America First Field, Sandy, UT – Real Salt Lake brings some young talent to the pitch this season and it was RSL academy product Aiden Herzarkani and veteran Ariath Piol that put RSL on top of the Seattle Sounders and Christian Rodan’s lone goal for a win in their home opener. Herzarkani struck early with a strike in the 23rd minute. The tally was added to by Ariath Piol in just the 47th minute of the second half in what would be the game winner for the Claret and Cobalt. Christian Roldan pulled one back in the 63rd minute but it was not enough as both clubs end the night with matching 1-1 records and 3 points.
The first half was all Seattle on the stat sheet but all RSL defending. Rafael Cabral was a force in the box making save after save. When Aiden Herzankhani scored in the 23rd minute the club was energized and there were a number of chances that the home club just could not capitalize on. If it wasn’t for Rafael Cabral coming up big time after time the first half would not have been quite as exciting. Seventeen year old Luca Moisa put in a great first half and showed some of what we have to look forward to with his placement of a corner kick. All of the youth added to the roster that played this week put on a great performance. When Diego Luna returns to play we can look forward to some great team play.
With the start of the second half there was a sense of owning the match in the crowd and when Ariath Piol doubled the lead it was starting to feel like Real Salt Lake was in control of the match. But you can never count the Sounders out by the middle of the second half RSL lagged in the number of corner kicks with the visitors already having 7 set pieces from the corner. It just felt more and more ominous and Christian Roldan put away the 8th corner from Albert Rusnak in the 63rd minute. The goal seemed to renew Seattle’s energy and they pushed and pushed until the final whistle but couldn’t complete the comback and will have to head home with their first loss of the young season.
Luca Moisa makes his home debut for RSL, the 17 year old RSL academy product is poised to have an impact now that he is on the pitch for the first team. We got our first glimpse of the expanded seating in the north end of the stadium as the Claret and Cobalt get ready to host Miami and Lionel Messi in April. Next up for Real Salt Lake is a trip to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to visit Atlanta United FC next Saturday March 7.
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 1 2
Seattle Sounders 0 1 1
Scoring Summary
RSL – Aiden Herzarkhani – 23′
RSL – Ariath Piol – 47′
SEA – Christian Roldan – 63′
Misconduct Summary
RSL – Philip Quinton – 6′ – foul
SEA – Hassani Dotson – 10′ – foul
RSL – Zavier Gozo – 60′ – foul
RSL – Dominik Marczuk – 90’+2′ – foul
Officials
Referee: Tori Penso
Assistant Referee: Walt Heatherly
Assistant Referee: Eduardo Jeff
4th Official: Allen Chapman
Video Assistant Referee: Younes Marrakchi
AVAR: Robert Schaap
Attendence: 20,660
Lineups
Real Salt Lake: Raphael Cabral; Lukas Engel (Sam Junqua, 61′); Justen Glad; Philip Quinton; Juan Sanabria; Noel Caliskan; Luca Moisa (Pablo Ruiz, 61′); Zavier Gozo; Zach Booth (Sergi Solans, 72′); Ariath Piol (Dominik Marczuk, 82′); Aiden Herzarkhani (Morgan Guilavogui, 72′)
Substitutes Not Used: Mason Stajduhar; Griffon Dillon; Alex Katranis; Ruben Mesalles
Head Coach: Pablo Mastroeni
Seattle Sounders: Andrew Thomas; Nouhou; Jackson Ragen; Yeimar Gomez-Andrade (Kalani Kossa-Reinzi, 59′); Alex Roldan; Christian Roldan; Hassani Dotson (Paul Arriola, 81′); Jesus Ferreria (Snyder Brunell, 59′); Albert Rusnak (Nikola Petkovic, 90′); Paul Rothrock; Osaze De Rosario (Danny Musovski, 59′)
Substitutes Not Used: Stefan Frei; Cody Baker; Sebastian Gomez; Antino Lopez
Head Coach: Brian Schmetzer
Tags: Major League Soccer, MLS, Real Salt Lake, RSL, Seattle Sounders, Soccer