RSL backup goalkeeper Attinella confident in start, team's unbeaten run

SANDY — When Drew Moor’s snap-down header went into the back of the net for Colorado last Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium, Real Salt Lake fans took a deep breath.

Here we go again, many of them thought.

The team had been plagued with late leaks, even as it has built itself as the only unbeaten team in Major League Soccer. But with five draws in the first 11 matches of 2014, many of the come-from-ahead variety, it’s easy to see their relief.

RSL backup goalkeeper Jeff Attinella buckled down and maintained the lead, giving the Salt Lake side its 11th straight result of 2014 and 15th overall, dating back to September 2013.

RSL also won its first game without standouts Kyle Beckerman and Alvaro Saborio, who are with starting goalie Nick Rimando in national team camps — meaning Attinella, a 26-year-old goalkeeper with seven MLS starts, would man the pipes. Not that he was worried about the result.

“We’re a tight group,” Attinella said of the good start for the season. “When we say we’re going to miss the guys that are gone, it’s not just on the field; it’s in the locker room and every day. We have a special group to where we aren’t thinking about it too much. To say that any of the results have been easy is also not true. We know that we can get better.

“Luckily, for the first 11 games it’s been going our way.”

With Rimando on international duty and expected to be with the U.S. men’s national team at the World Cup in Brazil, Attinella will get at least four more chances to keep the streak alive before MLS takes a brief respite during the World Cup group stage.

But the second-year goalkeeper, who recently moved up from the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League, should be just fine if you believe his coach.

“I thought he was fantastic,” said RSL’s Jeff Cassar, a former MLS goalkeeper himself. “He came up with several big saves that kept us in the game. He commanded the box well. He had to deal with a lot of service. Can he get a little bit better? Yeah, but we’ll work on that. He was fantastic. You could see the confidence of his back line in him, and that means the world.”

Indeed, the defensive quarter of Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, Chris Schuler and Tony Beltran trusted the young Attinella significantly. RSL allowed three wide-open headers to Moor, one of the league’s more dangerous central defenders, before his goal.

That’s been the story of RSL’s unbeaten run thus far: it hasn’t always been perfect. But it’s been enough to get the job done.

“I’m obviously really pleased with the start of the season, and really encouraged for what’s to come,” Cassar said. “There are areas that we do need to improve; it would be foolish to say that we’ve played fantastic every game. But we’re going to get better and the guys are encouraged by that. I’m really pleased.”

RSL’s 11-match unbeaten streak to start the season matches its season high from a year ago. The current streak goes back to September 2013, adding up to a 15-match regular-season unbeaten run.

The players don’t like to talk about the streak; superstition reigns in sports. But that the run has opened with six of 11 matches on the road is likely no accident, midfielder Ned Grabavoy explained.

“For me, I think we’re starting to see ourselves a little bit on the road able to play more of our game than we have in the past,” Grabavoy said. “There are still plenty of things to work on, especially dealing with a lead. But at the same time, we’ve been creating a ton of chances and we’ve been really good in front of goal … We feel confident in going on the road and playing at home, doing that.”

All streaks end, eventually. The players in Saturday’s locker room aren’t worried about snapping the current run; they just want to enjoy the ride.

“To get a win (against Colorado) is big going forward in confidence for our group, because we are missing the guys,” Attinella said. “It’s going to come to an end. But we’re going to keep it going as long as we can.”

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