COMMERCE CITY, CO – The Real Salt Lake Reserves (1-1-4, 7 points) drew Colorado Rapids Reserves (2-2-2, 8 points) 2-2 on Sunday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. After going down 2-0 in the first half, the Claret-and-Cobalt staged a second half comeback with RSL FW Benji Lopez scoring twice in the 57th and 63rd minutes to earn the draw.
Colorado opened up the scoring in the 16th minute on the counter. The play started with Colorado MF Davy Armstrong who found FW Charles Eloundou open at the top of the box. Eloundou’s shot from distance took a strong deflection inside the area leaving RSL GK Jeff Attinella with no chance, to put the home side up by one.
Colorado went on to make it 2-0 in the 36th minute. Rapids DF Thomas Piermayr won the ball at the midfield and played a perfect pass to Eloundou on the breakaway. The Cameroonian notched his second of the night, deftly chipping the ball past an onrushing Attinella to double Colorado’s lead.
Real Salt Lake managed to pull one back in the 57th minute. The Rapids turned the ball over 30 yards from goal, and RSL MF Sebastian Velasquez dribbled toward goal, finding MF Luke Mulholland, who drew Colorado GK John Berner out before passing to Lopez who simply tapped the ball into the net.
Real Salt Lake found the equalizer six minutes later through Lopez again. The goal came amid confusion on the field, as most players assumed that play had been stopped. Rapids MF John Neeskens was down on the field with an injury after a hard tackle, and after a foul was called seconds later, both teams slowed to a halt as the players expected the Athletic Training staff to be allowed on the field to attend to Neeskens. However, the referee allowed play to continue, and RSL MF Sebastian Saucedo played the quick restart to Lopez, who drilled a shot from 25 yards past Colorado’s Berner.
RSL had more possession in the match, but the chances were split closer down the middle, with both teams getting opportunities from distance. The Claret-and-Cobalt had the best chance to grab a late winner when Mulholland found himself behind the defense and volleyed off the crossbar in the 88th minute.
The Real Salt Lake Reserves will return to action on Aug. 27 when its faces LA Galaxy II at StubHub Center at 4:00 p.m. MT. RSL will resume MLS action this Saturday, when it hosts D.C. United at 8:00 p.m. at Rio Tinto Stadium. Tickets to the RSL-D.C. match can be purchased at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office, online at www.RealSaltLake.com/Tickets or over the phone at 801-727-2700.
BOX SCORE
Real Salt Lake Reserves 2-2 Colorado Rapids Reserves
Sunday, Aug. 3, 2014
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake Reserves 0 2 2
Colorado Rapids Reserves 2 0 2
Scoring Summary:
COL – Charles Eloundou (Davy Armstrong) 16’
COL – Charles Eloundou (Thomas Piermayr) 37’
RSL – Benji Lopez (Luke Mulholland, Sebastian Velasquez) 57’
RSL – Benji Lopez (Sebastian Saucedo) 63’
Disciplinary Summary:
COL – Grant Van De Casteele (caution) 55’
COL – Carlos Alvarez (caution) 68’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake lineup: Jeff Attinella (Lalo Fernandez 64’), Justen Glad, Eric Holt, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Abdoulie Mansally; Cole Grossman (Jose Hernandez 64’), John Stertzer (Fito Ovalle* 75’), Luke Mulholland, Sebastian Velasquez; Sebastian Saucedo, Benji Lopez (Olmes Garcia 71’)
Substitutes not used: Diego Silva
RSL Academy Player
Colorado Rapids lineup: John Berner, Thomas Piermayr, Grant Van De Casteele, Gale Agbossoumonde, Quentin Pearson, Davy Armstrong, John Neeskens, Kamani Hill (Enda O’Neill* 64’, Carlos Alvarez (Miles Chow* 68’), Charles Eloundou (Jacob Smits-Kagoshima* 78’), Danny Mwanga
Substitutes not used: Chris Reichman
Colorado Rapids Academy Player
