Looks like they have Rojas playing left midfield
SALT LAKE CITY - Real Salt Lake FW Jason Kreis scored his fifth and sixth preseason goals, in the 54th and 70th minutes, to lead an RSL rally from behind as the team settled for a 2-2 draw against Rocky Mountain rivals the Colorado Rapids during an exhibition game Saturday night at LaPorte High School Stadium in LaPorte, Texas. Real Salt Lake concludes its preseason tour with a game on Friday night at the University of Tulsa Track and Soccer Stadium in Tulsa, Okla., against the 2004 Western Conference Champion Kansas City Wizards.
Real Salt Lake's inaugural game is two weeks from tonight at 5:00 p.m. MT in East Rutherford, New Jersey, at Giants Stadium against the MetroStars. Four weeks from today, Real Salt Lake officially brings Major League Soccer to Utah with a home-opening first regular-season encounter versus Colorado at Rice-Eccles Stadium on April 16, live at 1:00 p.m. MT.
"We showed good character and quality coming back from two goals down," said RSL Head Coach John Ellinger. "Rallying from behind isn't something I prefer, but it is good to know that the team is capable of accomplishing such a task."
Colorado began the first half with two early goals, as Rapids DF Eric Denton scored the first goal from a free kick 25 yards out just 4 minutes in. In the game's 8th minute, Rapids FW Chris Henderson broke down the left sideline, dishing off to FW Jeff Cunningham, who one-timed it past RSL 'keeper DJ Countess to give Colorado a 2-0 lead. Both teams battled for possession throughout the remainder of the first half with RSL almost striking on target several times.
At halftime Ellinger made one substitution, bringing on MF Leighton O'Brien for MF Chris Brown. Early in the second half, Major League Soccer's All-Time leading scorer, Jason Kreis, tallied preseason goal No. 5, finding a loose ball in the box and striking a shot sharply past the 'keeper on the right side in the 54th minute.
Just 14 minutes later, Real Salt Lake's combination play and extended possession set up the equalizer. DF Rusty Pierce played the ball up the right sideline to MF Dipsy Selolwane, who quickly fed a ball to the middle for O'Brien. O'Brien then played a ball out to the left for Trinidadian National Team MF Marlon Rojas, who served a ball from the wing into the box for Kreis, who finished off the chance with a successful, game-tying header in the 70th minute to complete the game's scoring.
Real Salt Lake vs. Colorado Rapids (March 19, 2005 - LaPorte HS, LaPorte, Texas)
1st 2nd Total
Real Salt Lake 0 2 2
Colorado Rapids 2 0 2
Scoring Summary:
COL - Denton 3'
COL - Cunningham (Henderson, Beckerman) 8'
RSL - Kreis 54'
RSL - Kreis (Rojas) 70'
Today's lineups were as follows:
REAL SALT LAKE
GK - Countess; DF - Behncke, Dunseth, Akwari, Pierce; MF - Rojas (Kreamalmeyer 76), Kamler, Williams, Selolwane (Whitfield 76); FW - Kreis, Brown (O'Brien 46)
COLORADO RAPIDS
GK - Foss: DF - Denton, Lowery, Cullen, Gargan; MF - Henderson (Morales 46), Beckerman, Nkong, Cooke (Guillaume 72); FW - Peguero (Gonzalez 16), Cunningham(Harris 59)
