Midfielders pick up RSL as strikers look to regain scoring touch


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SALT LAKE CITY — When Ned Grabavoy’s goal hit the back of the net in the 78th minute Saturday against Portland in the 1-0 win, Real Salt Lake continued its run as the only unbeaten team in Major League Soccer.

Finding something to fix or areas to improve in the midst of a hot start would be difficult, but first-year head coach Jeff Cassar is tasking his staff with doing just.

“Every time we step on the field, we want to win,” Cassar said after Saturday’s match. “To get to .500 (overall in franchise history) feels good, but I hope we don’t stay too much around that anymore.”

To get better, RSL will look to find more ways to score. In its first seven games, RSL (3-0-4) has scored 11 goals — the fourth-most in the league. RSL is averaging 1.86 points per game, despite opening up with four of its first seven matches on the road.

But the balance of goal-scoring may need a restart. Grabavoy’s goal marked the third straight goal by RSL’s midfield. And even as Alvaro Saborio and Joao Plata lead the team with three and two goals, respectively, neither of the forward tandem has scored since March 29 against Toronto FC.

“Obviously, I think Sabo is a guy who we lean on heavily to score a good amount of goals for us,” Grabavoy said after the Portland win. “But we did this last year. If you look at 4-5 midfielders, you’re looking at 25 goals. That’s huge, to take the pressure off those guys a little bit.”


Every time we step on the field, we want to win. To get to .500 (overall in franchise history) feels good, but I hope we don't stay too much around that anymore.

–Jeff Cassar


The last goal by a forward came with Saborio’s penalty kick in the 3-0 drubbing of a revamped Toronto side that included U.S. Men’s National Team star Michael Bradley. But since that season-high offensive output, RSL is 1-0-2 with three straight goals from its midfield.

Team captain Kyle Beckerman and newcomer Luke Mulholland lead the midfield corps with two goals each and Luis Gil and Grabavoy have also tallied for the Claret and Cobalt.

Injuries have certainly contributed to that run. Saborio and Olmes Garcia spent time as the only options up top for RSL, and reserve strikers Devon Sandoval and former starter Plata have only recently returned to full-team action. Robbie Findley, a forward with World Cup experience, is still recovering from offseason surgery.

Once the team has a full allotment of strikers, the goals will come, Grabavoy said.

“Some nights the space just isn’t on for those guys,” the veteran midfielder added. “There will be games where midfielders don’t score for three games in a row. But Sabo scoring and Robbie Findley will be scoring ... then Plata and everybody else opens up.”

As long as the goals are coming for RSL, the players won’t mind from whence they come.

“It just takes a little stress off the forwards. They’re going to get their goals, but if we can chip in from the midfield, it’ll help the whole team and take pressure off them,” Beckerman said. “It feels good to score. We do a lot of hard running in the midfield, so when guys get rewarded with some goals, it makes you run even harder.”


Sean is a recent journalism graduate of Syracuse University, and long-time soccer guy who adds a few stories to KSL.com, when he has a spare minute. Follow him on Twitter @GoaldotSean.

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