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Santa Clara, Calif. • Coach Jason Kreis said the weather was the worst in which he has ever coached, though he agreed with veteran Andy Williams that the first game in franchise history was "10 times worse" because of the savage wind and rain Real Salt Lake faced that night in New York six years ago.
Yet all goalkeeper Nick Rimando did was stand in the eye of the storm and make every save, catch and block that Real Salt Lake needed to preserve a 1-0 season-opening victory over the San Jose Earthquakes in front of an announced crowd of 10,525 soaked fans at Buck Shaw Stadium on Saturday night.
"It sucked, with the rain and the wind," Rimando said. "You can't really see much. Balls are dipping and diving. … There was definitely some luck involved."
Rimando was credited with an astonishing 10 saves, most of them in the final crucial minutes as the Earthquakes pressed hard for an equalizer as the wind and rain blew into Rimando's face. The last half-hour provided all the reason anybody would need to see, to understand why RSL gave him a contract extension in the offseason.
"Today was my day," he said. "Luck was on my side today, and I was able to get a piece of those balls. … Sometimes, I was trying to catch 'em when I shouldn't have caught them, and sometimes I was dropping them when I should have caught 'em. But I think luck was on my side today."
Heaven knows, the weather was not.
Many players had trouble staying on their feet on the wet grass of an otherwise beautiful field — cleats didn't help much, midfielder Kyle Beckerman said, because the field did not have much give beneath the surface — and Kreis knew that it would be "almost impossible" for RSL to play its preferred possession-style game.
And that made Rimando all the more important, especially with second-year defender Chris Schuler playing in place of injured MLS Defender of the Year Jamison Olave.
"He just gives the defense a lot more confidence than otherwise," defender Nat Borchers said. "His communication, his shot-stopping ability, his distribution are excellent and gives us all confidence. Obviously, we got the shutout tonight, and attribute most of that to him."
MLS standings
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W L T Pts GF GA
D.C. 1 0 0 3 3 1
Sporting K.C. 1 0 0 3 3 2
Philadelphia 1 0 0 3 1 0
New York 1 0 0 3 1 0
Chicago 0 0 1 1 1 1
New England 0 0 0 0 0 0
Houston 0 1 0 0 0 1
Toronto FC 0 1 0 0 2 4
Columbus 0 1 0 0 1 3
WESTERN CONFERENCE
W L T Pts GF GA
Vancouver 1 0 0 3 4 2
Colorado 1 0 0 3 3 1
Real Salt Lake 1 0 0 3 1 0
Los Angeles 1 0 0 3 1 0
FC Dallas 0 0 1 1 1 1
Chivas USA 0 1 0 0 2 3
San Jose 0 1 0 0 0 1
Portland 0 1 0 0 1 3
Seattle 0 2 0 0 0 2
Saturday's Games
Vancouver 4, Toronto FC 2
New York 1, Seattle FC 0
D.C. United 3, Columbus 1
FC Dallas 1, Chicago 1, tie
Philadelphia 1, Houston 0
Colorado 3, Portland 1
Real Salt Lake 1, San Jose 0
Sporting Kansas City 3, Chivas USA 2
Sunday's game
New England at Los Angeles, 6 p.m.