SANDY, Utah -- Olmes Garcia wants to score a lot of goals, but but he still has a lot to learn in terms of when to pull the trigger and when to pass.
In the 87th minute of Sunday night’s 2-1 win against Toronto FC, Garcia fought his way through a challenge by defender Nick Hagglund and found himself in on goal with his teammate, Devon Sandoval, wide open at the back post. Instead of sending the ball through to Sandoval, Garcia opted to try his own luck and was promptly stuffed by Toronto goalkeeper Joe Bendik.
Toronto scored the equalizing goal less than a minute later, and RSL would have had to settle for a draw if it weren’t for the heroics of teenager Jordan Allen.
While that play may have ultimately been inconsequential, RSL head coach Jeff Cassar spoke about Garcia's missed opportunity Tuesday after practice and explained that the young Colombian striker needs to learn from these experiences.
“Olmes made the choice to shoot,” Cassar said. “All you can do is show him that there was another option that might have been better. It’s a learning opportunity and that’s what I’ve been preaching to the guys all year. ‘We’re going to make mistakes. Let’s learn from them and hopefully not make them again.’”
Garcia doesn’t lack confidence and, in a lot of ways, RSL fans should be happy that the Colombian is displaying a belief in his abilities. He has started all three games for RSL this season after being used sporadically in 2014, and has shown an eagerness and hunger to contribute to the team.
But, Garcia appeared overly anxious during Sunday’s match, attempting four of his five shots from well outside the 18-yard box. That fifth attempt was the same blocked shot that could have been a teammate’s tap-in.
- Get more Real Salt Lake news at RealSaltLake.com
Garcia stayed after practice Tuesday to work on a few of those long-range shots with teammate Sebastian Saucedo. Despite being a confident player, the man his teammates affectionately call “Choco,” puts in the work every day to get better.
“Coach is giving me the opportunity to play and it’s very important for me and for my confidence to continue every day improving,” Garcia said.
Even with the recent hiccups, Cassar supports Garcia and is happy with his overall contributions. After all, the 22-year-old is doing all the little things right in his coach's eyes.
“He’s engaged both offensively and defensively,” Cassar said. “He’s being threatening. I like that he’s getting off shots and he’s putting it in on the defensive end, too, which is really helping out our team. So, I’m really pleased with his progress and I still think there’s a lot more to come.”
