Real Salt Lake had the effort, the energy, and the will to come away with a victory against the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night. They're just missing one element in the struggle for a victory.
"We're still looking for that one special play," said RSL coach Jason Kreis. "We're looking for a player to make a special play like Eddie Johnson makes a special play. He made the difference in the game, didn't he?"
The lone goal of the game came when Johnson collected his own rebound off the post and deposited it coolly into the net. It was one play, one carom that meant the winning goal for the Wizards.
"I don't really have much of a reason to hold my head down," Kreis said. "I'll tell you as the leader of them, I think they put in a very solid effort tonight."
RSL was outshot by a wide margin in the first half. But they fought back after the halftime break to climb back into the game. Still, they gave the Wizards a battle all night long.
"I looked at them in the locker room, and I looked at them as they came off the field. And I saw a bunch of guys with empty tanks," Kreis said. "They put everything they had into that game."
Real threatened the Wizards lead late in the match. They just couldn't find the chance that ended with the ball in the net.
"They deserved probably to equalize late in the game," Kreis said. "There was a chance or two that could have been better."
RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando expected an offensive challenge from the high-powered Wizards attack.
"We knew that they were going to have a lot of chances on goal," Rimando said.
Rimando took away an optimistic outlook because of the way RSL finished the match. They used up all the fuel in their engines.
"I guess the good thing is that we fought back," Rimando said. "Our second half was a lot better. It's usually the opposite where we play a good first half and the second half is a bit of a letdown."
The team is searching for answers. And Rimando apparently knows where the team will find those answers.
"It's something within us that we have to find. Maybe it's heart, maybe it's attitude," he said. "It's something we better find quick. Because we're already at the halfway mark and points are getting lost. And we're getting in the hole deeper and deeper."
Kreis is prepared to stay the course with the team. And he has the ears of a team that respects him.
"The message I was attempting to get across and the message I will keep portraying is this is a process," he said. "This is going to take time."
Thomas Foote is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
