Real Salt Lake: Movsisyan breaks drought

SANDY — Well before Real Salt Lake scored any of its six memorable goals Saturday night, Yura Movsisyan had himself a dreadful moment that raised questions about his form and confidence.

Sprung free on a breakaway by teammate Javier Morales in the first half, Movsisyan made a nice dribbling run into the box and then chunked his shot right at the keeper. The moment in many ways summed up the first month of the season for Movsisyan.

Entering the match against New England, Movsisyan was fourth in the league in shots with 17, and the breakaway miss represented his 20th shot of the season. Of those 20 shots, some forced opposing keepers into fantastic saves whereas others were just woeful attempts, but none found the back of the net.

"For me he looked like a guy who was feeling a lot of pressure to score, he put himself in some fantastic positions but then just looked a little confused when he got in and around the goal," said coach Jason Kreis.

That mounting pressure was never more evident than on that 37th minute blunder. All of that frustration, however, seemed to be relieved when he buried a fantastic goal in the 70th minute to put RSL in front 3-0.

"I think for him to take that one is going to open up a lot of things for him. Going forward he's not going to be second guessing himself," said Kreis.

Movsisyan insists he never lost confidence despite being denied often in the first four games, but did admit feeling pressure.

"I think only pressure from myself. I don't think I had any pressure from my team or anybody, just myself," said Movsisyan.

That's the life of a striker with high expectations. Movsisyan led Real Salt Lake in scoring in 2008 with seven goals, and many believed he was due for a breakout year this season. Instead, it's been mostly a breakout year for teammate Robbie Findley.

Nobody knows better than Clint Mathis about the ups and downs of a striker having spent most of his career playing up top.

"He's a great player, he's been unlucky. Keepers have been making great saves on him, and for him to get that goal is going to take a lot off his chest. He's always going to be able to create chances and be in front of the goal it's just one of those things," said Mathis. "He's playing really well and working hard. If he continues to create those chances he'll continue to score."

Movsisyan had six shots Saturday, and it was the sixth shot he finally scored on. Now that he's finally moving forward with confidence, he and everyone else associated with Real Salt Lake are hoping he finds a way to score more often than once every 23 shots.

E-mail: jedward@desnews.com