RSL: Win spurs hope

Sandy » Robbie Findley scored a dozen goals for Real Salt Lake during the regular season, yet almost left its Major League Soccer playoff opener against the Columbus Crew on Saturday wondering how he could have failed to add another.

Good thing he didn't.

Just minutes after a potentially heart-breaking miss, Findley redirected a brilliant pass from teammate Yura Movsisyan past goalkeeper William Hesmer in the 88th minute to dramatically deliver RSL the victory it absolutely had to have -- a 1-0 decision in front of 11,499 fans at Rio Tinto Stadium that gives the team hope of surviving the two-leg series against the defending champions.

"We just didn't stop fighting,"

Findley said.

Can't stop now, either.

The teams will play the second game of the series at Crew Stadium in Columbus on Thursday night, and RSL needs at least a draw to advance on aggregate scoring to the MLS Eastern Conference final. It expects a far different game in the rematch, though, after the Crew bunkered in and even left reigning league Most Valuable Player Guillermo Barros Schelotto and veteran striker Alejandro Moreno on the bench Saturday.

"They just dropped back, they never attacked," RSL's Javier Morales said. "They came in here just for the tie."

Alas, they didn't get it -- and gave RSL hope that it can overcome its dreary 2-11-2 regular-season record on the road.

The Crew have scored

only one goal in their last five games, too, four of them losses, though coach Robert Warzycha took some solace in keeping RSL from erupting at home the way it has done so often during the regular season -- including last week, when Findley scored twice to help RSL reach the playoffs.

"We didn't allow them to create too many chances, like they usually do," he said.

No, the game was mostly a muddled mess of errant passes and clogged lanes -- coach Jason Kreis said his RSL players looked "a little scared" in the first half -- opening up only in the late stages when RSL switched to a 3-5-2 formation and started to press for a score.

It almost had one in the 83rd minute, when Movsisyan dummied a long pass down the right side and allowed Findley to outrace the Crew's Eric Brunner to the ball -- only to bury his shot into the side netting.

"It happened and was done," he said. "There wasn't anything I could do about it."

So Findley tried to put the miss out of his mind and listened to Movsisyan, who told him he would get another chance. Sure enough, when Movsisyan took a quick throw-in deep in the Columbus end a few minutes later, Findley found his opening on the end of Movsisyan's shot along the touchline.

"I just kept my head up and was able to get a good ball at the near post and ... get on the end of it," he said.

His team would have preferred a few more goals, but for the moment, one is enough to give RSL a chance in Columbus.

"If we go in there and play right, and our forwards finish the goals how they've been finishing them, I think we'll be OK," goalkeeper Nick Rimando said.

mcl@sltrib.com