Coach Jason Kreis acknowledged that he and his staff have given more thought to changing their strategy for road games to a more defensive one, and said his own personal desire to push his team to play attractive soccer every time out might be a liability.

“That may be somewhat of the biggest problem, to be honest, with this club, is their coach is too aggressive, and wants to play well every game,” he said.

Though it has been spectacular at home this season, winning all three games and outscoring opponents 12-2, RSL remains winless on the road, where it has lost three games (in all competitions) by a combined 8-1. The team plays six of its next nine games on the road, including its first visit to rival Colorado on Saturday since stunning the Rapids with a 90th-minute goal at the end of last season to clinch its first Major League Soccer playoff spot.

After crushing New England 6-0 last weekend, Kreis said his team might have to start approaching road games more conservatively, and he acknowledged after practice that those considerations have continued — though he declined to inform reporters what decisions he has made, as a result.

Nonetheless, he acknowledged that playing defensive soccer is “tough for me to watch,” and cited the way Chelsea earned a scoreless valuable away draw with Barcelona in the Champions League the other day by playing “one of the ugliest soccer games I've witnessed, and that's for a team that's incredibly gifted.”

Absolutely no surprise here, but midfielder Clint Mathis has won MLS Goal of the Week honors, for his astonishing left-footed volley out of the air against the New England Revolution last weekend.

Better still, midfielder Andy Williams was second in the voting, for his sublime and emotional free kick that was part of the deluge in a 6-0 victory at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Team owner David Checketts said RSL still is trying to gauge interest from nearly two dozen international teams that it has invited to play mid-summer exhibitions in Rio Tinto Stadium, and can't predict which ones might wind up visiting.

“We must have 20 invites out,” he said. “I can't even tell you who the top five finalists are.”

Checketts said the teams are the ones that have lagged in their response to RSL, but hopes to have by June 1 at least one opponent lined up for a prospective game on July 11 or in early October. “The bottom line is it's going to be a great summer in the stadium,” he said.

Remember that U.S. Open Cup qualifying game that RSL lost so badly?

Yeah, Jason Kreis is trying to forget about it, too.

Back at practice today in advance of RSL's rivalry game at Colorado on Saturday, the coach didn't want to talk any more about the 4-1 loss to the expansion Seattle Sounders that left his team still winless on the road this season, heading into a tough stretch in which it will play six of its next nine games away from Rio Tinto Stadium.

“To be honest, I've said just about all I'm going to say about last night's game,” he said. “It's over and done with. We have to move on. … For me, and I think for the rest of the team, it's like it never happened.”

According to a post-game press release, Kreis said that RSL was “extremely disappointed” with the “big letdown” after its 6-0 blowout of New England at home last weekend.

His full statement?

"Obviously, we are extremely disappointed with the result and the match, as tonight’s performance is a big letdown after Saturday’s win back home," he said. "It’s important for everyone to remember that it is still a young season, we have several games left to accomplish our goals. Tonight we played a lot of guys that hadn’t had extensive minutes in their previous opportunities, and to be honest, tonight they didn’t make the most of this opportunity. So now we have to wipe this one from our mind as soon as possible – it’s over, and it is what it is. We have another game Saturday in Colorado, its a big rivalry, and it’ll be a fantastic opportunity to get back on track.”

Back-up goalkeeper Chris Seitz enjoyed his first action of the season last night, battling against the assault that the Seattle Sounders put on him during a 4-1 victory that eliminated RSL from U.S. Open Cup qualifying. And now, he figures to see a little more playing time.

In Portland.

RSL is loaning Seitz to the USL's Portland Timbers — scheduled to join Major League Soccer in 2011 — for a pair of games against the Carolina Railhawks on Thursday and Saturday nights. Seitz will join fellow RSL teammate Alex Nimo, who's already on loan to the Timbers and played 21 minutes of a season-opening loss at Vancouver as a substitute, as well as former RSL player Cameron Knowles, who played the full 90 minutes in defense.

Presumably, Seitz is making the trip to start, even though the Timbers recently acquired Steve Cronin, the former Los Angeles Galaxy starter who was let go after the Galaxy allowed a league-worst 62 goals last season. Cronin took the loss in the 1-0 defeat at Vancouver last weekend.

So, why did Real Salt Lake trade promising young defender Kyle Davies to make roster room for incoming striker Fabian Espindola, and not somebody else?

“It comes down to this,” general manager Garth Lagerwey said. “We really believe in our group of guys.”

In other words, RSL wasn't going to trade any of the regular contributors for whom it could have commanded something of value, and there is no real trade market for any of its seldom-used reserves. And if the team had simply released a player, it would not have received anything in return, while Davies probably would have languished far down on the depth chart — Lagerwey figured Davies would have been fifth in line at center back — since the team figured he was “at least a year away” from even pushing for regular playing time.

And that's not what RSL is worried about, right now.

“In some of these situations, you move the player with the most trade value,” Lagerwey said.

