Leslie Fitzpatrick could be in RSL uniform Saturday.
By: Michael C. Lewis - The Salt Lake Tribune.
Real Salt Lake has had its eyes on dreadlocked midfielder Leslie "Tiger" Fitzpatrick for months. Now, it has its hands on him, too. The Major League Soccer expansion team has signed Fitzpatrick to a contract, and the promising member of the Trinidad & Tobago national team will join his new teammates in training today and could play in RSL's inaugural home game against Colorado at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday.
"I love the opportunity that Real Salt Lake has given me," he said, "and I know this will lead to a great relationship. I hope I can contribute, making RSL the best team in Major League Soccer." Though coach John Ellinger and his staff have been scouting the fleet Fitzpatrick since before he began to attract interest from other MLS clubs by performing well against the U.S. national team in a World Cup qualifying match two months ago, the signing comes at a fortuitous time.
Starting midfielder Andy Williams is out for four weeks with a groin injury, and replacement Clint Mathis has not practiced much this week because of swelling in his knee.
Mathis still is expected to start against the Rapids, but his tender condition leaves the midfield on seemingly shaky ground at a time when Ellinger wants to see it play more balls wide in order to get better crosses into the box against Colorado's Joe Cannon - the MLS goalkeeper of the year last season.
"We have the label of 'expansion team,' " Ellinger said, "and there's no question that at times . . we looked like an expansion team" during a loss at the Los Angeles Galaxy last weekend. "And we were acting like an expansion team. . . . I think we're too good for that."
RSL and the Rapids still are in search of their first victories. The teams are tied with expansion club Chivas USA at the bottom of the MLS Western Conference, with one point apiece. The 26-year-old Fitzpatrick was an All-American at Columbia University, before playing in the A League and on the Columbus Crew's developmental squad the past few years. He scored two goals in 28 games for the Atlanta Silverbacks of the A League last season, and fills one of the two roster spots RSL had open, following the release earlier this month of Bosnian defender Senad Halilovic. Utah will have a familiar look to him, too.
RSL's Marlon Rojas is a fellow member of the Trinidad & Tobago national team who has played alongside Fitzpatrick in many international games - including the 2-1 loss to the U.S. (and current RSL defender Eddie Pope) in which Fitzpatrick nearly scored on a breakaway that would have given his team the lead.
