FINAL from Charleston - RSL 2:1 TFC - 2009 CCC Champions!!!
Well that’s a wrap folks. RSL capitalized on some quality play over the last week to earn themselves the Carolina Challenge Cup in their first ever try. The guys have got to be pleased with the way things are coming together here in the latter stages of the preseason. It’ll certainly be nice to add another piece of bling to the trophy case and hopefully it will be a harbinger of bigger things to come.
We’ve got a few photos from today’s match below and you can take the jump under the pics to read the full rundown of the day’s events…
FINAL - RSL 2:1 TFC
90′ - three minutes of stoppage time shown
89′ - TFC Substitution - Amadou Sanyang in for DeRosario
88′ - Andy Williams on the receiving end of a give-and-go with Findley, his half-volley from 15 yards slammed over the crossbar
85′ - TFC goal is disallowed, as offsides nullifies a Guevara free kick that bounces through the RSL box
82′ - TFC Substitution - Fuad Ibrahim in for Chad Barrett
82′ - RSL Substitution - Raphael Cox on for Beltran
79′ - Will Johnson magic in the box, dribbling through the TFC defense and playing out wide to Beckerman, whose 16-yard blast sails narrowly wide left
75′ - RSL Substitution - Luis Miguel Escalada in for Yura Movsisyan
71′ - TFC Substitution - Danny Dichio on for Pablo Vitti
70′ - RSL Substitution - Andy Williams in for Javier Morales
69′ - DeRosario gets in deep, past Beltran and Grabavoy, crosses to Barrett, whose header goes wide left
67′ - Will Johnson’s low cross in the box to Movsisyan is on point, but Yura’s touch is cleared out by the TFC defense
65′ - RSL Substitution - Grabavoy on for Mathis
63′ - Movsisyan wins the ball 45 yards from goal and gets around Brennan, sending a long looping ball far post to Johnson, whose left-footed volley is wide left
61′ - after switching fields around the perimeter, from Wingert to Johnson to Morales to Beckerman, Mathis’ left-footed blast from 22 goes wide right
57′ - Mathis shot is cleared off the line by Velez
56′ - unbelievably good ball from Morales at midfield finds Findley behind the defense, but Robinson’s backpass to Frei is whistled for an indirect in the box
54′ - TFC Substitution - rookie Sam Cronin on for Rohan Ricketts
53′ - RSL living in the TFC defensive third, with Beltran, Mathis, Findley, Morales and Movsisyan combining well and coming close, but creating few chances
50′ - Mathis header from 12 yards out is saved by Frei … nice buildup from Wingert, Johnson, Beckerman and Morales led to the Beltran cross, finding Clint at the PK spot
48′ - curling cross from the left by Wingert goes through the box, with Findley missing by inches
46′ - no changes for either side at halftime
NOTES: RSL has now allowed 4 goals in 675 minutes of preseason action, outscoring opponents 22-4 … Clint Mathis’ 2 goals thus far in the 6th annual Carolina Challenge Cup place him 2nd among tourney leaders, behind TFC’s Dwayne DeRosario, who has scored in each game … RSL would be crowned CCC champions with either a tie or win tonight, by virtue of its superior goal differential (+4 compared to +2 entering tonight’s game) … Since the CCC was founded in 2004, 4 of the 5 champions have gone on to win either the MLS Supporters’ Shield (best regular-season record) or MLS Cup … Only last year’s CCC winners, San Jose, failed to keep the streak alive …
HALFTIME - RSL 2:1 Toronto FC
43′ - Morales frees Movsisyan down the left side with an exquisite pass using the outside of his right foot … Yura dribbles into the box, but he can’t get past Robinson … Horst’s header on the resultant corner barely misses wide
40′ - RSL Yellow Card - Olave is booked late for slamming Barrett to the turf
39′ - RSL continues to struggle with the man-advantage, as a Guevara free kick finds Vitti inside the six, but his header is saved by Rimando
36′ - Olave pushes down Barrett for a TFC free kick from 25 yards out … Guevara’s free kick is headed off the line by Wingert, but DeRosario slams home the rebound to cut RSL’s lead to 2-1
33′ - dangerous chance for DeRosario, but Olave blocks the shot … on the resultant throw-in, Jimmy Brennan dribbles into the RSL six, but Olave slides and knocks the ball away
29′ - TFC striker Pablo Vitti gets in alone on Horst, but the 2nd year defender sends it out for a corner
27′ - Morales finds Beckerman at top of penalty arc, and Kyle’s half-volley is parried over the crossbar by Frei
26′ - TFC SUB - Marco Velez comes in for Adrian Serioux, whose left shoulder appears injured
23′ - Morales free kick bangs off the post, but Will Johnson’s header back across the goal goes wide … Findley is there to slam another shot on goal, but Frei recovers for the save
22′ - RED CARD TORONTO … TFC defender Kevin Harmse is booked with his second yellow card after taking down Findley on a breakaway 25 yards from goal
20′ - RSL GOAL!!! Robbie Findley streaks past Wynne and into the box, dribbling along touchline almost to the six before finding Clint Mathis, who slams home a laser from 10 yards out to put RSL up 2-0