Having finally built a roster it likes, the team is focused on making the jump to serious title contender, and not giving up players in which it has invested time and resources. Team officials also did not want to disrupt what it believes is strong chemistry in the locker room — not because Davies would have been a detriment that way, but because any change can be difficult for the current players.

“I don't think we got a super deal for Davies,” Lagerwey acknowledged, “but I think we got a fair deal.”

Salary probably played a big role, too, though Lagerwey didn't discuss it. Sources said Davies signed a guaranteed five-year deal with Major League Soccer worth $80,000 this season with raises each year. That's a lot to dedicate to a young player without much experience who won't play much for awhile, especially when you've just tied up several of your top stars -- including starting center back Jamison Olave -- with long-term contracts.

Still, if Davies good enough to warrant the paycheck, you have to wonder whether RSL won't regret giving up what most believe is an awfully promising young player. (He's the captain of the under-20 national team that will play the U-20 World Cup in Egypt in a few months.) Davies might not have played right away, but there's little indication that any of its other back-up center backs are especially ready, either.

Only time will tell, but it's pretty clear — however much the team tries to avoid making bold predictions — that RSL is playing for right now.

So much for building on the big victory.

RSL will head into a heavy stretch of road games at Colorado this weekend having fallen short again away from home, losing 4-1 last night to the expansion Seattle Sounders in a U.S. Open Cup qualifying game in suburban Seattle. The loss was RSL's third straight away from home this season — it eliminated them from contention for the U.S. Open Cup field — where it has been outscored 8-1 overall.

In fact, Seattle's Sebastian Le Toux blistered the RSL defense, scoring twice and assisting on two other goals and suddenly making you wonder if just-traded Kyle Davies really could have been only fifth on the depth chart at center back, as general manager Garth Lagerwey said when explaining that team officials felt Davies was “at least a year” away from contending for serious first-team playing time.

Of course, RSL didn't play quite its top team against the Sounders (although, neither did the Sounders).

Goalkeeper Chris Seitz started for regular man Nick Rimando, and midfielders Javier Morales and Clint Mathis both stayed home from the game. Strikers Robbie Findley and Luis Miguel Escalada started up top, with Ned Grabavoy and Andy Williams joining usual starters Kyle Beckerman and Will Johnson in the midfield. (Johnson scored the team's only goal.) Young defenders David Horst and Tony Beltran started along the back line, with Jamison Olave and Robbie Russell.

Still, the pressure on RSL was almost immediate, and the Sounders scored twice within a two-minute span in each half to set a disappointing tone for a team that must play six of its next nine games on the road.

Kyle Davies barely even had a chance to train for Real Salt Lake once the team unexpectedly acquired him last week, before it turned around and shipped him out again today.

The central defender — captain of the under-20 national team, and a heralded young player — has been traded to FC Dallas for a second-round pick in the 2010 Major League Soccer SuperDraft, a team spokesman confirmed. The move creates a roster spot for RSL to welcome back recently re-acquired striker Fabian Espindola, whenever he completes the international transfer process and joins the team.

Team officials said last week they were thrilled to have overcome long odds to land Davies in a special draft lottery, after the 20-year-old departed Southampton in the English Second Division to sign a contract with MLS.

But at the same time, they had not expected to acquire him, and coach Jason Kreis said they had not seriously considered how they would juggle their roster if they did. Trading Davies means that none of the current players will have to be moved, in order to make room for Espindola.

“We needed to open a roster spot for the arrival of Fabian Espindola ahead of our May 6 match against the Los Angeles Galaxy,” general manager Garth Lagerwey said in a statement. “This trade allows us to get something of value in return for Kyle, a player with a lot of potential. We wish him well with Dallas and in representing our country in Egypt this fall" at the Under-20 World Cup.

Midfielder Javier Morales might have won the MLS Player of the Week award, but teammate Clint Mathis has earned the honor from Goal.com, after drilling home one of the most astounding strikes in franchise -- maybe even league -- history, during the 6-0 victory over New England last week.

"Any player that strikes a corner left-footed on the full volley and puts it in the upper 90 the way Mathis did against New England deserves player of the week honors, especially when his team runs out 6-0 winners,” associate editor Allen Ramsey said.

Yet Mathis did more than just score; he was spectacular while playing 74 minutes in the victory, contributing pace and defense, as well.

“It wasn't just nostalgia - Mathis was a key part of the action in Real Salt Lake stomping all over the previously unbeaten" Revolution, chief editor Andrea Canales said. "The mercurial midfielder seems to be in better shape and that has helped his game return to a semblance of the glory days.”

Fresh off the greatest performance in team history, Real Salt Lake is headed to play the Seattle Sounders on the road tonight in a U.S. Open Cup qualifying game — and it's taking nearly a top-flight squad in its bid to reach the tournament field.

That marks something of a departure for RSL, which typically has treated U.S. Open Cup games and qualifiers practically as reserve games.

But with spots in the CONCACAF Champions League and SuperLiga at stake in the U.S. Open Cup, only a few regular starters are expected to stay home from the game at the Starfire Sports Complex in suburban Tukwila, after RSL destroyed New England 6-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium last weekend to remain perfect at home this season.

