We're Here for RSL

Last night Alison and I went to our first Real Salt Lake game. A few weeks ago we talked with Blake and Debbie about how despite our love of sports we have never attended an RSL game. So we all bought tickets to the game today. It wasn't a typical MLS game because they are taking a break from the MLS schedule to play the League Cup, a month-long tournament that includes the Mexico and US teams. 

Alison and I don't know much about soccer, but Blake knew a bit. Even with our limited knowledge, we enjoyed the game. Soccer has two halves, both of which are 45 minutes and then the officials can add extra time to each half at their discretion based on injuries and other delays during the game. The clock does not stop. In between both halves, there is a 15-minute halftime. 

RSL played aggressively and kept possession of the ball for most of the first half. They had many shots at the goal but were unable to score. Even though it seemed like RSL was dominating we went into halftime tied at 0-0. That quickly changed in the second half. A few minutes in RSL scored a goal and then a couple minutes later they scored another goal. This was very exciting. The stadium is electric when RSL scores and everyone chanted a song. RSL scoring made for a fun game. 

While we got the gist of what was going on we had many questions about the game. Whenever a player was touched they would be quite dramatic falling down and acting as if they were going to need to be carted off the field. We didn't really understand what was allowed and what was considered a foul and would result in a yellow or red card. 

It was good RSL scored when they did because shortly after one of their team members got a red card and they had to play down a man for the rest of the game. At that point up 2-0, RSL switched to focusing on defense a bit more, but near the end of the game an opportunity presented itself and RSL scored another goal. They would go on to win 3-0. For our first major league soccer game this was one heck of a game. We saw a little bit of everything and our hometown team won. 

After the game they had fireworks. Most people headed down onto the field to watch, but we received a tip from one of the ushers and headed just outside the stadium to watch. It was an excellent vantage point for a pretty impressive firework display.