TAMPA, FL. - Real Salt Lake (1-2-0) played a dominant first half, riding an Atiba Harris strike to a 1-0 halftime lead, but allowed two Columbus Crew goals in a five-minute span to fall 1-2 in the third annual Tom Fitzgerald Memorial Match, held this year at the University of South Florida.
RSL rolled out a first-choice starting 11 in a 3-5-2 formation, with Costa Rican DF Danny Torres making his 2007 preseason debut after arriving in camp late Tuesday, due to visa paperwork issues. Torres lined up on the left in a three-man backline in front of 'keeper Scott Garlick, alongside central DF Eddie Pope and Jack Stewart on the right. In the midfield, captain Jason Kreis and MF Carey Talley held space behind attacking center mid Freddy Adu, with Chris Klein on the right and Mehdi Ballouchy on the left. Up top, Harris ran with FW Jeff Cunningham.</p>
"This first group continues to look sharp, we just need to convert more opportunities," said Ellinger. "They didn't allow a goal for 45 minutes tonight, and didn't allow one for 60 minutes on Tuesday. Once Danny gets up to speed - today was only his second day on the ball - we'll be in great shape defensively."</p>
The game endured a ragged first 10 minutes, with several late fouls by players from both teams. RSL's Pope routinely cleaned up loose balls and snuffed out Crew runs in the box, while Torres, one of RSL's most consistent defenders during the first half of last season, acclimated to the speed of play for the first time since mid-July.</p>
In the 14th minute, RSL found the back of the net following a foul suffered by 2006 Golden Boot winner Cunningham, who freed up Ballouchy down the left side after a quick restart. Ballouchy tracked the ball down at the endline and sent a pass far post to a streaking Harris, who beat the defender and the goalkeeper to the ball, knocking it home for the RSL lead.</p>
Only 10 minutes later, Harris almost returned the favor to Cunningham, springing Jeff and his new #90 jersey into the box, but the man with 90 career MLS goals saw his shot blocked by a Crew defender. Four minutes later, it was Cunningham again playing the role of setup man, dribbling deep into the Columbus defense, drawing several defenders close and playing the ball back towards the top of the box to Adu, whose acrobatic bicycle attempt went high.</p>
Late in the half, Kreis and Harris each received yellow cards for late tackles from behind, while the Ballouchy-Cunningham combination play sparked the RSL attack. After a Ballouchy throughball sprung Cunningham past the defense for an offering that went wide left, RSL finished the half with a 1-0 lead.</p>
Wholesale changes were made at the break, with RSL again controlling the first 15 minutes of the second half. Williams and both Browns - Chris and Kyle - generated opportunities, while Cutler saw his rebound attempt from point-blank range snuffed by the Columbus 'keeper.</p>
In the 59th minute, a poor clearance by RSL GK Chase Harrison led to the Crew equalizer, and five minutes later Columbus took the lead when it had a numbers advantage down the right side.</p>
MF Jonathan Bramwell, a 22-year old teammate of offseason acquisition Luis Tejada at Panamanian club Plaza Amador, entered the game in the 75th minute and immediately sparked RSL, seeing two hard shots saved by the Crew 'keeper. Cutler and Kyle Brown also saw close attempts to tie the score, but none could be converted as RSL fell for the second time in this young preseason.</p>
RSL emerged victorious in the first Fitzgerald Memorial match in 2005, winning 2-0, but dropped a 0-1 decision to the Crew last preseason.</p>
Donations can be sent to: Tom Fitzgerald Memorial Scholarship Fund, University of Tampa, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd. Box I, Tampa, FL 33606. For further information, please contact University of Tampa head men's soccer coach Adrian Bush at 813-253-6240 ext. 3407 or 3184. </p>
RSL 1:2 CLB
Scoring Summary:
RSL - Atiba Harris (Medhi Ballouchy, Jeff Cunningham) 12'
CLB - Duncan Oughton 59'
CLB - Aaron Chandler 64'
Real Salt Lake - Scott Garlick (Chase Harrison 46); Jack Stewart (Chris Lancos 46), Eddie Pope (Scott Palguta 46), Danny Torres (Willis Forko 46); Carey Talley (Kenny Cutler 46), Jason Kreis (Steven Curfman 46, Jonathan Bramwell 75), Chris Klein (Kevin Novak 46), Mehdi Ballouchy (Kyle Brown 46), Freddy Adu (Duke Hashimoto 46), Atiba Harris (Chris Brown 46), Jeff Cunningham (Andy Williams 46)
Fitzgerald, a close friend of RSL Head Coach John Ellinger throughout both men's coaching careers, was the second head coach in Columbus Crew history (1996-2001), and was killed in a motorcycle accident in December 2004. All proceeds of the match go to the Tom Fitzgerald Memorial Scholarship Fund, established in his honor at the University of Tampa, where he was coaching at the time of his death. </p>
