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SANDY — For the second game in a row, Real Salt Lake coach Jeff Cassar was forced into doing something he’d prefer to avoid: using one of his three substitutes to replace a defender in the first half.
And it could leave the RSL back line a bit short-handed for the moment.
RSL defender Justen Glad exited Tuesday night’s 2-1 win over Seattle Sounders 2 in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, replaced by rookie center back Phanuel Kavita for his first-team debut with the Salt Lake side. Glad’s exit possibly corresponded with the effects of a head-to-head collision suffered 10 minutes previous, and Cassar made the sub knowing of the youngster’s propensity for concussions from past injuries.
“It could be a concussion,” Cassar said after the match Tuesday night. “I don’t know, but he’s had a history of them. We need to be careful.”
Glad’s potential absence comes at a time when RSL at a dearth of the center back options. Chris Schuler recently returned to training after knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus in April, but his resumption of full duties may still be a short ways off.
“It’s what is best for Chris, and what is best for the team,” Cassar said after Monday’s training at Rio Tinto Stadium. “We have a lot of games coming up, but we also don’t want any setbacks. But his knee is feeling great.”
Fellow center back Jamsion Olave is still in the process of returning from an injury as well, a right quad strain suffered in the opening minutes of last Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Colorado. The Colombian defender participated in parts of training Monday, and also underwent further rehabilitation as he tries to work back into form.
If Glad is to miss significant time with the team for concussion-like symptoms, that leaves RSL down to three healthy center backs: Elias Vasquez, Aaron Maund and Kavita. Vasquez, however, is having difficulty re-entering the United States on his P-1 visa after traveling to his native Guatemala for a pair of World Cup qualifiers against Bermuda — a situation caused by “technical problems with the visa systems” of the U.S. Department of Justice and Bureau of Consular Affairs and affecting more than just Major League Soccer players.
Cassar didn’t elaborate on Vasquez’s immediate situation, but said simply he “didn’t know” the current status of the first-year Guatemalan defensive revelation who has started in 10 games for RSL.
“There are some issues going on,” Cassar added, “and we have to sift this out as quickly as possible and get him to re-join the team.”
That leaves RSL with the central defensive pairing of Maund and Kavita — who played in the Open Cup win together for the first time all season, joining outside back Boyd Okwuonu, who also made his first-team debut.
The presence of Kavita isn’t a bad one — he was an all-ACC defender at Clemson and former prep standout at Highland High School. But the first-year player has seen the majority of his time this season with Real Monarchs, and now he could be pressed into action, potentially starting as early as Sunday against Sporting Kansas City.
“It’s getting thin,” Cassar admitted. “But I thought Phannie did a great job stepping in, and Aaron Maund is starting to get into a bit of a rhythm. That’s good — but it is getting thin back there, without a doubt.”
Okwuonu could fill in at center back in a pinch — he played the majority of his career with North Carolina at the position. But the 5-foot-9 Oklahoma native has been transitioning to right back with his club and the U-23 national team since being drafted in the first round of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, and he currently has more starts with the national team than he does with his club.
RSL’s other defensive options are outside backs Tony Beltran, Demar Phillips, Abdoulie Mansally and utility player Jordan Allen, who has been playing on the wing for RSL but has experience at fullback — though none of them have significant experience in the middle.
After a shaky start during a sleepy first half against Sounders 2, the young back line and Phillips came together and afforded goalkeeper Jeff Attinella a second-half shutout — something RSL hopes can spur momentum moving forward, no matter the defense.
“Hopefully this (second half) carries over to next week,” Attinella said. “We were playing some really good soccer toward the end — some of the best I’ve seen from us — so hopefully come Sunday, we’re doing the same thing and this half carries over into the start of the next one.”