19′ - Wynne tries to redeem himself with a long run down the right behind the RSL defense, but Will Johnson tracks him down, forces him to play back, and the Robinson cross sails out of bounds
16′ - bad back pass by Serioux Wynne is intercepted by Findley, who gets around Frei and passes across box to Morales, whose shot is deflected out for a corner
11′ - nice ball over the top by Horst finds streaking Findley, who plays square to Yura at the spot … Yura’s shot deflected to Findley, who sends hard shot parried over the bar by Frei
6′ - RSL GOAL!!! Mathis Morales ball over the top finds Movsisyan in alone on Frei, he slots it just inside right post for the score
5′ - resultant corner by Morales finds Movsisyan at top of box far post, but his shot goes high left
4′ - nice combination by Mathis, Beckerman and Morales sends Findley down the right side … his cross is deflected for an RSL corner
2′ - great ball over the top by Wingert sends Movsisyan deep into corner … Yura’s one-touch cross finds Findley near post, but his shot is saved by Frei
KICKOFF
Ok folks, we are about 20 minutes away from kickoff, and here are tonight’s starting lineups for both squads:
Real Salt Lake (4-4-2)
GK: Rimando
DF: Beltran, Olave, Horst, Wingert
MF: Beckerman (deep), Mathis, Johnson, Morales (attacking)
FW: Movsisyan, Findley
Toronto FC (4-4-2)
GK: Stefan Frei
DF: Marvell Wynne, Kevin Harmse, Adrian Serioux, Jim Brennan
MF: Rohan Ricketts, Carl Robinson, Amado Guevara, Dwayne DeRosario
FW: Pablo Vitti, Chad Barrett
SUBS for RSL: Seitz, Escalada, Cox, Williams, Alexandre, Grabavoy, Zewe (Borchers, Joy and Russell did not dress)
14 Mar 2009 RSL HQ




bummed the TFC feed is down
Goal by Mathis!!!
Im fan11 not fan84 but still I think we need to stay off Mathis’ back. He is a good player. Maybe not has good as before but still has potional. The man has scored in alot of the preseason games and just cause he didn’t score during last season he still made it hell for the other teams and gave more space for the unknow threat we call Yura.
good preaeson
I watched the game on a very pixelated screen but could still see how good we are moving the ball around. We have never moved the ball around like that in the unthinkable losing years we have had in years past. Jason Kreis and the coaching staff is doing great. Win or lose I will be by Real’s side but it feels so much better when its a winning side.
Wooo! Three more to go! USOC, Supporters Shield, and MLS Cup!
The team looked good, especially in the first 20 minutes of the game, when they dominated. There were periods when they forgot their bread and butter: possession movement soccer, and let Toronto back in the game, but they were clearly the better side.
Wingert- Outstanding game. Great movement up the field, excellent crosses.
Beltran- Very good game. Moved well, controlled his side.
Horst- Played well defensively. Was a little to long ball happy whenever he had the ball at his feet. If he can develop that confidence to hold the ball under a little pressure, he’ll be a very good player.
Olave- Solid.
Beckerman- Outstanding game, moved the ball side to side made supporting runs and some great shots. Was the cog on the team.
Morales- Kind of quiet game, not bad, but not an outstanding one. Gave up possession a little too much, but made some nice passes and wasn’t as invovled in large periods of the game.
Mathis- Good game. Was involved, made good supporting runs and nice goal. Would like to see a little more possession football.
Johnson- Kind of a quiet game but created some decent chances.
Mosisyen- Looked dangerous but should have finished some of his chances. Did a solid job.
Findley- Great move on the goal and created problems for the Toronto defense. Didn’t capitalize on some of his possibilities but good game.
Rimando- Good solid consistent.
Williams- Looked out of sync. Not terrible but below par.
Sweet! Hopefully we can keep it up when we play for keeps in the real season.
Went to pick up my season tickets today and noticed that the club had our two trophies that RSL has on display, they were the Rocky Mtn Cup and the U-17 MLS Championship. Glad to see that we will have a more ‘legitimate’ piece of hardware to view. Hope we dont go like the Detroit Lions did last year, they went 3-0 in preseason and lost every game the rest of the year!
No, seriously, I think this is a good sign, hopefully we will sort out or goal scoring situation and find ways to WIN on the ROAD. Then it should be a VERY GOOD YEAR! Can’t Wait for it to start!
thx for the pics
Hey juice box guy, where exactly do they have the trophies on display? Seems like I can’t get an answer to where they are kept.
Good assesment Timoteo. Fun game to watch. Makes me excited for the season. Woo!!
I didn’t see the game, but I real RSL look REALLY good. This could be our year!
Great game for the boys! Horst didn’t look to bad, but it’ll make us even better to get Borchers back! We clearly have one of the best midfield’s in the league.
Thanks to RSLFM for the feed after TFC’s went down!
See all the goals from ManU vs Liverpool at http://www.playahatin.com
Hey sockernut - I’ve seen the trophies on the mantle in the club restaurant at Rio Tinto Stadium.