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<SPAN id=slt_site><SPAN id=slt_article><DIV class=articleTitle>REAL SALT LAKE: Team has great expectations for 2007</DIV><DIV class=articleSubTitle>A strong finish in 2006 and a load of offseason acquisitions have raised Real Salt Lake's playoff aspirations</DIV><DIV class=articleByline><A class=articleByline href="mailto:mcl@sltrib.com?subject=Salt%20Lake%20 Tribune:%20REAL%20SALT%20LAKE:%20Team%20has%20grea t%20expectations%20for%202007">By Michael C. Lewis
The Salt Lake Tribune</A></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePositionHeader></DIV><DIV class=articleBody><SCRIPT language=JavaScript> if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup') .style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup') .style.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } </SCRIPT>When striker Jeff Cunningham stopped to think about what might become of Real Salt Lake in its upcoming and landmark third season, he came to a conclusion that left little room for doubt or uncertainty.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>"We're going to be one of the best teams in the league," he said.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>And that was nearly six months ago - before RSL enjoyed a series of offseason victories that stands to make what it expects to be a breakout season even more of a triumph.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>Since missing the Major League Soccer playoffs by only one game last season, the team has traded for teen superstar Freddy Adu, signed imposing striker Luis Tejada, fortified its defense despite losing its starting goalkeeper to an unexpected retirement, and secured its future with the legislative approval of a $110 million suburban stadium deal.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>What's not to love, right?
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>"The expectations from a team perspective are as high as they could possibly be," general manager Steve Pastorino said. "There is no way the season will be successful if we're not in the playoffs. There's no other measuring stick. There will be no sense of, 'Well, we didn't make the playoffs, but . . .' ''
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>Yet RSL won't be able to advance that far simply by being among the four best teams in the MLS Western Conference, the way it could have in the past.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>A new playoff format - instituted to accommodate the unbalanced schedule created with the addition of expansion team Toronto FC in the MLS Eastern Conference - means that only the top two teams in each conference are assured of making the playoffs. After that, the four teams with the next-best records - regardless of conference - also will reach the postseason, potentially creating far more late-season anxiety for RSL.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>Not that it matters to them.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>"Our goals are still the same," midfielder Chris Klein said.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>Simply reaching the playoffs is the primary mission, of course, but even winning a league championship is not out of the question.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>Two teams - the Kansas City Wizards in 2000 and the San Jose Earthquakes in 2001 - have won the MLS Cup the year after finishing last in their conference, while the Chicago Fire won the 1998 championship in their inaugural season.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>And though it became the first team in league history to miss the playoffs in its first two seasons, RSL is hardly digging out of a miserable last-place season.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>[b]With Cunningham leading the league in scoring with 16 goals and 11 assists, RSL made a huge leap from its abysmal inaugural year by finishing 10-13-9 last season
The Salt Lake Tribune</A></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePositionHeader></DIV><DIV class=articleBody><SCRIPT language=JavaScript> if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup') .style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup') .style.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } </SCRIPT>When striker Jeff Cunningham stopped to think about what might become of Real Salt Lake in its upcoming and landmark third season, he came to a conclusion that left little room for doubt or uncertainty.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>"We're going to be one of the best teams in the league," he said.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>And that was nearly six months ago - before RSL enjoyed a series of offseason victories that stands to make what it expects to be a breakout season even more of a triumph.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>Since missing the Major League Soccer playoffs by only one game last season, the team has traded for teen superstar Freddy Adu, signed imposing striker Luis Tejada, fortified its defense despite losing its starting goalkeeper to an unexpected retirement, and secured its future with the legislative approval of a $110 million suburban stadium deal.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>What's not to love, right?
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>"The expectations from a team perspective are as high as they could possibly be," general manager Steve Pastorino said. "There is no way the season will be successful if we're not in the playoffs. There's no other measuring stick. There will be no sense of, 'Well, we didn't make the playoffs, but . . .' ''
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>Yet RSL won't be able to advance that far simply by being among the four best teams in the MLS Western Conference, the way it could have in the past.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>A new playoff format - instituted to accommodate the unbalanced schedule created with the addition of expansion team Toronto FC in the MLS Eastern Conference - means that only the top two teams in each conference are assured of making the playoffs. After that, the four teams with the next-best records - regardless of conference - also will reach the postseason, potentially creating far more late-season anxiety for RSL.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>Not that it matters to them.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>"Our goals are still the same," midfielder Chris Klein said.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>Simply reaching the playoffs is the primary mission, of course, but even winning a league championship is not out of the question.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>Two teams - the Kansas City Wizards in 2000 and the San Jose Earthquakes in 2001 - have won the MLS Cup the year after finishing last in their conference, while the Chicago Fire won the 1998 championship in their inaugural season.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>And though it became the first team in league history to miss the playoffs in its first two seasons, RSL is hardly digging out of a miserable last-place season.
</DIV><DIV class=articleBody>[b]With Cunningham leading the league in scoring with 16 goals and 11 assists, RSL made a huge leap from its abysmal inaugural year by finishing 10-13-9 last season
