This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Lehi — Kyle Beckerman was back from international duty with the U.S. Men's Team and practicing with Real Salt Lake.The RSL midfielder won't play in Saturday's game against Portland, which will be the third game of his suspension, but he was getting in synch with teammates. After all, the Major League Soccer playoffs are looming.Real is looking for three points to lock up third place in the Western Conference and avoid playing an extra game as a wild card. RSL earned a point Friday with a scoreless draw at Colorado to break a four-game losing streak. Real is tied with Dallas with 52 points."It's real exciting," Beckerman said. "It's been a weird end to the season. We qualified for playoffs so early. Maybe our mind set is ready for the playoffs and we overlooked these end-of-the season games."We're all real excited to get started. With one game left, we're ready to go into the playoffs with a positive result."Beckerman admitted that being out of the RSL lineup since Sept. 28 has been difficult, sort of like being in limbo. But it was a lesson was learned."It was tough to watch [my teammates]," he said. " We're fighting through the season and to watch and not be there with them was tough, but I'm proud of them."martyr@sltrib.comTwitter:@rsltribune.com