RSL preps for 'tricky' Open Cup game versus Sounders 2


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SANDY — During Jeff Cassar’s 10-year MLS career before his retirement in 2007, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup felt like a different tournament.

The tournament, which is in its 102nd straight year, was occasionally an afterthought for MLS teams paired against lower-division teams before matching up in later rounds — and often being upset.

But this year’s Open Cup is a different story — and not just because of RSL’s 2-1 loss at the NASL’s Atlanta Silverbacks in Cassar’s first tourney game as Real Salt Lake’s head coach.

“These games are tricky,” Cassar said. “If you don’t come with the right mentality and a killer instinct, teams hang around and it can turn into a hard night. We have to make sure we have that mentality, to start hot early and change a game from the get-go. We don’t want to let up.”

U.S. soccer has offered prize money to each year’s Open Cup winner, and the club still standing at the end of the national tournament that spans every level of North American soccer gets an automatic entry into the following season’s CONCACAF Champion’s League.

That coveted spot has probably made the most difference in MLS team’s putting a renewed emphasis on the competition, Cassar said.

“This is arguably the quickest route. All we have to do is win five games, right?” the RSL coach said. “They’re hard games, and the teams are putting out good lineups every game, whereas when I played sometimes this would be a much different team.

D.C. United coach Ben Olsen and Dwayne De Rosario hoist the Lamar Hunt trophy as the team celebrates after defeating Real Salt Lake 1-0 in the 2013 U.S. Open Cup at Rio Tinto Stadium on October 1, 2013. (Matt Gade/Deseret News)
D.C. United coach Ben Olsen and Dwayne De Rosario hoist the Lamar Hunt trophy as the team celebrates after defeating Real Salt Lake 1-0 in the 2013 U.S. Open Cup at Rio Tinto Stadium on October 1, 2013. (Matt Gade/Deseret News)

“Teams are putting out sides that are capable of getting victories.”

RSL’s lineup for its home match Tuesday at 8 p.m. MT against Seattle Sounders 2 will likely include some reserves alongside RSL regulars and starters. But gone are the days when MLS clubs would trot out their reserve squads against a team like S2, who currently sit at the No. 2 spot in USL’s Western Conference.

RSL knows the consequences of winning the Open Cup; the club nearly did so in 2013 before losing 1-0 to D.C. United in the tournament final. Salt Lake is 6-6-0 all-time in the competition, including a 5-2 record at Rio Tinto Stadium.

“This is a way to win a trophy, get into Champion’s League — and it’s fun,” RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. “These are tournament times — it’s one game — win or go home. We all love that type of tournament. It’s another fun thing to follow if you are a fan of soccer.”

With RSL’s most recent bye week giving the team nine days off since its last game, a 0-0 home draw against Colorado, the Open Cup also comes at a time when the players are well rested and returning internationals like Beckerman and defender Boyd Okwuonu are back in the mix.

The rookie defender from the University of North Carolina has a slightly different attitude toward Tuesday’s match.

“I think every game is big,” Okwuonu said. “I wouldn’t separate this one from any other game this season. It’s important we come out with the same mentality. We’re going to try to win this game like any other game, and we’ll show our work on the field tomorrow.”

But the do-or-die nature of the Open Cup isn’t lost on the team’s staff.

“Our guys know what is at stake, and how important this tournament is to the club,” Cassar said. “We’re taking it very seriously.”

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