Reserves help guide RSL to exhibition win

Leave it up to the reserves to save a little face.

Following an uninspired performance by the starters in the opening half, many of Real Salt Lake's reserves played a passionate 45 minutes in the second half to key a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Universidad Catolica in an exhibition game Wednesday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium in front of 8,044 fans.

"I can't remember being as frustrated all season as I was in the first half, just because of a lack of passion and desire to win. When you put players on the field in the second half who actually want to win the game, and play like they want to win a game it makes a difference," said RSL coach John Ellinger.

In the first half, that was hardly the case.

In the opening 45 minutes, RSL's revamped starting line-up played relatively disinterested soccer, and not surprisingly the team trailed 2-0 at the half.

When asked if his players perhaps didn't give the effort they needed knowing it was an exhibition game against the Chilean First Division champs' reserve team, Ellinger said, "You'd hate to think that, but if that's the way they felt then it showed," said Ellinger.

After inserting five new players at halftime, it didn't take long for the renewed passion to have an impact.

With nothing to play for but pride, a line-up that featured only three regular starters (Chris Brown, Brian Kamler, Nelson Akwari) scored three second-half goals in the comeback.

The game winner came in the 88th minute as Akwari headed in a cross from Jamie Watson. In the 77th minute, Dipsy Selolwane tied the game at 2-2 on a penalty kick that resulted from Watson being tackled in the box.

As exciting as those goals were, none was as exciting as Kenny Cutler's strike from the top of the box in the 73rd minute on a pass from Watson, even though the team still trailed 2-1.

"It's amazing if you put shots on goal, once and a while they might go in," said Ellinger.

Even though none of Wednesday's statistics count toward the official MLS stats, that didn't change the fact that Real Salt Lake hadn't scored a goal in 394 minutes prior to Cutler's tally.

RSL's last goal was in the 31st minute of a 2-0 victory over Chivas USA back on May 18.