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Show JTllE Friday; April 18,2008 DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE 8 RSL cross northern border in search of win ern border to take on former electric striker Jeff Cunningham and Toronto (1-2-0), who are coming off an impressive 3-2 victory against Los Angeles Galaxy. Real are coming off a shocking performance of their own. The 4-0 Christopher Kamrani STAFF WRITER • Real Salt Lake confront a familiar face Saturday against Toronto FC. Maybe too familiar. RSL (I-I-I) head across the north- Coming off a 4-0 win against DC United, Real Salt Lake heads north to take on Toronto FC. drubbing of DC United at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday began to pose the question if this was the signature victory for head coach Jason Kreis and Co. A new-look midfield, another new striker tandem up front and the strength of the center backs leading the defense have had critics all over the MLS salivating with impressment. "(The DC United win) was a great win for the RSL organization," said Keith Costigan of Foxsoccer.com. "But (the win) will really only count for something if they can consistently perform at this level." Besides a stellar two-goal performance by converted left-wing midfielder Kyle Beckerman, there were other positive lights. USA under-23 stud Nathan Sturgis received his first start as the centerpiece in midfield in place of veteran Carey Talley. Scottish forward Kenny Deuchar played possibly his most active game in an RSL uniform as he constantly threatened the DC backline with hustle and keen use of his head. Most importantly, as management Natalie Dicou Broker and Nick Carter. Freshmen Chase Hite and Derek Adams will also be with the team, but will compete as individuals. The field for the Cougar Classic will feature numerous teams from the west including Air Force, Boise State, BYU, Idaho State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Sacramento State, Saint Mary's, Utah, Utah State, Utah Valley State College, Washington State, Weber State and Wyoming. Utah sits in 91st place nationally, while Saint Mary's is the only team ranked higher at No. 42. Saint Mary's enters the tournament hitting 74.3 percent of fairways and 70.1 percent of greens in regulation. Utah will hope to continue its top-five streak that began after finishing third at the Ron Moore Invitational on March 23. The Utes finished fifth at last week's Cowboy Classic. Tim Haslam letters@chronicle.utah.edu PES312] EESQOO0M . * • I •I • > • • • core, Toronto is led by last year's rookie of the year, midfielder Maurice Edu, and former No. 1 draft pick in defender Marvell Wynne. In last year's two meetings, RSL earned a hard-fought tie on the road in a game that featured six yellow cards, a red shown to Espindola and the usual heroic effort by keeper Nick Rimando—who made 12 saves. The July 4 home game was not as lucky for RSL. The then-recently disposed Cunningham haunted his former mates with a goal, which parlayed into a few shoving matches involving midfielder Andy Williams. Toronto converted a penalty kick late in the game and left Utah with a 2-1 victory. Although Toronto has added veteran presences, the "new-look" RSL will feel the heat of the home crowd and try to march out of Canada with some points. The game is scheduled to kick off at 10:30 a.m. Mountain Standard Time and will be shown on tape delay on KSL at 2 p.m. c.kamrani@ chronicle.utah.edu Last chance for fans to get football fix Utes enter golf tournament The Puttin' Utes are in action on Friday and Saturday at the 46th-annual PING Cougar Classic in Provo. ' The tournament will be played at the Riverside Country Club. ;'. In 2007, BYU won the tournament with a team score of 32 under par. Utah took sixth in the tournament following great play by former Utah golfer Dustin Pimm and senior Steve Broker. Broker was 3-under for the tournament which was good enough to tie for 14th individually. Seniors Chris Gresh and Nic Larson were 7-over par and finished tied for 55thplace. Junior Chance Cota was 14-over and finished in 85th place. Larson finished tied forfifthplace in the recently played Cowboy Classic with a 5-under score for the tournament. Gresh finished tied for 12th, with a 3-under tournament. Utah will be led by Larson, Gresh, Cota, and fans abroad have been awaiting, the trio of Argentinians shined as brightly as they were once advertised. Javier Morales wowed the crowd with spurts of brilliance. Striker Fabian Espindola finished an excellent goal, while out-hustling the DC defense for the entire time he was on the pitch. Lastly, center back Matias Mantilla played a phenomenal 90 minutes as he stifled any chance DC had to capitalize. The challenge waiting for RSL north of the border is another young franchise with a fair amount of talent, which includes its fair amount of struggles. Mo Johnston's crew should be riled up to face RSL. It is the opening day for the sophomore club, which is synonymous for having the MLS' most intense fan base. Toronto also recently brought in former MLS MVP Honduran striker Amado Guevara. Guevara will team up in the Toronto attack with former RSL striker Cunningham and Premier League vet Danny Dichio. Considering its aging attacking STAFF WRITER Ah, the Red-White game— one last chance for football junkies to get their gridiron fix before college football goes away for a long, long time. The game allows Ute fans a chance to check out next season's up-and-comers and get excited about the now seemingly