COMMERCE CITY, CO - It took 87 minutes, but the wait was well worth it for Real Salt Lake, who rode FW Robbie Findley's goal in the final minutes and another shutout effort from GK Nick Rimando to post a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids in both teams' 2007 season finale at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The victory gave Real Salt Lake a 2-1-1 record over the Rapids this season, allowing Utah's MLS side to hoist the Rocky Mountain Cup, awarded to the winner of the season series, for the first time in three tries. The win also allowed RSL to play spoiler against its archrival, as the result officially eliminated the Rapids from contention for one of the final two MLS Cup Playoffs berths still up for grabs in this final weekend of the regular season.
RSL MF Kyle Beckerman learned quickly how referee Jair Marrufo would try to keep the match in order, as his caution for a foul on Rapids MF Jose Cancela just five seconds into the game was one of the quickest ever issued in an MLS contest. There wasn't much doing in the match offensively for the first 30 minutes, but the both teams would begin finding quality chances soon after. The pick-up in play started with Colorado in the 32nd minute when Rapids MF Colin Clark found himself in alone on Rimando, but after circling the beaten netminder Clark's shot towards a wide open goal bounced off the base of the right post and over the endline. Just 30 seconds later RSL would get a solid chance of its own from MF Nathan Sturgis, whose blast from 25 yards missed just wide of the left post.
RSL would get its best chance of the half in the 37th minute, as Beckerman played FW Fabian Espíndola behind the defense. However, the Argentine striker would carry into the area just one touch too far, as Rapids GK Bouna Coundoul charged off his line and smothered Espindola's shot to keep the visitors off the board. In the next minute it was Colorado FW Casey Conor's turn, but after finding space in the right side of the area he sent a near-angle shot off the outside of the netting.
An anticipated storm front blew past Dick's Sporting Goods Park right as the second half kicked off, the accompanying gusty winds making long passes all but impossible to accomplish and forcing each team to adjust as the second stanza opened up. The 54th minute would mark the end of an era for Real Salt Lake and MLS fans, as Eddie Pope would head to the bench one final time, ending the career of perhaps American soccer's finest defender.
Colorado seemed to swarm the RSL penalty area around the hour mark, but only Rapids FW Jacob Peterson's 18-yard stinger would force Rimando into a save. Peterson's long run from the midfield stripe in the 77th minute also opened him up for another long effort, but the shot from distance took two bounces to a waiting Rimando.
Even with the considerable wind at its back, RSL struggled to create scoring chances in the second half, but the substitute Findley changed that in the 81st minute when he latched on to a long pass behind the Colorado backline with only Coundoul to beat, only to see his curling effort miss mere inches outside the far left post. A through ball from MF Andy Williams allowed Findley to find himself alone on Coundoul again six minutes later, and this time the RSL striker would finish the job, sliding in to chip a shot at the top of the area that got past the sliding Rapids 'keeper and rolled into the goal to give RSL a 1-0 advantage.
Rimando would be pressed into action once again in the waning moments, saving perhaps his best save of the season for last as he recovered from punching away a cross to leap and poke Rapids DF Tony Sanneh's rebounded shot over the crossbar in the 90th minute. RSL would hang on through four minutes of stoppage time to claim the 1-0 victory and the Rocky Mountain Cup. The six-save effort earned Rimando his seventh clean sheet of the season, while the sixth goal in an RSL uniform for Findley placed him one ahead of FW Chris Brown in the running for the team's Golden Boot Award and gave the Rookie of the Year candidate his eighth goal overall in his debut season.
Colorado Rapids 0 : 1 Real Salt Lake
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City, Colo.
Scoring Summary:
RSL - Robbie Findley 8 (Andy Williams 4) 87
Misconduct Summary:
RSL - Kyle Beckerman (caution; Reckless Foul) 1
RSL - Carey Talley (caution; Tackle from Behind) 34
COL - Facundo Erpen (caution; Reckless Foul) 72
RSL - Matias Mantilla (caution; Tackle from Behind) 90
Real Salt Lake Line-up (4-3-3): GK-Nick Rimando; DF-Chris Wingert, DF-Matías Mantilla, DF-Eddie Pope (Captain) (Chris Lancos 54), DF-Ritchie Kotschau; MF-Kyle Beckerman, MF-Nathan Sturgis, MF-Carey Talley; FW-Chris Brown (Andy Williams 73), FW-Alecko Eskandarian, FW-Fabian Espíndola (Robbie Findley 57).
SHOTS: 13; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; SAVES: 6; FOULS: 11; CORNER KICKS: 8; OFFSIDE: 3
Rapids Line-up (4-4-2): GK-Bouna Coundoul, DF-Kosuke Kimura, DF-Ugo Ihemelu (Tony Sanneh 40), DF-Mike Petke, DF-Facundo Erpen, MF-Terry Cooke (Jacob Peterson 22), MF-Jose Cancela, MF-Pablo Mastroeni (Captain), MF-Colin Clark, FW-Conor Casey, FW-Jovan Kirovski (Omar Cummings 61).
SHOTS: 13; SHOTS ON GOAL: 6; SAVES: 3; FOULS: 7; CORNER KICKS: 5; OFFSIDES: 2
Referee: Jair Marrufo
Referee's Assistants: Paul Scott, Peter Balciunas
Fourth Official: Jorge Gonzalez
Attendance: 14,777
Time of Game: 1:53
Weather: Clear and 62 degrees
