When you make a game-saving play like Chris Schuler did on Saturday in a scoreless draw with the Portland Timbers to earn a point on the road in Real Salt Lake’s season opener, accolades are sure to follow. On Tuesday, Schuler was RSL’s lone representative on the MLSsoccer.com Team of the Week, with his goal-line stop in stoppage time on a Michael Nanchoff shot highlighting a stellar night for the RSL defense.
“There was someone open at the top of the box for a clear shot. We just covered into the box and it happened to come close to me,” Schuler said in a postgame interview on ESPN 700 radio in Salt Lake City. “I was able to stick out the foot and get a little block.”
Schuler paired with Jamison Olave for the first time since 2012, when they went 4-1-2 with three shutouts in seven starts together. After the scoreless draw on Saturday – RSL’s fourth consecutive shutout at Providence Park in Portland, including a 1-0 win in the MLS Cup playoffs in 2013 – the strength of the defense is becoming clear in the early part of the season.
“It was great. I’m extremely pleased with the way the team came out and played together and got the shutout and the point on the road,” Schuler said. “Those are all good things.”
Schuler was joined on Team of the Week by goalkeeper Tyler Deric (Houston Dynamo); defenders Tyrone Mears (Seattle Sounders FC), Ike Opara (Sporting Kansas City) and Justin Morrow (Toronto FC); midfielders Mauro Diaz (FC Dallas), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC) and Mix Diskerud (New York City FC); and forwards Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC) and Obafemi Martins (Seattle Sounders FC).
Nick Rimando was listed among those receiving honorable mention.
Real Salt Lake’s Team of the Week honorees include:
Week 1: Chris Schuler.
