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Sandy • Jeff Cassar dubbed the exhibition match against a minor-league team a "playoff game" for Real Salt Lake players itching to make a further impression as the club inches closer to postseason play.
His players delivered on a frigid, soggy night at Rio Tinto Stadium Tuesday. RSL topped the freshly-crowned USL Pro champion Sacramento Republic FC 2-0 in the final non-league match of the 2014 season. But there was somewhat of an unexpected wrinkle. When midfielder Sebastian Velasquez walked into the locker room Tuesday evening, he noticed RSL would be lining up in a 4-3-3 formation, rather than its patented 4-4-2 diamond shape.
It didn't matter. RSL delivered its first shutout since Aug. 9, allowing six shots against the USL Pro champs from Sacramento, but none were on frame.
"I thought we were organized, our fight was there tonight and we scored two quality goals," RSL coach Jeff Cassar said.
While both clubs were searching for the flow of the match throughout the first half, it was RSL who put its stamp on the match in the final 45-minute frame. Forward Robbie Findley, who captained the side Tuesday, was fouled in the box in the 57th minute of play and drew a penalty kick. Findley calmly stepped to the spot and buried the penalty to give RSL a 1-0 lead.
In the first minute of stoppage time, Velasquez did one better. The 23-year-old midfielder wiggled through traffic atop the box and buried a left-footed curling shot to the far post serving as an exclamation point.
"It doesn't matter what 11 you put out there," Velasquez said, "I think our second team is not as good and experienced as the first team, but we do have technical players - we have very good players - and I think today we were able to show what we were about, even in a new formation."
Cassar said the move to the formation was due, in large part, to bodies available three days after RSL's 2-1 loss at Vancouver. With an abundance of defenders and forwards, but not midfielders, the coaching staff went with the 4-3-3. It didn't look particularly familiar in the first half, but as the match wore on, RSL took hold. Midfielder Cole Grossman said he was pleased with the result.
"Obviously a meaningless friendly, but we really wanted to win, so I think we're happy with the result," he said.
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