Real Salt Lake confident going into the playoffs against Seattle

Real Salt Lake kicks off its Major League Soccer postseason Friday night on the road against the Seattle Sounders in the first leg of the Western Conference Semifinals.

And RSL says it's ready to begin the second part of the 2012 season.

“Yeah, this is the good part of the season — a bunch of hard work and a long season and now it’s the fun part,” Kyle Beckerman told ESPN 700 during a radio interview Tuesday. “We’re all looking forward to getting these playoffs started."

RSL head coach Jason Kreis agreed.

“I think that we’ve played a long season and now our guys are ready for a playoff season front,” Kreis told ESPN 700 also during radio interview Tuesday.

“We’ve had our ups and downs through the season certainly, but I do think over the last eight or 10 games we’ve had all positive performances and positive energy from the players and positive commitment level from the players so I’m hopeful that we’re just a little better quality in the attacking third of the field and we’ll put ourselves in a good spot to make a deep run in these playoffs,” Kreis continued.

The Salt Lake club is confident heading into the playoffs, but RSL defender Chris Wingert says it knows what it needs to focus on.

“I think we have a good shot to win the series, but with that being said I think it’s going to be a really tough challenge for us and I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Right now we’re just focused on (Friday) night and hopefully getting off to a good start with the first 90 minutes and then we’ll see where we’re at and go on from there,” Wingert told ESPN 700 Thursday during a radio interview.

RSL will enter the playoffs and CenturyLink Field Friday night coming off 0-0 draws in the last three matches while Seattle enters the playoffs with two wins and a loss in the last three matches.

Beckerman, however, is not concerned.

“I don’t think it’s anything to panic about. It’s a veteran team. We’ve gone through some of these droughts this year already. And I think the bigger concern would be if we’re not creating the chances and then I think you’ve got a real problem on your hands,” said Beckerman.

Despite the seasons droughts, Kreis says the club will feed off the positives from its 2012 season going into the playoffs.

“I’m hopeful, again. This hasn’t been a perfect season for us. We didn’t win any Supporters Shields, but we did win 17 games along the way and I think that we’ve got enough positive things behind us and in our pockets that we feel good about ourselves going into these playoffs,” said Kreis.

Following Friday night’s match in Seattle, the Salt Lake club will host the Sounders at Rio Tinto Stadium Nov. 8 for the second leg of the semifinals.

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