This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
So the mission for RSL in the second leg of its CONCACAF Champions League semifinal series against Saprissa has become clear:Just score.That's about all it has to do in the return leg next month, after securing its 2-0 victory over the Costa Rican club at Rio Tinto Stadium last night. The team can advance to the tournament finals with a win or a draw — or even a two-goal loss, so long as it scores at Saprissa Stadium in San Jose.To put it another way?One away goal for RSL means Saprissa would have to score four to overturn the result from the first leg. And with a defense like the one RSL employs, you'd have to like your chances there — "we can't let them score," Saprissa coach Juan Manuel Alvarez said — although the status of injured defender Jamison Olave remains an open question.Olave left last night's game at halftime with a strained right hamstring that coach Jason Kreis said he feared was serious. "I don't know yet," Kreis said after the game. "But I can tell you that it must be bad, because he's a not a guy that comes out of games, and he told us he needed to come out. So I have a feeling it's a lot worse than we'd like it to be."While Olave does have three weeks before the next Champions League game, RSL will open its Major League Soccer season on Saturday at San Jose, before playing its first league home game against the Los Angeles Galaxy on March 26. Seems likely we're going to see a fair bit more of backup Chris Schuler in the next couple of weeks — although Schuler has availed himself well when called upon so far this year.Meanwhile, Saprissa is going to be seriously shorthanded for the second leg, with three starters suspended for caution accumulation. Defender Jose Mena and midfielders Douglas Sequeira and Ricardo Blanco all received yellow cards against RSL last night, knocking them out of the return leg.The Purple Monster drew five cautions all together, compared to zero for RSL."What I have been very, very pleased with is our reaction tonight," Kreis said. "I don't believe we had anybody pick up a yellow card. And some of the fouls that happened out there, away from the ball, could have easily seen reactions from our players that would have picked up yellow cards for retaliation."Forward Arturo Alvarez made his RSL debut in the final minutes — not enough time to do a whole lot — while defender Tony Beltran played well in relief of Chris Wingert, who had been slotted to start at left back but sprained an ankle in training two days ahead of the game. Kreis said that worked out as well as it could have for RSL, since Beltran had been "the most confident I've seen him this year.""All in all, you'd have to say you're pleased," Kreis said.