This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Real Salt Lake already had plenty of respect among fans of Major League Soccer. Yet, its performance in a 3-1 loss to the L.A. Galaxy during Sunday's Western Conference Championship may have won the team even more respect and a few more fans.
Many are calling the game among the most entertaining of the postseason.
For example, take this from Simon Borg of MLSsoccer.com:"Many are calling the LA Galaxy's 3-1 win over Real Salt Lake in [Sunday] night's Western Conference Championship the best postseason game in league history for the emotions, the action and the way the match unfolded. "The win meant more than you can imagine for LA manager Bruce Arena, who admits that the entire 2011 season was a pressure cooker for him because the Galaxy and the Home Depot Center were hosting MLS Cup: 'It wasn't the most comfortable feeling knowing we were going to host the final and go through this season. There was a little bit of pressure on us to get there.'"Real Salt Lake point to the Galaxy's second goal as the back-breaker with an unmarked Mike Magee heading home a David Beckham cross early in the second half. The visitors admit they should have done a much better job defending against the service: 'When a player like David Beckham gets the ball, you have to be marked up,' says RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando. 'If you make mistakes in a game like this, they're going to cost you.'"martyr@sltrib.comTwitter:Rsltribune