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Reserves enjoy fan support, defeat BYU</DIV><DIV class=authorText>By James Edward
Deseret Morning News </DIV><DIV class=authorText></DIV><DIV> ST. GEORGE — Real Salt Lake may have discovered itself a little home away from home this week. For an MLS team always searching for warmer places to spend preseason because of Salt Lake City's fickle spring weather, RSL stumbled upon about 6,000 reasons to make Southern Utah one of its preseason stops for years to come.
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</DIV></DIV><DIV> </DIV><DIV>In Real's first preseason game in Utah in 2007,an estimated 6,000 fans packed Dixie College's Hansen Stadium on Thursday night to watch the Real Reserves beat BYU, 1-0.
</DIV><DIV>"I think it's great and it shows that Utah is ready for a professional soccer team," said Real assistant coach Peter Mellor. "The passion is there."
</DIV><DIV>Even though today is the last day of Real's three-day stint in St. George, the soccer-crazed fans down here probably made a good enough impression that the third-year MLS team will likely be back for future preseasons.
</DIV><DIV>After a 10 a.m. training session (which is open to the public) today at Hansen Stadium, RSL will head to Las Vegas for a Saturday night exhibition game against Colorado.
</DIV><DIV>BYU, which competes in the Premiere Development League during the summer, is also heading to Las Vegas in preparation for a Saturday exhibition match against UNLV, just its second preseason match of the year. That's what makes Thursday's 1-0 result so impressive for BYU, especially considering that RSL's reserves have been training for about two months.
</DIV><DIV>"It was a good game for us, but we have a good team this year," said BYU coach Chris Watkins. "We certainly have a lot of potential on this team, and you saw some of that tonight."
</DIV><DIV>Ironically enough, BYU may have deserved a draw.
</DIV><DIV> game's only goal was scored by Andy Williams in the 35th minute, but he was probably offsides. Either way, it was an outstanding build-up and finish for Real Salt Lake. RSL defender Steven Curfman sent a 40-yard driven ball upfield that Jeff Rowland effortlessly flicked with his head toward Williams, who calmly blasted home the 22-yard shot.
</DIV><DIV>"Their goal was a nice goal," Watkins said. "I don't know if it was offsides or not, but they had the run of play there for a while and it was deserving."
</DIV><DIV>Mellor didn't see it quite the same way. He was particularly disappointed with how his team let BYU dictate the pace of the game.
</DIV><DIV>"I feel we should've pressured them and had more of the ball," said Mellor, who added that BYU deserves some of the credit for RSL's troubles because they "played very, very well and deserved something out of the game."
</DIV><DIV>Both teams made numerous substitutions at the half, and to accommodate the personnel on the field, RSL switched from a 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2 formation. BYU stayed in its 4-5-1 formation and the result was a fast-paced second half in which both teams created several scoring opportunities.
</DIV><DIV>BYU's best opportunity came in the 77th minute when midfielder Connor Bassett cracked a shot just over the crossbar from about 20 yards out.</DIV>
RSL LINEUP: Chris Seitz (Kyle Reynish, 46), Jean-Martial Kipre, Nik Besagno, Dustin Kirby, Chris Lancos (Steven Curfman, 15), Kenny Cutler (Dustin Magleby, 46), Duke Hashimoto
Reserves enjoy fan support, defeat BYU</DIV><DIV class=authorText>By James Edward
Deseret Morning News </DIV><DIV class=authorText></DIV><DIV> ST. GEORGE — Real Salt Lake may have discovered itself a little home away from home this week. For an MLS team always searching for warmer places to spend preseason because of Salt Lake City's fickle spring weather, RSL stumbled upon about 6,000 reasons to make Southern Utah one of its preseason stops for years to come.
</DIV><DIV><DIV class=viewPic style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; WIDTH: 139px">
</DIV></DIV><DIV> </DIV><DIV>In Real's first preseason game in Utah in 2007,an estimated 6,000 fans packed Dixie College's Hansen Stadium on Thursday night to watch the Real Reserves beat BYU, 1-0.</DIV><DIV>"I think it's great and it shows that Utah is ready for a professional soccer team," said Real assistant coach Peter Mellor. "The passion is there."
</DIV><DIV>Even though today is the last day of Real's three-day stint in St. George, the soccer-crazed fans down here probably made a good enough impression that the third-year MLS team will likely be back for future preseasons.
</DIV><DIV>After a 10 a.m. training session (which is open to the public) today at Hansen Stadium, RSL will head to Las Vegas for a Saturday night exhibition game against Colorado.
</DIV><DIV>BYU, which competes in the Premiere Development League during the summer, is also heading to Las Vegas in preparation for a Saturday exhibition match against UNLV, just its second preseason match of the year. That's what makes Thursday's 1-0 result so impressive for BYU, especially considering that RSL's reserves have been training for about two months.
</DIV><DIV>"It was a good game for us, but we have a good team this year," said BYU coach Chris Watkins. "We certainly have a lot of potential on this team, and you saw some of that tonight."
</DIV><DIV>Ironically enough, BYU may have deserved a draw.
</DIV><DIV> game's only goal was scored by Andy Williams in the 35th minute, but he was probably offsides. Either way, it was an outstanding build-up and finish for Real Salt Lake. RSL defender Steven Curfman sent a 40-yard driven ball upfield that Jeff Rowland effortlessly flicked with his head toward Williams, who calmly blasted home the 22-yard shot.
</DIV><DIV>"Their goal was a nice goal," Watkins said. "I don't know if it was offsides or not, but they had the run of play there for a while and it was deserving."
</DIV><DIV>Mellor didn't see it quite the same way. He was particularly disappointed with how his team let BYU dictate the pace of the game.
</DIV><DIV>"I feel we should've pressured them and had more of the ball," said Mellor, who added that BYU deserves some of the credit for RSL's troubles because they "played very, very well and deserved something out of the game."
</DIV><DIV>Both teams made numerous substitutions at the half, and to accommodate the personnel on the field, RSL switched from a 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2 formation. BYU stayed in its 4-5-1 formation and the result was a fast-paced second half in which both teams created several scoring opportunities.
</DIV><DIV>BYU's best opportunity came in the 77th minute when midfielder Connor Bassett cracked a shot just over the crossbar from about 20 yards out.</DIV>
RSL LINEUP: Chris Seitz (Kyle Reynish, 46), Jean-Martial Kipre, Nik Besagno, Dustin Kirby, Chris Lancos (Steven Curfman, 15), Kenny Cutler (Dustin Magleby, 46), Duke Hashimoto
