Real Salt Lake is trying its hand at a few firsts.
The club nabbed its first win of the season against D.C. United on June 23 with a 2-1 result. The match also marked Jason Kreis’ first victory as a coach and Robbie Findley’s first (and second) goal in an RSL uniform. Wednesday, RSL will play its first-ever match against Toronto FC when the two square off in a Fourth of July showdown at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
In another first, RSL forward Alecko Eskandarian and Toronto FC forward Jeff Cunningham will face their former clubs for the first time.
Kreis and Co. will also be looking to piece together their first win streak of not only the season, but since August 19 of last year, when RSL beat the Houston Dynamo following a previous triumph over Columbus.
Real hopes for more Independence Day fireworks than the ones scheduled after the game. Offense has been a weakness for this team all season. The club has scored just 11 goals this season and the question looms: Who will ignite the offense?
Players no longer with the team have scored four of those 11 goals — Cunningham (3) and Chris Klein (1). Chris Brown owns three scores, but will watch the game from the sideline with a hamstring injury. Freddy Adu also scored one goal — but he is busy sparking the offense for the United States Men’s Under-20 National Team.
That leaves Findley.
The forward will be the only active player that has scored a goal for RSL this season. Findley’s two strikes in his RSL debut gave the team its win over D.C. United.
But none of this means that Kreis is overly concerned about where the offense will come from. The coach saw enough in the chemistry between Findley and Eskandarian to expect big things.
“For two players to have that kind of understanding in their first game together bodes very well for us,” Kreis said.
Toronto FC thrives off of Danny Dichio’s boots. The former English pro signed with Toronto in April and has scored four goals in eight games.
His accomplice is the aforementioned Cunningham. Since replacing his RSL jersey with a Toronto uniform, the 2006 MLS Golden Boot winner has posted two goals and one assist in five games.
The match is the third of a six-game road trip for Toronto, which got off to a rough start with a 3-0 loss to the New England Revolution.
Both RSL and Toronto are pushing for better positions in the MLS standings before the All-Star break. RSL (1-5-6) has nine points and is sharing the bottom spot in the Western Conference with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Toronto (4-7-1) sits in the cellar in the East with 13 points. Playoff hopes for both clubs are dim, but each club desires to climb the standings at the other’s expense.
If the Los Angeles Galaxy fail to earn a point in their match with Chicago on Wednesday, a win or tie for RSL would boost it past the Galaxy and out of last place in the Western Conference for the first time this season.
Goalkeeper Nick Rimando has been spectacular for RSL as of late and finally got his first win with the club. But he knows that the pressure is still there.
“We proved that we can play with the best teams and we can get results,” Rimando said. “We’re going to have to keep on doing that and get on a streak to stay in this league.”
Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC kick off at 8 p.m. MT. Fireworks begin promptly after the match.