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Lehi » The snow was driving sideways, and the players hardly could see the ball, so coach Jason Kreis called an early halt to Real Salt Lake's first practice as a playoff team at Xango Field on Tuesday.
But that hardly dampened his enthusiasm for the position his team occupies.
Having just barely squeaked into the Major League Soccer playoffs, RSL will play the defending champion and top-seeded Columbus Crew in a first-round series that starts at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night.
"It's good," he said. "It's really good for us. No question. When we've faced our biggest challenges, we've played our best. So there's no doubt about it, and there's no question about it. Our team respects Columbus."
The Crew led the league with 49 points from a 13-7-10 record, and wrapped up their playoff spot a month ago. Meanwhile, RSL had to beat Colorado in the regular-season finale last weekend to reach 40 points from a 11-12-7 mark and survive a tangle of tie-breakers.
Which leads to one of the coach's top concerns.
"Our guys have to truly believe right now," Kreis said. "I feel like it has been such an effort to make it to the playoffs, what I'm wary of is kind of everybody taking a breath and going, 'Ahh, we're here.' For me, that's not good enough, because honestly, in my mind -- and I'm not just saying this to say it -- I feel like we have a team that can beat anybody on a given
Tough at home
Having won its regular-season finale by three goals, RSL tied the league record for goal-differential at home -- a whopping plus-23.
The team outscored opponents 34-11 in its 15 home games, equaling the mark set by the 1998 Chicago Fire, the team that won the league's inaugural championship. Another big home victory could play a major role in advancing in the playoffs, since the first-round series is determined by aggregate scoring.
Fringe benefit
By reaching the playoffs, RSL qualified for the 2010 SuperLiga tournament that pits four Major League Soccer teams against four teams from the Mexican Primera Division.
Tournament games are played through the middle of the summer in between league games. RSL still can reach the more prestigious CONCACAF Champions League, instead, but only if it reaches the MLS Cup championship game.
Honorable mention
Forward Robbie Findley was named MLS Player of the Week for his two-goal performance in the victory over Colorado last weekend that helped nudge RSL back into the playoffs.
"We knew it was a big game we were getting into, so we knew what we had to do to give ourselves a chance to keep the season going," Findley said.
It was the fourth time this season an RSL player won the award. The goals also made Findley the team's leading scorer, with 12 goals this season.
Motivation found
In the wake of their playoff berth, several players claimed satisfaction in disproving former general manager Steve Pastorino , who wrote them off in a Tribune column last month.
"Tell Steve Pastorino, I'm sorry," midfielder Kyle Beckerman said.
The players evidently were annoyed that Pastorino wrote that RSL's season was dead after "two of the most embarrassing performances" under Kreis last month, losses at Houston and FC Dallas. None of them mentioned it to the media until after the victory over Colorado, however.
Saturday, 4 p.m.
Rio Tinto Stadium
