RSL captain Jason Kreis out for remainder of 2005 season
Kreis will travel to Dallas this weekend with Real Salt Lake, attending the expansion team's first-ever game at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, Sunday on ESPN2 at 12:00 p.m. MT. RSL faces FC Dallas, formerly known as the Dallas Burn, Kreis' team during his first nine seasons in MLS. Real Salt Lake was slated to be without Kreis for Sunday's game due to yellow card point accumulation following his caution during the team's 1-0 home loss to New England on September 3, while MF Andy Williams will also miss Sunday's game due to his 92+ minute red card received in the same game.
"While I am extremely disappointed to not be available to my Real Salt Lake teammates as we push for the fourth and final Western Conference playoff spot, I fully expect to come back for the 2006 MLS season quicker and stronger than ever," said Kreis, who re-injured the knee during a practice session last week. "I expect to meet with U.S. Soccer's top surgeon, Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, the week of September 26 to determine my medical course of action."
Dr. Mandelbaum is a world-renowned surgeon based in Los Angeles who has operated on a who's who of professional male and female U.S. soccer players, including Kreis' RSL teammate, Clint Mathis and U.S. Men's National Team standouts Chris Klein, Conor Casey and Joe-Max Moore, among others.
Kreis originally tore his left knee's ACL on August 13, 2003, as a member of the Dallas Burn, an injury which caused him to miss the remainder of the season (11 games). Kreis returned to MLS action on May 8, 2004, Dallas' fifth game of the season, a 1-3 loss to the visiting Los Angeles Galaxy. Kreis then started 19 of the team's next 25 games in 2004, scoring a total of five goals and assisting on two others before becoming the first-ever player in Real Salt Lake history. Ironically, Kreis' record 100th goal, scored during RSL's 2-4 loss at home against the Kansas City Wizards, came on August 13, 2005, exactly two years to the day of his original ACL tear.
"Jason's injury is an unfortunate setback to our captain and leading scorer," says Pastorino. "But if anyone can find the strength within himself to come back stronger in 2006 from an injury like this, it's Jason. We wish him a successful surgery and a speedy recovery."
GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN TO DECLARE SEPTEMBER YOUTH SOCCER MONTH: Utah Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. is joining Real Salt Lake and Utah Youth Soccer to officially declare September as "Youth Soccer Month" on Thursday, September 15 at 1:00 p.m. MT. RSL CEO Dean Howes, General Manager Steve Pastorino, RSL players, and UYSA President Leisa Vineyard will be a part of the ceremonial signing of the declaration at the new East State Capitol Complex building located behind the State Capitol. The declaration will be presented to soccer fans across the Wasatch Front during a special pre-game ceremony during the RSL-Columbus Crew game at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday, September 24. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. MT.
TARLEY JOINING MINNESOTA THUNDER IN LA: RSL FW Melvin Tarley joined his former team the USL First Division Minnesota Thunder in Los Angeles, Calif. Tuesday to prepare for tonight's 2005 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals against the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Home Depot Center at 9:00 p.m. MT. Tarley started and played 88 minutes in Minnesota's 3-1 win over the Kansas City Wizards on August 24, advancing the USL First Division squad to the Open Cup Semifinals. The 22-year old forward who stands at 6-1, 175, found the back of the net twice in the Thunder's 6-4 win over Real Salt Lake on July 13 and tallied all four Thunder goals in the team's 4-1 win over the Colorado Rapids on August 3.
BESAGNO WITH U-17 USMNT AT THE IMG ACADEMY: RSL MF Nikolas Besagno is with the U.S. U-17 Men's National Team in Peru for the 2005 FIFA Under-17 World Championship, which begins on Friday, Sept. 16 and ends on Sunday, Oct. 2. The U.S. opens the FIFA U-17 World Championship against North Korea (Korea DPR) on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 11:45 a.m. MT, before facing Italy on Tuesday, Sept. 20 (2:30 p.m. MT) and concludes group play on Friday, Sept. 23 (2:30 p.m. MT) against Ivory Coast. The U.S. will play their first two group matches against North Korea and Italy at Elias Aguirre Stadium in Chiclayo, before moving to Lima to face Ivory Coast at Nacional Stadium in their third and final group match. Every U.S. match at the World Youth Championship will be televised by Fox Soccer Channel.
Day Date Matchup Time (MT) TV Sat. Sept. 17 North Korea 1 p.m.* FSC Tues. Sept. 20 Italy 2:30 p.m. FSC Fri. Sept. 23 Ivory Coast 2:30 p.m. FSC*Tape Delayed
WILLIAMS HOSTS PRIVATE CLINIC COURTESY OF LENNOX: RSL MF Andy Williams hosted a private clinic for five exclusive fans yesterday to complete the Lennox Heating/Cooling promotion. Williams became the first RSL player to score on Rice-Eccles' north goal, also Major League Soccer's historic 5,000th goal, in RSL's 2-1 win over Chivas USA on August 6.
Lennox, Inc., distributors of residential and commercial heating and cooling systems and one of 37 Real Salt Lake corporate partners, declared that it would reward hundreds of lucky fans in attendance at upcoming Rice-Eccles Stadium Major League Soccer games when the first-ever goal is scored in the stadium's north end. During RSL's first nine regular-season and one exhibition home games, all 16 of the team's goals were scored at the "HOT" south goal, with none finding the back of the net at the "COLD" north goal.
2005 MLS PLAYOFF SCENARIOS - WEEK 25: Following last weekend's games, 10 of 12 MLS clubs are still fighting for the seven remaining spots in the 2005 MLS Cup Playoffs. The San Jose Earthquakes already own one of the four berths in the Western Conference and Chivas USA officially eliminated from contention following their 3-0 loss to the Quakes on Saturday, the upcoming weekend could determine other postseason berths.
The Eastern Conference-leading New England Revolution (51 points) could become the first Eastern team to lock up their place in an Eastern Conference Semifinal series with a win over the MetroStars (37 points) on Saturday. Expect more shuffling of positions in the East in the coming weeks, as the MetroStars win on Saturday over Kansas City Wizards closed the gap between second and fourth place to only seven points.
In the West, three out of the four spots could be locked up following the games of Week 25. The Los Angeles Galaxy need only a win on Saturday night over Kansas City to reach the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season. The Galaxy would become the only club in MLS history to advance to the postseason in each of the League's 10 seasons. FC Dallas could earn their first playoff appearance in three years with a win over Real Salt Lake on Sunday, Sept 18 at 12:00 p.m. MT, live on ESPN2. What follows are the scenarios in play ahead of weekend action on September 17:
New England Revolution can clinch a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs with:
(a) A win vs. the MetroStars
Los Angeles Galaxy can clinch a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs with:
(a) A win vs. the Kansas City Wizards
(b) Real Salt Lake loss vs. FC Dallas
(c) A tie vs. the Kansas City Wizards and a Real Salt Lake tie against FC Dallas
FC Dallas can clinch a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs with:
(a) A win vs. Real Salt Lake
2005 MLS CUP PLAYOFFS
At the end of the season four teams qualify from each conference and advance to the home-and-home, aggregate goal MLS Cup Conference Semifinals (No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3). The two teams left standing in each conference will meet in the single-elimination Conference Championships with the winners advancing to MLS Cup 2005 at Pizza Hut Park on Nov. 13 (live on ABC Sports at 3:30 p.m. ET).
Tickets for MLS Cup 2005 are currently only available through a random computerized drawing on www.MLSnet.com or www.FCDallas.net. Tickets will be made available to the general public in the first week of October.
