RSL notebook: Foot injury sends RSL captain Beckerman to sidelines

CARSON, Calif. — Already down two starters, Real Salt Lake was forced to forge ahead without a third for most of Saturday's match.

RSL captain Kyle Beckerman suffered a left foot sprain less than 20 minutes into the match against Chivas USA, and he was eventually replaced in the 24th minute by second-year midfielder Jean Alexandre.

Beckerman had played every minute of RSL's previous eight matches, and a year ago he was on the sideline for only 32 combined minutes of the 25 matches he was available.

Beckerman stepped off the field in the 17th minute after getting his foot stepped on, and trainer Jake Joachim spent nearly five minutes re-taping it. Afterward Beckerman tried loosening it up on the sideline, but quickly indicated he couldn't return. It wasn't immediately known if he'd be available for RSL's match next weekend at home against Kansas City.

His replacement's resume was far less glowing.

Alexandre has never made an MLS start and, prior to Saturday, the Haitian international had only appeared in six career matches for a combined 120 minutes.

His most notable contribution this year was a 21-minute substitute appearance in the second half of last week's win over Houston. Last year, Alexandre's biggest contribution was a 47-minute stint replacing Clint Mathis in a 1-1 draw at home against Chicago.

Alexandre was selected in the first round (12th overall) by RSL in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft.

BACK IN THE MIX: Ned Grabavoy, one of the heros of Real Salt Lake's playoff run a year ago, finally made his return to the pitch Saturday night.

The midfielder had missed the last five games while recovering from a knee injury sustained in the first half of RSL's 2-2 draw with Seattle on April 10.

Grabavoy had hoped to get back in the mix on May 13 when RSL hosted Houston, but the coaching staff opted to play it safe and rest the veteran another week.

He did play 30 minutes for the RSL Reserves in their tie with the Mexico Under-21 National Team last Saturday, and said he felt great afterward. That, along with a solid week of training, was reassurance enough for the coaching staff to insert him into the starting 11 against Chivas USA in place of the absent Will Johnson.

NOTABLE ABSENCES: As much as Real Salt Lake missed Johnson and Robbie Findley, who are each with their respective national teams, Chivas was without arguably its two best players on Saturday.