SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 Sports) - After qualifying for the postseason on the final weekend of the regular season, Real Salt Lake will begin its second consecutive trip to the MLS Cup Playoffs this Saturday, October 31, when they host the defending MLS Cup Champion Columbus Crew in Leg One of their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series.
Following Saturday’s first leg, the two squads will head to the Buckeye State next Thursday, Nov. 5, to square off in Leg Two of the semifinal series, slated for a 5:30 p.m. MT start (live on ESPN2) at Columbus Crew Stadium in Ohio’s capital city.
If the home-and-home series between Real Salt Lake and Columbus follows the script from their two regular season meetings in 2009, fans can expect an entertaining Eastern Conference Semifinal Series over the next two weeks. The two sides first met in Real Salt Lake’s home opener back on April 2, when FW Robbie Findley’s historic hat trick – the first in regular season play for an RSL player – spurred the Utahns on to a 4-1 triumph. The Crew would get their revenge on July 18, as the defending champs scored three unanswered before the hour mark to post a 3-1 victory at Crew Stadium.
Real Salt Lake announced Monday that forward Robbie Findley was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 32, the final week of the League’s 2009 regular season. Findley scored two goals last Saturday night in RSL’s 3-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids at Rio Tinto Stadium, a result that clinched a playoff spot for the Utah side for the second straight year. Findley’s brace on Saturday night gave the Phoenix-native a new single-season high of 12 goals, eclipsing the mark of eight set during his rookie season in 2007. The dozen tallies also earned Findley his second RSL Golden Boot award as the team’s scoring leader and put him in a five-way tie for third place in the chase for the League’s scoring title.
