By Ryan Curtis
Expansion teams usually don”t start real well, but Real Salt Lake, in it”s second season, is ready to shake off that image and become a force to be reckoned with. RSL is on a four-game unbeaten streak and the latest of those victories came in Saturday (May 27, 2006) night”s 3-1 victory over the Chicago Fire.
“It”s a matter of confidence,” RSL head coach John Ellinger said after the game. “In the past three games, he [Jeff Cunningham] scored four goals. He”s been feeling the pressure of the losing streak, but now he”s more confident.”
Ellinger had started Atiba Harris in place of Cunningham, who is one of the leagues top scorers, for the past three games. That change sparked a three game unbeaten streak. But when Harris had to sit out Saturday”s game because of too many yellow cards, Ellinger had to decide if he was going to go back to the original lineup, with its possible back fire, in order to produce the same results.
“Coach showed confidence in me by letting me stay in the whole 90 minutes,” Cunningham said.
That confidence paid off in a big way. In the 57th minute on a pass from Carey Talley, Cunningham slipped past his defender to hit a shot across his body and past the goalie to give RSL the lead.
Chicago came back though. Fire forward Brian Plotkin hit an unassisted shot, in the 62nd minute, from about 35 yards out.
RSL has been characterized as a team that gives up in the past. This team is different.
“A little bit of the Killer instinct is coming out,” Ellinger said. That was shown by RSL”s reaction to the tying score. They pushed back and when Cunningham kicked the ball toward the goal in what looked like a pass, Chicago”s Dasan Robinson deflected the ball into his own goal making it 2-1. Cunningham wasn”t finished yet. He would score again in the 77th minute on a pass from Jason Kreis.
It was a good night for RSL, and particularly goalie Scott Garlick, who earned his 100th win as goalkeeper. It is a mark few goalies have attained, but Garlick had other things on his mind.
“I don”t put a whole lot of stock in individual accomplishments,” Garlick said. “It”s a team game.”
RSL has endured a long losing streak that was hard on all the players, but things are changing.
“We”re kind of where we should be,” Garlick said, “and the expectations are raised.”