distant 2008 football season. It gives fans something to hang on to during the long months ahead, which, sadly, are known to be a bit skimpy in the spectator-sports department. They consist most prominently of televised baseball (yuck), as well as ESPN's summer smorgasbord of strangely compelling, though ultimately pointless, strongest man competitions and televised billiards. Actually, this summer seems to have a lot going on sportswise. For one, the NBA playoffs promise to be a guaranteed thrill ride. The Jazz seem to have a decent chance of reaching the second round at least, where they'll likely meet up with the Lakers. At that point, all bets are off. However, if the Jazz do manage to make a deep playoff run, it'll give Ute football fans something to cling to as they wait for Brian Johnson and Co. to once again don their pads. Then comes the Beijing D-II Appalachian State went into Ann Arbor, Mich., in last year's home-opener and downed the then-5th-ranked NATALIE Wolverines in front of 109,218 DICOU shocked fans, I like Utah's chances. On Saturday, the Utes will probably get a decent turnout, Summer Olympics, which be- but it'll be nowhere near the gin Aug. 8 and run through number of fans that turn out for spring football games of Aug. 24. Granted, the Olympics can't the nation's largest programs. compare to American foot- Florida, for instance, reported ball, but they're always good a record crowd of 61,000 at the for dramatic finishes and high Gators' blue-and-orange game stakes—both characteristics last weekend. Rice-Eccles Stadium, on the other hand, has that football fans crave. As for now, it's time to get a seating capacity of 45,017, one last look at the Ute foot- and that is rarely filled for real ball team before the players games. begin a summer of pumpThere's one other differing iron and running sprints ence between Utah's spring while dragging parachutes. football game and the Gators' (That is, if they're not sit- spring football game. Florida's ting on the couch aU summer blue-and-orange contest was watching guys move 747s with broadcast on ESPN and covtheir teeth like in the afore- ered by the College GameDay mentioned strongest man crew. contests). Utah, on the other hand, is I know what you're think- tickled pink if ESPN covers ing. You're sitting there, going, one of its real-life, during-the"How will I make it through?" season games that actually There's no doubt about it— matter. it's going to be tough. Rest Oh well. Who needs ESPN assured, though, Johnson and when you can play your games the boys will be back in time on The Mtn.? for Utah to kick off its seaEnjoy the Red-and-White son against Michigan in the game. It might be the last slice Big House on Aug. 30 in what of entertainment you get for a will, far and away, be the Utes' long, long time. toughest non-conference showdown of the season. n.dicou@ However, considering that chronicle, utah.edu RUGBY FEELS CONFIDENT action after spraining both ankles six weeks ago. Utah's bench—including the stellar play of wing Redge Benheim, lock Nate Morgan, hooker continued from Page 6 Greg Klc and center. Kave The Utes will have to do so Lauti—has stepped up to keep without All-Americans Andrew the Utes from missing a beat. "Matt Byrd, Mike Harman Swindle (torn ACL) and Cam Kiser (broken fibula) as well as and Scott Cowley are also 6-foot-5, 250-lb. lock Chase Jar- making everything happen for us in the middle," Anderson dine (torn meniscus). On the bright side, Chance said. "Our back line is really Fivas will be returning to coming together. We've im- proved our scrum, and Matt Wunderli is doing an amazing job filling in for Cam." It's no wonder that the short-handed Utes enter the playoffs with as much confidence as anyone. "People don't think we're going to make any noise in Albuquerque," Anderson said. "But they don't know how much heart we've got." j.peterson@ chronicle.utah.edu BYU DROPS U LACROSSE cord which will seat them as the No. 2 seed in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference playoffs May 2. Utah will face the winner of Colorado and Colorado State. The playoffs will be held in Salt Lake City and will be hosted by Westminster College. Visit www.utelacrosse. net for more information on times and dates. t.hastam@ chronicle.utah.edu . FREE SHOWING IN •-'*"^W '» \ THE UNION BALLROOM T, potential—dropped balls, poor penalties and bad passes plagued the Utes. "For us, a lot of it is going continued from Page 6 back to the fundamentals," said Utah head coach Rich coach Jason Lamb put in his Levi. "When we don't throw second string and Utah man- and catch well, when we aged to net two goals. At- don't pick up ground balls, tackman Matt Qualey scored when we don't get in the a goal on a bullet shot from right spot on clears, then we 10 yards out and Calvert won't play well." scored 26 seconds later. The Utes finished the .Utah failed to play to its conference with a 2-1 re- SPRING FLING ENDS SEASON continued from Page 6 FREE SHOWING BEGINS AT 8:00 pm THEin QL1R LUDnLD. ASUU U LIFE FREE Text message reminders from ASUU STAY UP-TO-DATE ON STUDENT EVENTS. CONCERTS, ACTIVITIES, AND MUCH MORE! ASUU 83043 the score. If either team gets a 10-point lead, the other team will maintain offensive possession until the deficit is trimmed to single digits. Notes: The White team might be in trouble when it comes to field goals and PATs, as it did not draft any kickers. Kickers Louie Sakoda and Ben Vroman will take turns placekicking for the Red team. c.brunner@ chronicle.utah.edu |