Font ResizeSandy » General manager Garth Lagerwey seemed to hint that Real Salt Lake is waiting to learn whether it will lose one of its better players soon before deciding how hard to pursue a new one during the summer transfer window.
Asked the day before RSL played San Jose at Rio Tinto Stadium on Friday whether he would be comfortable playing the rest of the season without any new additions, Lagerwey said: "The honest answer is that it depends on another thing that I can't talk about. There's another transaction that's out there, and depending on how that comes out, then I would ... ask me in a week.
"There's an iron in the fire that we'll have resolution on in a week or so," he said.
That suggested RSL would be comfortable with its current roster so long as it remained intact, but Lagerwey would not elaborate. He did say that if the team does pursue another player, "it would very likely be ... a complementary player," Lagerwey said.
That's because while the team does have two open roster spots -- it did not pick up a contract option on striker Luis Miguel Escalada , and no longer must count on-loan midfielder Alex Nimo against the roster limit because of a rule change -- it does not have a lot of room under the salary cap or any allocation money.
Missing players
RSL's Kyle Beckerman , Will Johnson and Jean
Johnson played 71 minutes in Canada's 1-0 opening win over Jamaica on Friday, while the U.S. and Haiti play their first games today. The U.S. meets Grenada and Haiti plays Honduras.
If it ain't broke
Defender Jamison Olave did not start for RSL, despite being available after serving his second red-card suspension of the season last week against Toronto.
The team used the same back line against the Earthquakes that it did during its 3-0 win over Toronto, with Robbie Russell replacing Olave alongside Nat Borchers in central defense.
No place like home
RSL entered the game against the Earthquakes armed with the best goal differential at home in Major League Soccer.
Having recovered from its only home loss of the season as part of its seven-game winless stretch, the team had a plus-11 goal differential and averaged 2.57 goals per game at Rio Tinto. The team was 4-1-2 at home, and had lost just three of its previous 24 home games in all competitions since the start of last season.
