This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
On a day that Real Salt Lake finished its preparations to meet Deportivo Saprissa in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals at Rio Tinto Stadium on Tuesday night, the team made a couple of moves that could affect its long-term future.Most notably, it signed Donny Toia to a contract, after the 18-year-old forward from Tucson spent the past couple of years in its academy program in Arizona. Toia turned down a contract offer from RSL last year in order to attend hometown Pima College instead, but now will join the team as its first "homegrown" player and probably see a lot of time in the revived Major League Soccer reserve games.General manager Garth Lagerwey said Toia is a "talented kid," but cautioned against high expectations for somebody so young who is "multiple years away from contributing to our team." Somebody who won't get the chance is midfielder Jarad vanSchaik.Lagerwey said RSL has released the rookie from the University of Portland, the only player it chose in the MLS SuperDraft in January. The team traded its other draft picks, but also made a deal for veteran Arturo Alvarez that stands as one of the highlights of the offseason.