This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It's not an official Major League Soccer win, but Jeff Cassar and Real Salt Lake will take it.
The club won its first match under the new first-year head coach Wednesday night in Tucson, Ariz., as RSL beat FC Tucson 3-1 in the Desert Diamond Cup as forward Alvaro Saborio scored twice, while defender Aaron Maund headed in another goal.
The three goals were the first RSL had scored in an official preseason match during its 2014 training camp.
Newcomer Luke Mulholland assisted on two goals, both of which came on set pieces he delivered to the head of either Saborio or Maund. Rookie Jordan Allen received the starting nod atop the diamond midfield formation, where Javier Morales typically stars, and went 90 minutes, assisting on Saborio's first goal. Defender Kwame Watson-Siriboe also made his return to action after a long rehabbing assignment following in late June of last year.
"The most important thing is the fitness, the team coming together and I think we're moving forward," Cassar said in the video highlights provided by RSL.
RSL will play its final Desert Diamond Cup match on Saturday taking on MLS foe Chivas USA at 1 p.m. The match will be streamed live on http://www.RealSaltLake.com and http://www.MLSsoccer.com. RSL returns to Utah on Sunday as the club begins preparing for its March 8 MLS regular season opener at the LA Galaxy. RSL will return to Utah on Sunday, where the team will begin preparing for its March 8 MLS regular season opener at LA Galaxy. Saborio will join the Costa Rican national team Saturday for a friendly against Paraguay on March 5 and is scheduled to join RSL in LA on Thursday, March 6.
-Chris Kamrani
Twitter: @chriskamrani