Real Salt Lake's players and coaches thought they had experienced the depths of disappointment and frustration earlier this season.
But Saturday against FC Dallas at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Real tasted a whole new type of bitterness when the visiting Hoops scored the game's only goal in the third minute of stoppage time to win the game 1-0.
"That is probably the most disappointed I've ever been," midfielder Carey Talley said. Real has now gone 270 minutes without scoring a goal at home, having played Chivas to a 0-0 tie on July 4 and New England to a 0-0 tie on June 24.
The game was on the verge of ending in another scoreless tie, a result that would have been disappointing enough for a home team in desperate need of a victory against a Western Conference opponent. But when FC Dallas substitute Abe Thompson found the center of the net with a angled shot after rounding goalkeeper Scott Garlick in the 93rd minute, every Salt Lake player crouched down on the artificial turf or sat on the ground, floored by their frustration.
"When it comes to extra time, you've got to defend," RSL coach John Ellinger said. "You can't lose, you have to do whatever it takes to come away with a point."
Momentum in the game flowed back and forth between the two teams. Both sides had their brief stretches of effective play, but they were never long enough to earn a goal in regulation. Both teams recorded 11 shots in the game; Dallas put three on goal, and Salt Lake put two on frame.
"I felt that we generated the better opportunities," Ellinger said. "We generated the best chances, we didn't finish them obviously, and [Garlick] had two saves, but you know how I feel, you shouldn't lose games like that."
As if the loss on the field was not bad enough, RSL announced Saturday that defender Danny Torres will be out at least six weeks with a sprained right foot. Torres sustained the injury against New England in Foxborough on July 14. Even worse, Torres' replacement Nelson Akwari left the game in the 41st minute after colliding with Garlick on a sprint to clear a ball. Akwari walked off the field, but now has a hip contusion to recover from.
"It's been a rough week injury-wise," Ellinger said.
Ellinger replaced Akwari with second-year youngster Nikolas Besagno, the No. 1 pick in the 2005 SuperDraft. Ellinger said Besagno held his own in the game, but overall Real did not defend well enough.
"We as a team did not defend at that moment in time, and it cost us the game," Ellinger said.
Andy Williams took four shots for Real, including a pair in the second half that had Dallas goalkeeper Dario Sala scrambling to save. The offense, however, was not effective enough; Jeff Cunningham took zero shots, and Jason Kreis and Talley each managed only two.
Trying to give his offense a boost, Ellinger replaced Douglas Sequeira with Mehdi Ballouchy in the 71st minute. He then inserted Jamie Watson, another second-year player, for Cunningham with six minutes left. But it was not enough.
"I don't think there's any excuse," Talley said. "Every time up the field, it's our top six against theirs, and then on the way back it's our back five against their whole team coming. That doesn't do it."
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
