A few RSL tidbits

 

Saturdays RSL/Crew match kicks off at 4pm – on Halloween.  Although, they weren’t able to choose the date, they did have their choice of the start time.  Unfortunately, at the time Fox Soccer Channel had the 2pm – 4pm window reserved for a national telecast. 

And with Halloween, the prospects of a game going into the evening could have a negative impact on ticket sales for the affair.  So they were stuck with either a noon start (or earlier), or the 4pm time that they ultimately chose. 

As it turns out, FSC ended up releasing the 2pm-4pm slot after the final playoff pairings were set on Sunday.  Hopefully the 4pm start is early enough not to discourage would-be attendees.  It will be interesting to see what happens with attendance, as the first leg of the playoffs is typically poorly attended.  Although RSL bucked this trend last season with approximately 15,000 for the game.

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Congratulations to Robbie Findley for his win of the MLS Goal of the Week award, to go along with his player of the week award.  The goal was his second of two goals against Colorado last Saturday.  It came off of a nice long ball from Andy Williams.  Findley turned on the ball and saw GK Preston Burpo racing off his line.  With a quick reaction he popped the ball up for a "sombrero" of sorts that went just over and behind Burpo.  Findley then made a quick move to the left to sidestep Burpo who appeared ready to take Findley down.  Amazingly, he then caught the ball on it's descent with his left foot, easily finishing it into the empty net.

Findley finished the season as Real Salt Lake’s Golden Boot winner, and was tied for 3rd in the league with his 12 goals for the season. 

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A few thoughts from Columbus Crew head coach Robert Warzycha as he addressed the media today:

• He admitted that they let their foot off the gas a bit in the last couple of matches in the regular season as they were focused on Champions League play.
• He feels that the Crew will have to play their best game to beat RSL on Saturday.
• The speed of Movsisyan and Findley are a concern to his team. 

Thoughts from Crew defender, Frankie Hejduk:

• He's glad that his team was able to win the Supporters Shield this season, despite taking a very "different path" than the team went down last season.
• He feels that when it comes to the playoffs it's all about who gets on a hot streak.
• He admitted that the Crew haven't been clicking on all cylinders over the last few weeks, but hopes that they can find their form in this series. 
• He feels that RSL is an "extremely dangerous team".