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SANDY — Nick Rimando was nervous.
With about two minutes left in Saturday's match, Real Salt Lake fans at Rio Tinto Stadium began chanting his name. His team was up 3-0 on his former team, D.C. United, but it wasn’t just any lead.
This match would be Rimando’s 113th career shutout, the most in Major League Soccer history. Rimando tied former FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman for the all-time mark last week at Colorado. This one, though, was special, and mostly because of the people with whom he got to celebrate it.
“It was great to do it in front of the fans who stuck by me and followed my career here,” Rimando said. “They’ve been so good to me, and I was able to share that with them as well as my teammates and my coaches. It’s something I dreamed of.”
The 5-foot, 9-inch Rimando’s teammates mobbed him on the field, and the throng was joined quickly by his wife, Jacqui, and two children. Former teammate Fabian Espindola, a current D.C. United striker, came over and congratulated him. Even the man who officiated the Rimando wedding in 2005, current D.C. coach Ben Olsen, ran across the field and slapped him on the back.
“He’s a dear friend of mine, a friend that, if he’s close, he cares about you,” said Rimando, who had breakfast with Olsen on Saturday morning. “We have a lot of memories together. It’s good to have him in town. It’s unlucky for him that they lost they way they did. Benny is a classy guy, and it showed for him to lose 3-0 and still come out to congratulate me.”
Olsen was focused on his team’s performance after the match. But he did take time to publicly congratulate his friend and former teammate.
“I want to congratulate Nick Rimando,” he said. “There's nobody better to have that award. He's a dear friend and I'm extremely excited for him.”
Rimando has played for three teams since joining MLS in 2000. He played two years for the now-defunct Miami Fusion where he registered seven shutouts as a young goalkeeper on a staff that included RSL head coach Jeff Cassar.
Rimando then moved to D.C., where he spent five seasons and picked up 29 shutouts. Since a trade sent him to RSL in 2007, the goalkeeper has amassed 77 shutouts on the Wasatch Front. He currently posts a 1.00 goals-against average as a 35-year-old goalkeeper in 2014.
“What an amazing career so far, but there is so much left for him,” Cassar said. “It couldn’t happen to a better person. He’s a leader within our team, within our locker room, a fantastic goalkeeper, and this is an amazing individual award. But I’m sure Nicky probably said there were a lot of people involved in it. There’s a lot more to come. It’s a credit to him.”
Rimando was the first to credit the defenses that have stood in front of him, a long list that includes the likes of Nat Borchers, Chris Schuler, Eddie Pope, Ryan Nelson and others.
Schuler said he was honored to be present for the historic night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
“It’s something you’ll look back on,” said Schuler, who scored two goals in the win against D.C. “I feel accustomed to it now, so it doesn’t have a lot of shock value. He’s the best goalie in the league in my opinion. He’s got great feet, he comes up with big saves and there’s not much more that you can ask. He’s consistently good, and a leader on the field.”
But before RSL fans start planning memorials and testimonial matches for Rimando, a man who has seen the goalkeeper’s career from the beginning had a caution.
“As long as he stays healthy and fit, I’m sure there are going to be a lot more performances like (Saturday),” Cassar said. “He’s been working hard with our goalkeeper coach Daryl Shore and they’re starting to build a really nice relationship. The back line is playing really well right now. I’d expect more shutouts, more good performances from our team.”