RSL must beat Seattle and then Colorado to reach the main tournament field, something it has not done in the two years since the tournament format changed and required the team to try to qualify. The U.S. Open Cup is the oldest cup competition in the United States, and is open to both professional and amateur teams at all levels.

Yeah, he's in yellow-card peril now that he picked up his fourth caution in five games, but midfielder Javier Morales also is the Major League Soccer player of the week.

The native Argentine assisted on RSL's first two goals in the 6-0 whitewash of New England last weekend -- both on corner kicks -- to win the weekly honor for the first time in his MLS career. Morales led the team (and ranked second in the league) with 15 assists last season.

Nobody even had time to ask a question in the post-game press conference, before coach Jason Kreis started to praise the effort his RSL team delivered in its 6-0 wipeout of New England at Rio Tinto Stadium last weekend. He used the word “flawless” and “awesome” quite a bit, and said that it was “very rare in a professional athlete's or a professional soccer player's life that you can be a part of a match like that.”

And he should know.

Kreis was on the other end of one of the only two games in Major League Soccer history to be decided by a wider margin — the Galaxy's 8-1 thrashing of the Dallas Burn in 1998. In fact, general manager Garth Lagerway was on that team, too, and they lost to a Galaxy side that included current RSL midfielder Clint Mathis and assistant coach Robin Fraser.

That might be the only thing more amazing than the game itself.

Among the other tidbits that RSL dug up in the aftermath of its triumph — the game marked only the sixth time in league history that nine players recorded either a goal or an assist in single game, and the first time since Chicago set the current record of 10 during the 7-0 “Independence Day Massacre” on July 4, 2001 at Kansas City.

Also, a video review showed that in the build-up to striker Luis Miguel Escalada's first goal for RSL in the 81st minute, the team strung together 22 consecutive passes. Every player except striker Robbie Findley touched the ball at least twice, and the team consumed more than a minute of playing time on the possession before Escalada struck to give RSL a 4-0 lead.

It should be remembered, though, that for all of the history-making hoopla, RSL was playing a Revolution team that was decimated by injuries. Seven potential starters — including all-time leading scorer Taylor Twellman, midfielder Steve Ralston and goalkeeper Matt Reis — were out hurt, and it seemed strange that Kreis never mentioned that as a qualification for his effusive praise for how perfectly his team played.

Then again, RSL plays six of its next nine league games — plus, a U.S. Open Cup qualifier at Seattle on Tuesday night — on the road, where it historically has performed terribly, so probably Kreis was just trying to avoid giving the players any reason to dampen their soaring confidence, even though he acknowledged that the team might have to start playing more defensively away from home.

Nobody seems to expect much from Clint Mathis anymore, after what is conventionally viewed as a long, slow soccer descent from his mohawked glory days at the 2002 World Cup.

Nobody except Mathis, anyway.

Far removed from his days as a ruthless goal-scorer and iconic media darling, the 32-year-old nevertheless is enjoying a renaissance during his second stint with Real Salt Lake, playing a different role as a right-sided midfielder and working hard to silence his critics after years of being viewed as too old and washed up.

"Just enjoying playing again," he said. "There was a few years that I took a lot of flak and everything for certain teams not doing well and succeeding, but just decided, you know, 'What am I out here for?' I'm just excited to be out here playing again, and I committed myself to getting as fit as possible. That way, nobody can say anything, anymore."

Mathis is well on his way to making his point, having become a pivotal figure in the RSL starting lineup, heading into its game against the New England Revolution at Rio Tinto Stadium tonight. He has started all four games so far, and played 319 minutes after recovering from offseason knee surgery, losing weight and working his way into his best shape in years.

"I really had to work extra hard in the preseason," he said.

Though Mathis still has not scored for RSL in 18 games since rejoining the club last summer following stints with Colorado, New York and Ergotelis of the Greek Super League, he has continued to impress with his vision, ball control and passing ability. He assisted on two goals in the home-opening 4-1 blowout of defending champion Columbus three weeks ago, and is dangerous enough to draw some defensive attention away from other teammates.

"People don't rate him as much of a passer, because obviously, his whole career he has been a goal scorer," midfielder Will Johnson said. "But you put him in the midfield ... he sets up a lot of our very good chances. He could be leading the league in assists right now, if you go back and look at the tapes."

Many fans might view him differently now than they did after his amazing World Cup success seven years ago, after which Major League Soccer refused him a transfer to Bayern Munich in Germany -- "I was bitter," he recently told The New York Times -- but Mathis said he doesn't feel a different player, however much his game and life have changed. He's also married now, with a young son named Maximus, whose Aug. 4 birthday is commemorated in his father's No. 84 jersey number.

Coach Jason Kreis agreed.

"I don't know that he's a different player," Kreis said. "He still possesses the same talents, he still possesses his uncanny awareness of where other players are around him when he has the ball and his ability to make special passes and special plays. He had all those then, and he has them now. He's certainly in a different role ... he's a bit more of a utility guy, and he's really being asked to do a lot more defensive work than he was at that time. But we keep laying the expectations and the challenges out for him, and he keeps taking ahold of them."

