The Real Salt Lake reserve team remained unbeaten during the 2006 season following a 1-0 win over the USL Premier Developmental League Ogden Outlaws Tuesday at Ogden High School.
RSL dominated possession throughout the match, eventually finding the back of the net during first-half stoppage time when FW Ryan Johnson beat the Outlaws' goalkeeper to a Chris Brown cross. However, the RSL reserves, who reside atop the MLS Reserve Division standings with a 3-0-1 record (10 points), could never quite put the game away, as the team's finishing left something to be desired.
In the 83rd minute, RSL DF Nikolas Besagno knocked down Ogden's Kenny Hickman in the box, and the referee didn't hesitate in awarding a penalty. Silverio Martinez's shot bounced straight down off the crossbar, slammed into the ground and bounced off the crossbar again before Real keeper Noah Palmer corralled the rebound, allowing RSL to finish off the match for the victory.
What mattered to both coaching staffs were the lessons learned by their clubs during RSL's 1-0 victory at Ogden High School, as well as enhancing their relationship in the bustling Utah soccer community. While the 800-plus fans in attendance didn't care that the game, just the second in Outlaws history, was an exhibition, the fledgling Ogden organization hopes that the next four games - all qualifiers for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition - lead the team on the road to again face their RSL "big brothers" in a game that matters. RSL is slated to host an Open Cup contest on Tuesday, July 11, at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
RSL also used the game to prepare its players, focusing more on the psychological demands of the game.
"Really, it's can our players adapt to a game that obviously they're supposed to be able to come in and win," said RSL assistant coach Peter Mellor, who is in charge of the reserve squad.
RSL, which had two goals taken away in the first half when the officials called players offside, possessed the ball most of the game but wasn't able to take advantage of its many scoring chances. Mellor said that the longer the game stayed scoreless, the more adrenaline the Outlaws had.
"Ogden has a good team, which makes it better because it wouldn't be as fun if we came up here and played a team that couldn't hang the way they did," said RSL forward Jamie Watson.
Ogden Head Coach/Owner Mike Hickman admitted that his players came out a bit nervous in the first 15 minutes, noticing that they were on the same field as Major League Soccer veterans Andy Williams and Chris Brown. As the game wore on, the Outlaws were able to play like they belonged on the same field as the pros.
NOTE: Tuesday's game will be shown tape-delayed today at 5 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. MT on Comcast channel 3 (Salt Lake, Davis and Weber counties) and channel 60 (Utah and Cache counties).
RSL beat writers James Edward (Deseret Morning News) and Jasen Asay (Ogden Standard-Examiner) contributed to this report.
