Sold out on a Sunday, and other thoughts from RSL's 2-1 win over Toronto FC


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SANDY — Real Salt Lake earned its first win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Toronto FC on Sunday evening.

Luke Mulholland put the home side on top in the 38th minute, but Toronto’s Jackson pulled the match even at 1-1 with a stunning blow just two minutes before the end of regulation.

Jordan Allen notched his first career goal in MLS a minute later, heading home Javier Morales’ cross from the end line as the clock turned over into the 90th minute.

RSL improves to 1-0-2 with five points on the season, and now prepares for a road test at San Jose in seven days. Toronto FC, meanwhile, falls to 1-2 on the year.

Here are three thoughts on the game.

Concerns over Sunday play are overstated ----------------------------------------

When MLS released the league schedule during the offseason, RSL was pegged with three home matches on Sunday — down from an originally intended six games. While much of RSL’s fan base draws on active members of the LDS Church, Rio Tinto Stadium filled up well — better than it ever has in its history, in fact. RSL set a stadium record with an announced crowd of 20,794 fans, including nearly 2,000 tickets sold Sunday morning before the match.

Like their basketball friends at EnergySolutions Arena, Real Salt Lake has negotiated with the league to limit its Sunday play possibilities at home. But with MLS’s new national television contract with ESPN and Fox Sports 1 (which televised RSL’s home match with Toronto), playing a handful of games on a day regarded for religious worship by many residents of Salt Lake County has become a necessity. RSL handled that necessity well — and only has to front it again June 7 against Colorado and June 21 against Sporting Kansas City.

The young players are stepping up

In a transition year that saw RSL lose a substantial chunk of its team like veterans Chris Wingert and Ned Grabavoy, the new-look squad knew it would need some young players to shoulder the load of an aging group.

Allen, the Rochester, New York-native who will turn 19 in April, made his mark in his third appearance of the season with the game-winning goal. But backup goalkeeper Jeff Attinella stood out, at least for the first 87 minutes of play, making five saves on eight shots faced to hold a shutout for all but two minutes of regulation.

Park City native Sebastian “Bofo” Saucedo also made his MLS debut, coming on as a substitute with one minute left of stoppage time in the second half. RSL also saw contributions from young players Mulholland, Olmes Garcia and Devon Sandoval.

“I think this is a big transition year for us, where we’re going to need guys you haven’t heard of to become household names in Utah,” team captain Kyle Beckerman said. “It’s a good opportunity for guys to step in, and tonight, I thought Devon did really well as a menace for their back four. … It’s good to see these guys taking that next step and going to the next level.”

Like a fine wine, Javier Morales gets better with age

The 35-year-old Argentine playmaker showed off his midfield magic Sunday night, posting assists on both goals for the winning side and finishing the match with two shots in a full 90-minute stint.

While Morales could be slowing down at this point in his career, he doesn’t show many signs of it yet. The midfielder produced his league-best third assist of the year to go along with a goal against Philadelphia in the second week of the season.

“I know that a tie at home is not good for anyone, especially in this situation,” Morales said. “We are still learning, still improving (in a new 4-3-3 formation) — but sometimes you need to win. Tonight we did, and now the confidence will be different and it will be good for us.”

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Sean Walker

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