Real Salt Lake takes the Carolina Challenge Cup

By: Rocky Cole | March 17th, 2009

$RSL\'s Yura Movsisyan$ Saturday, 14 March 2009 – Yura Movsisyan and Clint Mathis scored first half goals and held off Toronto FC 2-1 to take the sixth annual Carolina Challenge Cup with a perfect 3-0 tournament record. Toronto FC’s Dwayne De Rosario’s scored his new team’s only goal on a dead ball play set up by a foul call on RSL’s Jamison Olave. All the credited goals occurred in the first half of play, but Toronto, to their credit, fought hard and appeared to level the game at the 85th minute when Fuad Ibrahim redirected a Amado Guevara free kick from about 30 yards out. However, the assistant referee ruled that Ibrahim was off side on the play and the goal was negated. Toronto was forced to play a man short for the bulk of the game when Toronto FC defender Kevin Harmse was ejected from the game for picking up his second yellow card after grabbing Robbie Findley from behind.

So far, RSL has had a dream pre-season, or perhaps it would be better to say a pre-season crafted by a focused coaching staff and players that ended the 2008 season with a taste of success that left them just short of the big dance. It seems like the players and staff of RSL have not forgotten how close they came to the MLS final and there is every indication they believe, really believe, they can make it all the way in 2009. The past winners of the Carolina Challenge Cup include Columbus, San Jose, and Houston. The good news for RSL is that four of the past five tournament champions have gone on to win one of Major League Soccer’s two trophies the same year as winning the Carolina Challenge Cup.

After the win over Toronto FC, Real’s coach, Jason Kreis said in speaking of the game against Toronto, “I thought it was a fantastic start….” Yes it was, and that can be applied to RSL’s pre-season run so far… but as an old Army Colonel once told me, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy,” and in RSL’s case the first real “enemy” Real Salt Lake will face will be on the March 28th against MLS’s newest team, the Seattle Sounders FC. This is arguably the best pre-season campaign RSL has ever waged, but with the first week a bye for RSL, in order to stay sharp RSL will play one last exhibition contest this Saturday, March 21st when they take on the Austin Aztex of the USL First Division as part of the RSL/Sandy City “Rio Tinto Stadium Open House.” The Aztex are a quality team and will offer RSL a challenge. The Aztex have ramped up to their debut season in the USL First Division by going 1-1-1 against MLS opponents in the last month, including a 1-0 win over the defending MLS champion Columbus Crew last Saturday and a 2-2 draw with the Houston Dynamo the previous weekend.