Looks like Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber didn't exactly ingratiate himself with the New York Yankees when he mentioned how he'd noticed all those empty seats in the front rows at the new Yankee Stadium.

"Don Garber discussing Yankee attendance must be a joke," Yankees president Randy Levine said Friday. "We draw more people in a year than his entire league does in a year. If he ever gets Major League Soccer into the same time zone as the Yankees, we might take him seriously.

"Hey Don, worry about Beckham, not the Yankees,” Levine added. “Even he wants out of your league.”

Garber later clarified his remarks made earlier this week to say that “my comments were part of a larger assertion that all businesses -- even the most successful sports entities -- are experiencing some impact from the economic downturn.” Still, “worry about Beckham?” Ouch.

Everybody figured that RSL was done making its roster moves, once it had reached the 24-man roster limit with the signing of striker Fabian Espindola and defender Kyle Davies.

But not so fast.

Midfielder Alex Nimo still counts against the roster limit, even though he's away on loan to the USL's Portland Timbers, so RSL actually reached the limit when Davies joined it this week. (Since Davies was ineligible to sign a developmental contract and had to fill one of the 18 senior spots, the team has moved rookie midfielder Raphael Cox down to developmental status.)

That means that whenever Espindola finally joins the team after clearing the international transfer process, RSL will have to make room for him by moving at least one of its current players. Whether that happens via a trade or outright release is unknown — along with which player or players might be involved — but at least one more transaction figures to be in the works before long.

Looks like RSL should get ready to see Matt Reis back in goal for the New England Revolution.

While defender Jamison Olave is expected back in the lineup when RSL plays the Revs at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday, Reis apparently will return for the Revs after missing three straight games with swelling in his knee, though back-up Brad Knighton has looked pretty good in his place.

"For no reason it keeps swelling up, but there's nothing I can do to damage it," Reis said. "The good thing is there's no pain, so there's nothing to play through. It's just a matter of managing the swelling."

The Revs have been hit by an injury epidemic — defender Chris Albright is the latest to hear some bad news, having knee surgery that will keep him out at least six weeks — but still have managed an unbeaten 2-0-2 record. They might even be leading the MLS Eastern Conference, had it not been for a last-minute goal allowed at D.C. United last weekend.

Defender Kyle Davies said playing back home in the United States was his main reason for returning to Major League Soccer and RSL, but there was another:

His team in England was teetering on the brink of collapse.

In fact, Southamption of the English Second Division is assured of relegation after being docked 10 points because it has gone into “administration” because of its financial distress.

In other words, Davies probably couldn't feel too secure about receiving a paycheck.

“Southampton are the fifth Football League team to be deducted points this season — Darlington entered administration, while Luton, Bournemouth and Rotherham were all penalised for coming out of administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement in place, as per the League's insolvency guidelines,” according to the BBC. “The punishment means Southampton are looking at life in English football's third tier for the first time in 50 years.”

Robbie Russell acknowledged he felt some jitters making his first start of the season last weekend, testing for the first time in a real game the shoulder he had surgically repaired in the offseason.

In the end, though, everything came out fine.

“I was real happy with that,” he said.

The versatile veteran looks poised to start again at right back against New England at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday, and he expects to be able to “start off a little bit faster” not having to worry quite so much about his shoulder. One of the big concerns he had at New York last week was falling on the hard turf at Giants Stadium, but obviously RSL plays home games on softer grass. His fitness held up well, too, he said, even though he missed most of the preseason recovering from his surgery.

Nobody was ready to assign any expectations to him yet, but Real Salt Lake coaches and executives were pretty happy to welcome new defender Kyle Davies to practice for the first time today.

“He's a talented young player,” general manager Garth Lagerwey said. “And we love talented young players — especially those who have played in Europe.”

Yet it was a desire to play back home in the United States that led the 20-year-old Davies to leave Southampton of the English Second Division and sign a four-year contract with Major League Soccer. He unexpectedly landed with RSL when the club won a special lottery for his services last week, and “I was happy when I did.”

“I enjoyed my time in England,” Davies said. “I think I grew a lot as a player. But I love America, to be honest with you, and I really wanted to play back in America, where I was born, and grew up, and have my parents and my friends see me play. That means a lot to me.”

When Davies might earn a spot with RSL is anybody's guess.

Though he's the captain of the under-20 national team who's viewed as one of the country's best up-and-coming players, he plays a position in central defense that Lagerwey said is hard for young players to handle right away in MLS. Coach Jason Kreis added that “things are a little bit up in the air, still” about what role Davies might play, since the team did not spend much time worrying about that, knowing it had only a 5 percent chance to win the lottery for his services. Davies worked with the back-ups during practice scrimmages in his first workout.

“Obviously, I'd love to play,” he said. “But I know that, whenever you go to a new team, you have to earn your place.”

