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SANDY – The Chicago Fire took away a big night and three points for Real Salt Lake as it opened a lengthy home stand Saturday, leaving Rio Tinto Stadium with one point on a 1-1 draw off a late equalizer off Chicago forward Quincy Amarikwa.
“It was definitely not a disappointing performance,” RSL defender Nat Borchers told the media following the match. “I thought we did what we usually do here: We dominated possession, created a lot of chances and we got that goal.”
The match saw the return of RSL Costa Rican striker Alvaro Saborio in the 62nd minute of play when he came in for forward Robbie Findley. Saborio was the Salt Lake club’s game-changer, as he buried a goal in the 78th minute, putting RSL up 1-0 before the Chicago Fire equalized the match.
Saborio hasn’t seen any game action since April 20 and may not see any game action in the coming weeks off a new injury suffered in the match.
“I think it was an emotional uplift, I think the crowd was really happy to see him as were we, and everybody on the field was happy that he was back,” said head coach Jason Kreis. “Unfortunately he has reinjured himself, so we might be back to the drawing board there.”
Kreis said he believed the injury might have occurred shortly after Saborio entered the match and took a left-footed shot, reinjuring his left quad, the injury Saborio has been dealing with.
I think it was an emotional uplift, I think the crowd was really happy to see him as were we, and everybody on the field was happy that he was back. Unfortunately he has reinjured himself, so we might be back to the drawing board there.
–Jason Kreis
Borchers and teammate Kyle Beckerman reached a big milestone together Saturday night as the match marked the 209th occasion the pair had played together, between their time on the Colorado Rapids in 2003-2005 and with the Salt Lake club, from 2008 to today. Hitting 209 matches together surpassed the former holders Shalrie Joseph and Matt Reis, formerly of the New England Revolution.
“I’ve been playing with Kyle since my first year as a pro in 2003,” said Borchers. “I’ve just seen him grow so much as a soccer player and as a person. He’s a fantastic guy to play soccer with, and I have no doubt I’ve been successful because I’m on the same team as him. I feel fortunate.”
RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando also hit a milestone Saturday night, when he after 57 minutes hit 30,000-career-minutes played. The milestone made him the fourth Major League Soccer player to hit that amount of minutes.
The Salt Lake club will be right back on its pitch in just three days as it hosts the Atlanta Silverbacks Tuesday night in a third-round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match. RSL will return to MLS play next weekend as it hosts Western Conference opponent the San Jose Earthquakes.
Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
