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SANDY — Real Salt Lake finished off its busy three-games-in-eight-days at home with a 4-0 shutout of Major League Soccer Eastern Conference opponent the Columbus Crew.
It was a performance RSL head coach Jason Kreis said was the most complete from his club so far this season.
“I think it’s fantastic it comes a day after I challenged the group to see if we can’t get there,” Kreis told the media. “Tonight I really felt like it was the most complete performance we’ve had this year, and it comes at the right time because we’re entering the most critical stretch here. We’ve got a lot to play for and a lot to win in front of us so we needed a performance to really put some confidence in our group, and I think it’s exactly what we got.”
The Salt Lake side first hit the net just before the half in extra time when RSL midfielder Javier Morales put a free kick into the box that deflected off the Columbus Crew midfielder Wil Trapp and then off RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman, rolling in past Crew goalkeeper Matt Lampson.
Beckerman also scored the Salt Lake club’s final goal of the night in the 89th minute, adding two more to his season stat sheet.
“(Beckerman) was a player that I thought just got better and better and better as the game went on, which is important that he gets on top of his game for this home stretch,” said Kreis.
RSL forward Devon Sandoval put the second goal of the night in for the Claret and Cobalt off a cross into the box from forward Olmes Garcia. Sandoval’s goal was just his second MLS goal, but his fifth in the Claret and Cobalt with three goals that have come in U.S. Open Cup play.
Young RSL midfielder Luis Gil hit the back of the net in the 83rd minute, which put the club up 3-0 on the night and exceeded the Salt Lake club’s MLS goal record for a season, which was set last season at 46. With seven games to go on this season, RSL sits with 48 MLS goals thus far in 2013 after Saturday's four.
It's something Kreis credits to the depth of his squad this season.
“The forwards are doing extremely well, the midfielders are getting into advanced positions to score goals and make assists in and around the box, the outside backs are getting forward at the right time and making critical passes to help create goals as well so everybody is doing exactly what’s needed for this team to be successful and for this team to score goals,” said Kreis.
The win snapped the Crew’s two-match winning streak and moved the Salt Lake club’s home record to 8-2-3 and 13-8-6 overall on the season with 45 points, keeping RSL on top of the MLS Western Conference.
The match saw the return of goalkeeper Nick Rimando and Beckerman to the starting lineup after missing the club’s last match on Wednesday. The match also saw the return of RSL midfielder Sebastian Velasquez, his first minutes since starting July 27 in New York.
The Claret and Cobalt will remain at home next week as it finishes out the month of August with MLS Western Conference opponent the Portland Timbers coming to town Friday, Aug. 30. The Timbers’ visit to Rio Tinto will be the second of the month and the third meeting between the two clubs this month in MLS and U.S. Open Cup play. Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
