Show Real Salt Lake Wins with Header Eric Larson Sports In the inaugural game of the Rock Rocky Mountain Cup competition competition competition compe compe- against the Colorado Rapids Real Salt Lake set a record that could stand for quite a while That's the number of fans that showed up to support Utah's newest major league team They didn't leave pointed Mother Nature was willing to cooperate and provided provided provided pro pro- vided Salt Lake fans perfect weather to sit back relax and watch a soccer game that turned into a defensive battle that didn't see a point scored until the minute That was when Real defender Brian Dunseth connected with witha a diving header on a free kick pass from midfielder Clint Mathis The goal drew a boisterous approval from the crowd who had been relatively quite since Mathis was given a controversial controversial controversial sial yellow card in the minute The crowd began getting getting getting get get- ting antsy after seeing several shots just miss including a wide open shot by rookie Luke before Dunseth was finally able to end the drought The reward was definitely worth the wait for the fans Utopia was Dunseth's H I 7 c o 0 co J J Je u e W eW Salt Lake City's New Soccer Team the Real plays to an excited crowd during their first game description of how it felt scoring scoring scoring ing Reals Real's first goal in front of their hometown fans The goal wasn't nearly as big of a surprise as the person who scored it Scoring a goal is a rare occurrence for Dunseth who had scored only three goals in his previous seven seasons Even though scoring was new for Dunseth he acted like a veteran when it came time timeto to celebrate Dunseth ran to the corner pulled out the flag and replanted it pretending to stake his claim to land in the theold theold theold old west It was just sort of marking our spot marking our territory ry Dunseth said of the logic behind the celebration After the goal fans began watching the clock counting down the minutes until they could celebrate Reals Real's first i win Salt Lake certainly had obstacles to overcome before landing its first win Not only were the players and coaches still feeling each other out Salt Lake lost midfielder Andy Williams to injury The injury forced head coach John Ellinger to make major changes in Reals Real's line- line See Real continued on page 9 Real cant cont from front front- up Ellinger moved Mathis to midfield Despite his confidence in Mathis Ellington had to wonder how a team that is still trying to adjust to playing playing play play- ing in a new system would handle such a major move The move put pressure on Mathis to switch his focus from scoring to running the offense Mathis responded assisting on Dunseth's goaland goal goaland goaland and missing out on another assist when missed his shot The Rapids had several chances to score but Real Goalkeeper DJ Countess made several saves to keep the Rapids scoreless The players seemed to realize the significance of the winFor winFor winFor win For us to have our first win I dont don't think it could have been any sweeter than to have it at home Mathis said While the win moved Real into second place in inthe inthe inthe the Western standings the win could help the franchise franchise franchise fran fran- chise in other ways even more Perhaps the biggest impact from Saturdays Saturday's win could come in the fan attendance One of the biggest challenges every new franchise faces is establishing a strong fan base Judging by the large turnout Saturday Real is well ahead of schedule In fact so many fans showed up it forced the team to open sections that had been partitioned off The players noticed In soccer the crowd is everything said defender Eddie Pope Mathis agreed saying It the win couldn't have come at a time or a better place than in front of in inthe inthe inthe the home stands The great turnout did force Saturdays Saturday's biggest problem problem- getting t fans I to their seats With so many unexpected fans lines to get through the gates were long This caused several fans to have to wait until halftime before they could pass through the gates Since the is relatively relatively relatively rela rela- new compared to other major leagues Real must target all sports fans not just soccer fans They couldn't have asked for a better opening Despite the low score there was no shortage of action Fans were treated to a game that saw 28 fouls called and had 22 shots taken many of them close The constant action could be a major factor in Reals Real's s quest to draw in more fans 10 The lack of interruptions during the game is another unique quality that could help bring in more fans In major league soccer the clock only stops for halftime unlike other major sports that are constantly interrupted for timeouts injuries and TV ads Not only does the clock not stop nobody is exactly sure when the game will end One of the officials keeps track of the amount of playing time that is lost and adds that time timeto to end of the half r l L I. I J. J L ra fV r. r e. e 0 JoV u i I Iu A n 0 on 0 UJ w This can be a little weird for fans of other sports that have grown to love the drama of a last second shot two minute offense or bottom of the ninth Even though this doesn't offer the same type of pressure it creates a definite suspense that any sports fan will love |