Having never been to Utah, the native of Walnut Creek, Calif., said he has been impressed with the beautiful Wasatch mountains and wonderful weather that greeted him when he arrived last night. Team captain Kyle Beckerman picked him up at the airport, Davies said, and the entire team has been exceptionally nice and helpful.

"The more I see, the more I like it," he said.

Although Davies gives RSL two highly regarded central defenders, including former first-round draft pick David Horst, Lagerwey said his acquisition doesn't necessarily change the team's thinking about the future of its roster. After all, he said, it's too early to guess how well either player will develop.

"I'd love to say something profound," Lagerwey said. "But the answer is he's going to fit in wherever he fits in."

At least, the team has a good sense of the player it's getting.

Assistant coach Brian Johnson saw Davies play in Trinidad during qualifying for the U-20 World Cup, and the whole staff saw him play during the preseason in Florida. Coach Kreis said he liked Davies' leadership and mentality in those situations, while Lagerwey cited his poise, experience and potential as his greatest attributes.

"He's a nice talent to have," Lagerwey said.

Team officials were thrilled to land defender Kyle Davies in a special lottery last week, despite having only a 5 percent chance of winning it.

Today, we'll start to see why.

The captain of the under-20 national team is expected to train with RSL for the first time after arriving in town yesterday following his move to Major League Soccer from Southamption of the English Second Division.

Davies has signed a four-year deal with the league, with Southampton officials saying they received compensation for letting the California native transfer now before the close the MLS window last week rather than waiting until his contract expires after the season — no small consideration for a club fighting financial problems.

"We felt Kyle was not quite ready for the first team,” Southampton coach Mark Wotte said on the team's web site, “but we wish him well. He has a great mentality and I think the MLS will be good for him.”

Meanwhile, coach Jason Kreis said he's uncertain when striker Fabian Espindola will clear all of the bureaucratic hurdles required to rejoin the club from Deportivo Anzoategui SC of the Venezuelan First Division, where he scored three goals in five matches since being released from RSL in January.

First halves have not been especially kind to RSL this season, with the team having allowed the first goal of the game before halftime three times in four matches. Coach Jason Kreis even said his players “are not getting it,” meaning that they're not always recognizing opposing strategies quickly enough.

“I was talking about taking what the game gives us,” Kreis said.

But midfielder Will Johnson said the team isn't obsessing over the difficult trend, heading into its home game against New England at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday, when it will take aim at its third straight home win.

“We just basically have to get back to what we were doing toward the end of last year,” he said, including maintaining possession better. “It doesn't really have anything to do with coming out of the gate slow. It's a long season and I'm sure we'll get it sorted out.”

One thing that didn't help in a 2-0 loss at New York last weekend was an unusual back line.

Coach Kreis shuffled it for the first time this season, using second-year central defender David Horst in place of Jamison Olave — the Colombian stayed home and did not play, to avoid putting a troublesome knee through 90 minutes on artificial turf — and giving versatile veteran Robbie Russell his first start of the season in place of Tony Beltran at right back.

Defender Nat Borchers acknowledged that “we weren't quite on the same page” early in the game — Horst endured a nightmarish mistake in the second minute that led to New York's first goal — but said that “as the game went along, we got ahold of it.” Kreis agreed, saying Horst “played really well, apart from one mistake” and that “all in all, I think we did a decent job of limiting their opportunities.”

Olave is expected to return to the staring lineup against the Revs, but might have to miss occasional games in the future in deference to that knee. “We have to be careful with how much we're using him and how much we're using him on turf,” Kreis said. Beltran has been ill, Kreis said, but will be available to challenge Russell for the start at right back, though injured Ian Joy has had a setback in his recover from a hamstring injury and will be out “another several weeks.”

That could be tough for a team that has gone 2-6-1 without the veteran in the starting lineup since the middle of last season, and 6-1-6 when he has started. Then again, RSL has won both its home games without Joy this season, and will be shooting for a third straight on Saturday.

Item: Real Salt Lake cleared one bothersome hurdle on its desired road to Major League Soccer title contention Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium.

RSL's 2-1 win over D.C. United gave the club its first two-game winning streak in almost two years. Obviously, stringing together wins is a priority for RSL's coaches and players, who talked all week about the importance of doing just that against D.C. United.

Next Saturday night, however, Real faces an even bigger challenge. RSL travels to New York to face the Red Bulls -- an opponent it has never beaten.

All-time, Real Salt Lake is 0-2-6 against the Red Bulls. Real has never won in New York. In the eight games between the two teams, RSL has been outscored 17-10.

After the come-from-behind win over D. C. United, Real coach Jason Kreis looked ahead and said his players are "... very happy they've win two in a row. But now they want three."

---

Item: With a 2-1 record, Real Salt Lake is off to the best three-game start in franchise history. The season-by-season record after three games:

2005: 1-1-1

2006: 0-2-1

2007: 0-1-2

2008: 1-1-1

2009: 2-1-0

In its four previous seasons, as you can see, RSL's record after three games was a combined 2-5-5. This year's team has already won twice.

