SANDY, Utah (Tuesday, June 14, 2016) – It wasn’t exactly how Real Salt Lake drew, but the Claret-and-Cobalt advanced in its Fourth Round match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to force a shootout against the Wilmington Hammerheads. In PKs, GK Jeff Attinella made a key save in the fourth round and DF Chris Wingert converted the clinching penalty as RSL advanced 3-1 in the shootout.
FW Joao Plata came off the bench to score the first goal, while FW Juan Manuel Martinez added another to equalize the match in the second half of regular time. That set the stage for the shootout heroics and RSL advanced to the Round of 16, to be played June 28 or 29. Real will learn its opponent and site for the Fifth Round match on Thursday.
It was a slow start for RSL in the club’s first match at Rio Tinto Stadium since April 30, as the grass was replaced for the first time since the stadium opened in 2008.
In the 11th minute, DF Aaron Maund saved a sure goal when Austin Martz stripped MF Luke Mulholland and tried to chip Attinella. Maund raced to the line and made the clearance off the line to keep the match scoreless.
Real Salt Lake created some chances and outshot the Hammerheads 6-4 in the first half, but Wilmington scored a 1-0 lead with a goal in the 34th minute.
Justin Moose played Austin Martz up the right side of the box and the midfielder dropped a ball back for Mael Corboz for a first-time shot from 17 yards out that went inside the post to put the visiting Hammerheads up 1-0.
The score stayed that way into the 55th minute and that’s when Head Coach Jeff Cassar brought on Plata and FW Yura Movsisyan with an eye on advancing.
However, Wilmington would add to the lead through a deflection in the 58th minute.
The ball was played forward for Jeff Michaud at the edge of the box. He controlled it and dropped it back to Justin Moose for a powerful shot from 30 yards out that deflected off the back of Michaud, leaving Attinella leaning the wrong direction as the ball floated into the net and Wilmington took the 2-0 lead.
Plata cut that lead in half in the 65th minute with a lightning bolt from 25 yards.
After a series of RSL throw-ins from the left side, Wingert played the ball to Mulholland at the corner of the box. With some flair of his own, Mulholland flicked a backheel pass to Plata, leaving him to rip a right-footed shot into the upper 90 to make it 2-1 with still 25 minutes to play.
In the 86th minute, Martinez equalized with an equally impressive curler from 26 yards out on the left side that danced off the grass and over the glove of Wilmington goalkeeper John Smits, finding the net to even the score at 2-2.
Neither team could find a winner before 90 minutes, so the match went to two, 15-minute extra time periods.
In the first half of extra time, RSL nearly grabbed the lead when Martinez led Movsisyan into the box, but his sliding volley attempt went just wide of the near post
In stoppage time of the second extra time period, Attinella came up with a great save to send the match to a shootout. Corboz fired a free kick from 22 yards out on the left side that curled over the wall and bent towards the net, but Attinella dove to his left to make the save.
Wilmington opened the shootout, with Bruno Perone missing high on his attempt. Martinez and Plata both converted while Matthew Barnes-Homer missed high to give RSL the 2-1 lead in the five-round series. MF Javier Morales had his effort saved, though, leaving the door open for a Hammerheads comeback. But Attinella stoned Liam Miller in the fourth round and Wingert slotted home the winner to give RSL the 3-1 win in the tiebreaker.
RSL will return to regular season play on Saturday, hosting the Portland Timbers at 8 p.m. MT at Rio Tinto Stadium.
GAME NOTES – RSLvWIL
- This was the second all-time match between RSL and Wilmington. They previously met in the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2011, with RSL winning 2-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
- RSL MF Luke Mulholland played for the Hammerheads in 2011, earning USL-Pro Best XI honors and the USL-Pro Rookie of the Year award.
- Tuesday’s match was the first at Rio Tinto Stadium since April 30 when Salt Lake topped the Houston Dynamo 1-0. The grass at the stadium was replaced, leaving RSL on a five-match road swing in which the club went 2-3-0.
- RSL FW Olmes Garcia was unavailable for the match after seeing a red card in Salt Lake’s quarterfinal match with Sporting Kansas City last year.
- MF Omar Holness made his Real Salt Lake debut, coming on in the 117th minute as a substitute.
REAL SALT LAKE 2-2 (3-1 SO) WILMINGTON HAMMERHEADS
TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2016
RIO TINTO STADIUM
Goals by Period 1 2 1OT 2OT F
Real Salt Lake 0 2 0 0 2
Wilmington Hammerheads 1 1 0 0 2
Scoring Summary:
WIL: Mael Cordoz (Austin Martz, Justin Moose) 34’
WIL: Jeff Michaud (Justin Moose) 58’
RSL: Joao Plata (Luke Mulholland, Chris Wingert) 65’
RSL: Juan Manuel Martinez (Joao Plata) 86’
Shootout Summary:
WIL: Bruno Perone (miss, high)
RSL: Juan Manuel Martinez (goal)
WIL: Mael Corboz (goal)
RSL: Joao Plata (goal)
WIL: Matthew Barnes-Homer (miss, high)
RSL: Javier Morales (save)
WIL: Liam Miller (save)
RSL: Chris Wingert (goal)
Misconduct Summary:
RSL: Luke Mulholland (Caution; Foul) 29’
WIL: Mael Corboz (Caution; Foul) 30’
WIL: Jeff Michaud (Caution; Foul) 61’
WIL: Peabo Doue (Caution; Foul) 93+’
WIL: Tom Parratt (Caution; Foul) 102’
RSL: Aaron Maund (Caution; Foul) 120’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Jeff Attinella; Boyd Okwuonu (Joao Plata 56’), Jamison Olave, Aaron Maund, Chris Wingert; Luke Mulholland, John Stertzer (Omar Holness 117’); Juan Manuel Martinez, Javier Morales, Jordan Allen; Devon Sandoval (Yura Movsisyan 56’).
Substitutes not used: Lalo Fernandez, Danilo Acosta, Justen Glad, Phanuel Kavita.
Wilmington Hammerheads (4-5-1): John Smits; Michael Mecham (Tom Parratt 81’), Ashani Fairclough, Bruno Perone, Peabo Doue; Austin Martz, Mael Corboz, Justin Moose (Logan Miller 75’), Liam Miller, Jeff Michaud; Kyle Parker (Matthew Barnes-Homer 67’).
Substitutes not used: Sam Williams, Casey Townsend, Stefan Defregger, Zev Taublieb.
Referee: Victor Rivas
Assistant Referees: TJ Zablocki, Brandon Major
Fourth Official: Brad Jensen
Attendance: 17,131
Weather: Cloudy and 75
