Real Salt Lake continues it's journey in the 2013 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup when they host NASL side Carolina RailHawks at Rio Tinto Stadium on Wednesday night. The Claret and Cobalt will have their international players available for the match, but this will NOT be a walk in the park. Carolina currently lead the NASL and have only lost once in league play. RailHawks forward Brian Shriver has recently been named player of the week for the NASL and he leads the league in scoring with eight goals.
So with most of the players back in the fold, and with opposition stepped up a bit from the last Open Cup match, here are a few questions and issues that I'll be watching for at the RioT tomorrow night.
1. Rimando or Saunders?
Josh Saunders has been the man in net for RSL so far in the Open Cup run. Will that continue, or will we see Nick Rimando in goal tomorrow with a place in the Open Cup semis on the line? I personally think Josh has played rather well. Certainly neither of the goals scored by the Battery were on him in the last match. However, with injury issues on the back line, will Rimando get the call to help marshal the defense?
2. Will Aaron Maund get another run out at center back?
Jason Kreis did not argue with the assertion that Maund had a rough night against the Charleston Battery. However, with Kwame Watson-Siriboe out for the season and Chris Schuler still out, will RSL give Maund another shot in this one? After all, we have another league match at Toronto on Saturday and then a midweek clash with the surging Union a few days after. We could see Maund start next to Borchers, resting Salcedo for Saturday. It's not out of the realm that we could see Wingert at CB with Abdoulie Mansally or Lovell Palmer at FB. If Maund does get the start, would it be better to have Rimando in goal to help provide the youngster with more confidence?
3. Who will Kreis field up top?
I doubt we'll see Sabo since he played 90 minutes on Saturday vs Seattle. Ditto Robbie Findley, who played most of that match. Olmes Garcia came on in the second half, but my money is on Joao Plata and Devon Sandoval, neither of whom played this weekend. Devon has been a beast in Open Cup and truly deserves the start, in my opinion. Plata always deserves the chance as well, he is a great catalyst. It could be mighty interesting to see Garcia come on in the second half after the RailHawks have chased speedy little Plata around all match long. I do think we'll see Sabo in the 18 though, at least as a security blanket if things don't go well.
4. Can RSL come out with MLS energy and put the RailHawks away?
To me, this question could be crucial to our success over the next week or so. With a road trip to Canada ahead, the Claret and Cobalt do NOT want to be playing 120 minutes tomorrow night. If the team starts with the right mentality, coming out as they would against LA Galaxy or the Sounders, RSL should be able to put Carolina away. If they don't. the RailHawks are more than good enough to cause major problems and pull an upset.
So these are four questions that I think will greatly effect our chances of winning and advancing tomorrow night. RSL really could not have hoped for a kinder draw so far, getting all lower league opposition and getting them all at home. If the Claret and Cobalt win tomorrow night, they'll host the winner of Portland and Dallas in early August for the semi-finals.
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