Another interesting fact: Real Salt Lake hasn't won its third game in any season before May 18. It could be a full month ahead of that pace by beating New York.


-- Steve Luhm

Not every one of Kyle Beckerman's 17 career goals have been scored against D.C. United.

It just seems that way.

Beckerman is Real Salt Lake's veteran midfielder from Crofton, Maryland, a small town located between Baltimore and Washington, D.C, home of Saturday afternoon's opponent at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Last April, Beckerman continued a career-long trend of playing well against D.C. United when he scored two goals during a 4-0 win. It was the first time during his 10-year career in Major League Soccer that Beckerman had a multi-goal game.

After Friday's practice at Xango Field in Lehi, I asked Beckerman if he gets extra motivated when his team plays D.C. United.

"It's always, I guess, a little something," he said. "I mean, it's my hometown team. But for the most part, it's a case of us needing a win, no matter who we're playing. We're going to play our hardest, whether it's D.C. or whoever. .. Everything we put into this game, it will be the same as any other game."

When last year's two-game game is mentioned, Beckerman smiled and said, "For some reason, I do seem to score against them more than anybody else. So hopefully we'll keep it going."

RSL comes off a 4-1 win over Columbus.

What does Real have to do to be as productive against D.C. United, which is one of the league's glamor franchises?

"We just have to come out with a high tempo -- a lot of energy -- and really get them on their back foot," Beckerman said. "If we can do that from the start, they're going to get a little shook and not be able to get in a rhythm.

"One of the things D.C. is known for, when they get going, is their passing. It's really good and when they are moving the ball they can control the game. So if we can get the pace the way we like it, it will benefit us."

Coach Jason Kreis believes his team is capable of another high-scoring game on offense.

"We just have to continue to play well and create our chances," he said. "Our forwards right now are feeling very good about themselves. Our midfielders who join them on the attack are feeling good about the way they are playing, too. So we have a lot of people on the field that can score. You just count on somebody stepping forward."

-- Steve Luhm

Robbie Findley will always have a place in Real Salt Lake's record books, thanks to his performance on April 2nd. He scored the first hat trick in the club's five-year history and helped RSL to a 4-1 win over Columbus Crew.
Findley is happy about the historic feat but hasn't dwelled on it too long.
"It was great to score the three goals. It doesn't happen too often," Findley said. "It's not going to come again that easy."
He doesn't care so much about goals. He just wants to continue to contribute to his team.
"When I'm in a game, I just want to create opportunities. I want to be dangerous and effective," Findley said. "But mostly, I have to finish. That's the final step. You can take a good touch but for us to be 1-0, I have to put it in the goal."

--Maggie Thach

Brigham Young University's LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo is one of 70 venues across the United States being considered to host a 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup soccer match.

The USA Bid Committee that is trying to lure the premier sporting event in the world to the U.S. sent letters last week to public officials and stadium operators in 70 metropolitan markets throughout the country, including the Salt Lake City market -- which includes Provo.

FIFA calls for each bidding nation to propose a minimum of 12 stadiums, each capable of seating 40,000 or more spectators.

LaVell Edwards Stadium seats approximately 65,000 for football.

Out of the 70 stadiums under consideration, more than 65 have a capacity above 60,000, and more than 20 have a capacity above 80,000.

In 1994, nine U.S. stadiums were used when the U.S. last played host to the World Cup.

The deadline for the USA Bid Committee to hear from officials representing candidate markets is April 17.

-- Jay Drew

RSL coach Jason Kreis believes he has the team beyond "wishing and hoping" to win. It is no longer a club that, in the first few years, would collapse at the first sign of trouble.

"When one thing goes wrong and [we] fold the cards and say, 'OK, this is not our day and next week we can wish and hope we can win,' " he said following practice Monday. "Now we've seen a number of games in a row when something goes wrong, our reaction is positive."

A good example is RSL's 4-1 victory against defending MLS champ Columbus last week at Rio Tinto. The Crew wiped out Salt Lake's 1-0 lead early in the first half on a defensive mistake. Instead of sitting back following the score, RSL came right back and took the lead.

"You can't play soccer the other way," Kreis said. In the past, "We felt like, if we got scored on the game is over. That's not soccer. You're not going to win that way."

-- Martin Renzhofer

I'm out of here for the next two weeks for a little downtime, but my colleagues Tony Jones, Maggie Thach and Marty Renzhofer will continue to keep the good ship RSL afloat while I'm away. See you in a couple weeks.

Fans understandably held their breath when defender Jamison Olave lay on the grass in pain for several minutes after colliding with Columbus' Jason Garey during a hard tackle late in RSL's 4-1 victory over the Crew a few nights ago.

"El Goro" is one guy the team can scarcely afford to miss.

But Olave finished the game after those anxious moments, and a team spokesman said that trainers believed the knee injury the 26-year-old central defender suffered in the collision was minor, and nothing that will keep him out of action. Olave has started all 28 matches since he entered the lineup last season, and played 2,432 out of 2,520 minutes in that span.

