New stadium aside, RSL hopes to continue unbeaten streak at San Jose


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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Three games into a new season with a new system and several new faces, and coming off its first win of the year, Real Salt Lake was riding high going into Sunday’s match at San Jose.

Then, another injury hit.

RSL will be without designated player Sebastian Jaime for Sunday’s match with a bone bruise suffered during the squad’s 2-1 win over Toronto FC last week, marking the second forward to go down with an injury barely a month into the season.

But there’s no panic in RSL land.

“I’ve just got to get ready, no matter what,” said forward Devon Sandoval, brushing aside any notion of worry over Jaime’s injury. “That’s just soccer; it really is.”

Real Salt Lake will look to remain unbeaten on the year with a win in the Earthquakes’ new soccer-specific Avaya Stadium, while the Earthquakes will try to get their first win in RSL's last four trips to San Jose. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. MT Sunday on ESPN2.

RSL isn’t taking the ‘Quakes lightly.

“They have some dangerous players, some very good players,” RSL coach Jeff Cassar said. “And they’ve got a fantastic coach and will be a very tough opponent.”

New coach Dominic Kinnear, who led the Earthquakes before the franchise relocated to Houston and re-branded as the Dynamo in 2006, is back in California, along with perennial goal-scorer and U.S. international Chris Wondolowski. The American soccer success story, who spent last summer at the World Cup in Brazil, is reason enough for RSL’s defense to have its hands full with his three goals on the year.

“Wondo’s a guy who is super dangerous. He never stops running,” RSL captain Kyle Beckerman said. “He’s just a player we always have to keep an eye on. That will be one of the keys to our defense. We’ll see if we can keep doing the things we do well and make him pay.”

The chance to play in another big-time stadium atmosphere is a big deal for the likes of Beckerman and Cassar, who came up through Major League Soccer’s less-glamorous age of college stadia and contracting franchises in 2002. The Earthquakes opened Avaya Stadium two weeks ago with a 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire, but RSL is the team entering the match with a three-game unbeaten streak.

RSL (1-0-2) is coming off its first win of the year, but that win has given them loads of confidence after goals from Luke Mulholland and homegrown player Jordan Allen’s first of his MLS career. Between Allen and returning striker Alvaro Saborio, as well as midfielder Luis Gil, Cassar looks to have a decision on his hands in who will replace Jaime in the starting lineup.

Sandoval is also looking forward to the chance to play alongside returning players like Saborio and Gil, who returned late in the week with goalkeeper Nick Rimando, defender Elias Vasquez and fullback Boyd Okwuonu following international duty.

The third-year player forward from New Mexico has another reason to eye San Jose than just another start on the schedule.

“I made my debut there; that was pretty cool,” Sandoval said of the ‘Quakes’ old Buck Shaw Stadium at Santa Clara University. “But we’re really excited for the new (stadium). I’m excited and I know the guys are excited.”

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