SANDY, Utah – Once again penalty kicks decided Real Salt Lake’s US Open Cup fate and Tuesday night against Seattle they weren’t as kind. A 1-0 lead turned into a 1-1 draw which was finished off by the Sounders’ 4-1 shootout victory.
In their cup opener against Wilmington, RSL had to find an equalizer before winning 3-1 in the shootout, but despite a solid effort at home, their shot at a third Open Cup quarterfinal in four years was dashed.
"I'm not disappointed in the way we played at all,” Real Salt Lake head coach Jeff Cassar said. “If we play like that we're going to win a lot of games."
Salt Lake created chance after chance, but never struck for a goal in the run of play or from a set piece. Their lone goal came on a Joao Plata penalty kick in the 42nd minute after Yura Movsisyan drew a penalty in the box.
Seattle put numbers behind the ball and kept RSL from wide-open chances, but Salt Lake’s creative attack kept finding ways to put shots on goal. They just weren’t making it past Seattle’s Tyler Miller.
The lack of a perfect finish in the box made the night’s big mistake stand out. Seattle scored on an apparent miscommunication between goalkeeper Jeff Attinella and center back Justen Glad. Attinella came out to control a wind-blown ball upfield, but Glad turned to face his goal and brought it down pushing the ball past Attinella. Seattle’s Nelson Valdez was the first to get a foot on it to push it into the open net. The equalizer was all Seattle needed before an almost perfect shootout performance.
"It looked like it was handled completely and then I don't know if it was communication or choices being made," Cassar said. "Obviously, from the outside, that can't happen. It's a very unearned goal and if you want to win championships and trophies, you can't give up goals like that."
Real Salt Lake still had opportunities in extra time and ultimately could have advanced thanks to the shootout, but Miller was there to torment RSL again.
After a Juan Manuel "Burrito" Martinez make to tie the shootout at 1-1, Miller made a diving save to his right on Plata and followed that by getting his leg on Kyle Beckerman’s kick. Seattle didn’t miss any of their chances on their way to advancing to the quarterfinals.
“It's over now,” Cassar said. “Once you're out of the cup, you're out of the cup and it's done.
“It was something that we really wanted to do well in as a club and as an organization and the players were really involved. We did enough to get a result tonight, but we also did something that really put us behind the eight ball a little bit."
RSL host D.C. United on Friday at Rio Tinto as they return MLS action at home (10:30 pm ET, UniMás).