Obviously, striker Robbie Findley enjoyed most of the attention for scoring three goals in RSL's 4-1 victory over Columbus the other night, but teammate Clint Mathis enjoyed a breakout performance, himself.

The veteran and one-time soccer icon contributed two assists to the victory — one on the header to striker Yura Movsisyan that turned into a cross for Findley's third goal, and another on a corner kick that midfielder Kyle Beckerman headed home — which accounted for his first points with the team since rejoining it for a second time midway through last season.

“I thought Clint was fantastic,” coach Jason Kreis said.

Part of the reason is that the 32-year-old Mathis is playing on the right side of the midfield this season, improving his fitness for the greater demands of the position. That's different from last season, when he played up top as a striker, to little avail. He did not score in 11 games.

“I feel good, getting up and down, as far as creating chances – that's what I'm trying to do,” he said. “You might not see me on the end of as many maybe as last year — I know I didn't score any — but as far as being in front of the goal, I have kind of a different role here.

“It's more of an up-and-down game,” he added. “You know, playing more defense, which is fine. But I think just playing in behind rather than having my back to the goal like I was last year is a big difference.”

Certainly, Kreis has been impressed.

The coach thought Mathis played well in the season-opening loss at Seattle, and could hardly contain his praise for his former teammate after the win over the Crew.

“We looked at the video of Seattle and I talked to him before the game about something we wanted him to do just a little bit differently, and he did exactly what was asked,” Kreis said. “His play on the ball right now is fantastic; I think he’s in great form. He was in great form in Seattle when he was on the ball as well, but tonight there were obviously some connections on the end of those passes.”

It might have been the closest thing to a post-game rant that coach Jason Kreis has ever offered.

Asked about how nice it must have been for RSL to smother defending champion Columbus 4-1 in the home-opener at Rio Tinto Stadium last night after “struggling” in a loss at Seattle last week, the coach seemed to get his hackles up a bit about the premise of the question.

“I guess I’ll say it again, for probably the 50th time, I don’t think we struggled that much in Seattle,” he said. “It’s interesting to read all of the papers today and what’s been going around on the Internet about how bad we were at Seattle. I’m a little confused ... I mean, what do I know? I’m just the coach. But I walked away from that game feeling like we did alright. We maintained possession, we outshot them, we had more chances than they did; we led them in almost every statistical category of the game except for the most important one, the goals.

“So I think that was the difference tonight, really,” he added. “Again, I think that we were the aggressor, I think that again we were the ones completing most of the passes, but we scored goals tonight. Some of that comes from being at home, and I thank our fans – it was a small crowd, but it was a loud crowd and they were into it, and we appreciate that.”

Looks like Fredy Montero might be frightfully more than just a joyfully buoyant new superstar in Major League Soccer.

According to a report at SeattlePI.com, the 21-year-old striker who scored three goals in his first two games for the expansion Seattle Sounders – including one against RSL last weekend – is under investigation for allegedly stalking a woman who claims he sexually assaulted her last month.

No charges have been filed in the case, but Montero did not travel with the Sounders for their game in Toronto this weekend. Team officials said that's because Montero is ill, and added that they “fully support Fredy and expect him to play next week.”

While striker Robbie Findley and his teammates celebrated their dazzling 4-1 victory over defending champion Columbus in the home opener at Rio Tinto Stadium tonight, the guy who was next-most-responsible for the result was taking blame for the Crew.

“This game is on me,” goalkeeper William Hesmer said.

Yeah, you could agree with that.

If Hesmer corrals Will Johnson's free kick in the second minute, Findley doesn't get a chance to put the rebound past him for an early goal. And if Hesmer doesn't kick his attempted clearing pass right to Findley at the top of the box, Findley can't easily dribble around him for his second goal in the 29th minute. And if none of that happens, maybe RSL has a harder time winning its first season opener since the team's inaugural season.

“I am there to keep our team in the game, not to put us behind the eight ball,” Hesmer said. “This game is on me. … You can’t be giving goals away and keep giving them momentum.”

Hesmer said his biggest mistake was that pass that led to the second of Findley's three goals. The one that coach Robert Warzycha called "silly," from which the Crew "never came back from."

“It can be one mistake that kills you,” Hesmer said. “You give up an early goal, and then give up a bad goal like that, it was just bad timing on my part to give that goal up.”

Of course, Hesmer couldn't take the blame for the degree to which Findley and Yura Movsisyan were running roughshod over the Crew's back line all night. And sure, defender Frankie Hejduk wasn't available after playing 90 minutes for the U.S. national team in a World Cup qualifier last night, but still … the Crew had no answer for the steady threat that RSL provided — even if Movsisyan missed on as many chances as Findley converted.

“We just figure if we do what we know we’re good at, like pressing and staying compact on defense, we’ll get the opportunities,” Findley said. “We’ve just got to focus and put them away. Pressing and getting an early goal is what we’re trying to do.”

While his teammates are working on getting their first victory of the season against the team they nearly played for the Major League Soccer title last season, RSL's Ian Joy will be cheering them on from an unusual place tonight.

