulations?"
Checketts did not even hesitate. "Yes!" he answered.
mcl [at] sltrib.com

GoReal · 04-04-2005, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AreliusII

New experience

Owner Dave Checketts attended the game, and acknowledged being new to the notion of being happy with a tie. Still, he learned quickly. When his wife approached him near the locker room after the game, she asked:
"Do I say congratulations?"
Checketts did not even hesitate. "Yes!" he answered.
mcl [at] sltrib.com

You gotta love it RSL SC fans! 🙂

Rover · 04-04-2005, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoReal

You gotta love it RSL SC fans! 🙂

Maybe I spent too much time overseas, but I do believe in the "noble draw" and I do believe in "winning a draw." Both give you one point and both aren't nearly as good as a win (you're dropping two possible points, after all), but they are worth celebrating.

The "noble draw" is when you're overmatched but fight and fight and earn a tough point, especially on the road. We weren't overmatched on Saturday against Metro, but otherwise it was a noble draw.

The "winning the draw" scenario would be familiar to anyone who saw this weekend's Barca-Betis game. Down 1-3 to a ten-man Betis squad, Barca clawed back and earned a 3-3 final with two late goals, one in stoppage time. Most would say Betis deserved better, and it was very clear by the body language of the teams at the final whistle who had "won" the draw--Barca. Same with Panama's late equalizer against Mexico last week.

So embrace the draw. The only bad draw is the one Betis and Mexico earned--they had the win, and gave it up to a team that wouldn't quit when behind, and walked off the field kicking themselves.

AreliusII · 04-04-2005, 03:21 PM

Add this preseason match to your list of bad draws:

http://sanjose.earthquakes.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20050316&content_id=24167&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

We let one in during injury time…

Deuce · 04-04-2005, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rover

Maybe I spent too much time overseas, but I do believe in the "noble draw" and I do believe in "winning a draw." Both give you one point and both aren't nearly as good as a win (you're dropping two possible points, after all), but they are worth celebrating.

The "noble draw" is when you're overmatched but fight and fight and earn a tough point, especially on the road. We weren't overmatched on Saturday against Metro, but otherwise it was a noble draw.

The "winning the draw" scenario would be familiar to anyone who saw this weekend's Barca-Betis game. Down 1-3 to a ten-man Betis squad, Barca clawed back and earned a 3-3 final with two late goals, one in stoppage time. Most would say Betis deserved better, and it was very clear by the body language of the teams at the final whistle who had "won" the draw--Barca. Same with Panama's late equalizer against Mexico last week.

So embrace the draw. The only bad draw is the one Betis and Mexico earned--they had the win, and gave it up to a team that wouldn't quit when behind, and walked off the field kicking themselves.

well said!