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COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Real Salt Lake fell 1-0 to the Colorado Rapids Saturday in the second leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup off an early goal by the Colorado side — also leaving the Salt Lake club’s winless streak inside Dick’s Sporting Goods Park since 2007 still intact.
Colorado’s goal came in just the 5th minute of play off forward Atiba Harris who happened to be in just the right place at the right time during a scuffle in the box and fired a shot past RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando.
With the loss, RSL was left sitting 2-3-1 on the season with just seven points. The RSL loss also gave the Colorado Rapids a three-point edge in the race for the 2013 Rocky Mountain Cup. RSL holds a single point while the Rapids hold four. The third leg of the cup will be played Aug. 3 back in Colorado.
The Salt Lake side had a chance to equalize early in the first half when awarded a penalty kick off a foul on RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman. RSL forward Alvaro Saborio took the penalty kick for the Salt Lake side, but Colorado goalkeeper Clint Irwin made the save. The penalty kick miss was Saborio’s first ever in the Claret and Cobalt uniform.
The match saw the second start of the season for RSL rookie forward Devon Sandoval, and the second appearance for RSL forward Olmes Garcia. Sandoval logged the first 45 minutes while Garcia took the second 45.
Two RSL players posted milestones with appearances in the match. Rimando’s 90-plus minutes pushed his regular season minutes past 16,000. RSL midfielder Sebastian Velasquez’s 45 minutes in the match put him at 405 minutes on the season, passing his total minutes (403) from his rookie season with the Claret and Cobalt in 2012.
The Salt Lake club will return to the Beehive State for a few days before traveling to face the Vancouver Whitecaps next weekend, April 13.
RSL will return to its home, Rio Tinto Stadium, following its matchup with the Whitecaps for a three-game home stint where it will face Chivas USA April 20, the Los Angeles Galaxy April 27 and the Whitecaps May 4.
Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