The bleachers.

Still unavailable to play because of a hamstring injury, the veteran defender agreed to join fans in the south stands for tonight's home-opener against the defending league champion Columbus Crew at Rio Tinto Stadium. Joy said that while he appreciates all of the fans who lend their support to RSL, he feels as if sometimes the regulars who show up for every game get forgotten in the push to entice new fans to give soccer a chance.

“So it's a little something to give back to the fans who come every week,” he said.

Joy has experience sitting with the supporters, having done so while he was injured during his time playing for St. Pauli FC in Germany before he joined RSL. And yes, coach Jason Kreis has given his blessing to the plan — not surprising, given the passionate letter the coach sent to fans yesterday, in which he again implored them to attend tonight's game.

“Inside the locker room, our collective focus continues to hone us as a cohesive unit, for us to think and react at a quicker speed of play, for us to pressure our opponent, for us to compete as ONE — together,” he wrote. “You, our fans, the best in MLS since day one, are part of that singular focus. You are part of our heartbeat.”

It seems unlikely that Kreis will change his lineup from the one he used in the season-opener at Seattle last weekend, mostly because he and the players have insisted that they were merely a bit off their game and not in need of major adjustments.

Besides, he doesn't seem to have many options to the make the changes that would seem most obvious, such as replacing second-year right back Tony Beltran after his tough night against the Sounders. Joy is still out, after all, and versatile Robbie Russell might not be quite ready for game action. Kreis might not want to potentially crush Beltran's confidence, either — especially considering the coach said Beltran simply needs to play with more confidence to be effective.

In any case, RSL will be gunning for full points and aiming to keep establishing a home-field advantage at Rio Tinto Stadium.

“There's definitely a big sense of urgency,” defender Chris Wingert said. “I don't think we're desperate at this point. You're not going to win the league in the second game or lose the league in the second game. But at the same time, we definitely want to show that we can be a force to be reckoned with at home like we were last year.

“Our mentality from the beginning will be a little bit different,” he added. Going into Seattle “we wanted to play a little more direct and kind of make sure they weren't putting too much pressure on us. But in this game, I think we're going to try to come out and really put the pressure on Columbus and make sure that they don't really have any room to breathe and see if we can get an early goal.”

So, you're worried about what the weather will be like for RSL's home opener against Columbus at Rio Tinto Stadium on Thursday night?

The team has an answer.

RSL is offering "ticket insurance" for the game, automatically turning the ticket stubs of fans who attend into free vouchers to attend the home game against Houston on Aug. 15 if it rains or snows at the stadium Thursday, between 6 and 10 p.m.

“What we are calling ‘ticket insurance’ option is a fun way to take the weather out of the equation,” team president Bill Manning said in a statement. “We extend to the general public an option normally available only to our loyal season ticket holders. Our team is excited to kick off the season, and we want our fans to have every opportunity to make Rio Tinto Stadium as loud and electric as it was last November 15 during the Western Conference Final.”

Right now, thousands of tickets are still available for the game, which could lead to the smallest home-opening crowd in team history.

Looks like the Columbus Crew probably won't be nearly at full strength when they visit RSL for its home opener at Rio Tinto Stadium on Thursday night.

While striker Alejandro Moreno and midfielder Duncan Oughton are expected to meet the Crew in Utah after playing for their national teams — Moreno played 90 minutes in Venezuela's 2-0 win over Colombia in Caracas, but Oughton did not play for New Zealand in a scoreless exhibition draw at Thailand — defender Frankie Hejduk is playing tonight for the United States in its World Cup qualifying match against Trinidad & Tobago in Nashville.

None of the three would figure to play much of a role against RSL, with that kind of schedule.

Meanwhile, leading scorer Guillermo Barros Schelotto is a little banged up with an ankle injury and is considered a game-time decision, according to coach Robert Warzycha. Midfielder Robbie Rogers expects to be on the bench after missing last weekend's draw against Toronto with a hamstring injury, with the possibility of starting the Crew's next game at Chivas USA on Sunday, and midfielder Pat Noonan already is out with a back injury.

One look outside should tell you why thousands of seats remain available for RSL's home opener against Columbus at Rio Tinto Stadium on Thursday night, and the bad weather has played havoc with the team's preparation.

After having to split up the team to train at different locations on Monday, the team had to change its plans nearly at the last minute today in order to work out indoors at the Eccles Fieldhouse at the University of Utah. But because the fieldhouse was only available for a limited time, the team expected to practice for only about 45 minutes before calling it a day.

Coach Jason Kreis said the other day that he would dearly love the team to have its own indoor practice facility to deal with such weather challenges, but knows that isn't going to become a reality anytime soon, especially given the economic climate.

At any rate, the wintry weather threatens to leave RSL with the least-attended home opener in its history. Only 16,132 fans attended the 2006 opener, which was far fewer than any of the others. The team attracted 20,272 last season, 18,678 in 2007 and 25,287 for its inaugural season in 2005.