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SANDY — Prior to returning to Major League Soccer play this weekend, Real Salt Lake will participate in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Tuesday by hosting the NASL Atlanta Silverbacks in a third-round match.
“We want to win it, I want to win it, the club wants to win it, and hopefully the players want to win it,” RSL head coach Jason Kreis said following last Saturday’s draw with the Chicago Fire. “It’s a chance at a tournament, a chance at a trophy, a chance at allocation money and a chance to get ourselves back in CONCACAF — there’s a lot of good things about that tournament.”
In order to win the U.S. Open Cup, the Salt Lake club will need to put aside what happened just a year ago with its participation in the tournament. RSL was removed from U.S. Open Cup play with a 3-1 loss to the NASL Minnesota Stars inside its fortress, Rio Tinto Stadium.
That's a night Kreis prefers not to remember.
We want to win it, I want to win it, the club wants to win it, and hopefully the players want to win it.
–Jason Kreis
“I think the first thing is to remind the players of (last year’s loss), because that was a dreadful night — the worst night in the history of the club, in my opinion,” Kreis said after Saturday’s match. “That’s unacceptable, and we’re going to take a very aggressive approach to the tournament this year.”
A win on Tuesday will give the Salt Lake club the hosting rights to a fourth-round match where it would face either MLS opponent the San Jose Earthquakes or the USL Pro Charleston Battery on June 12 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
With a 5-8-0 all-time record in Open Cup play, the Salt Lake club has seen advancement in the tournament in past seasons by reaching the quarterfinals in both 2006 and 2011.
A cluster of RSL players and coaching staff have also seen success in the U.S. Open Cup as part of other organizations. RSL midfielder Ned Grabavoy (2005 L.A. Galaxy) and defender Abdoulie Mansally (2007 New England Revolution) both saw that success with MLS clubs. RSL general manager Garth Lagerwey, assistant coach Jeff Cassar and Kreis were teammates on the Dallas Burn in 1997, and RSL assistant coach C.J. Brown (Chicago Fire) and former player and current RSL head scout Andy Williams (Chicago Fire) also saw success in the tournament.
Additionally, the head coaches, Kreis and Brian Haynes, of the two different sides, have a connection dating back to the first year of the MLS in 1996.
“Brian and I started out at Dallas the very first year of the league in 1996 and quickly became good friends,” said Kreis. “Our families were very, very close — did a lot of things socially, his kids are very similar ages to my kids, and so I don’t just consider him a comrade or a coaching partner, but a friend. It will be an interesting night. Hopefully to welcome him in and then send him away with a loss, so it will be a good night.”
Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
