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Sounders-Real Salt Lake Preview

Apr 9, 2010 - 9:00 PM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Seattle (1-1-0) at Real Salt Lake (1-1-0), 9:00 p.m. EDT

Real Salt Lake barely made the playoffs and was an unlikely MLS Cup winner in 2009. Its last game didn't help its hopes of avoiding another underwhelming regular season.

After a tough loss, Salt Lake faces the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night in its first game at Rio Tinto Stadium since winning the title.

RSL went 11-12-7 last season, just beating out Colorado and D.C. for the league's eighth and final playoff spot. Real, though, went on to upset Los Angeles in the MLS Cup on Seattle's Qwest Field.

Salt Lake (1-1-0) opened this season with a 3-0 win over San Jose on March 27 before losing 2-1 against Houston on April 1.

Real now heads home, where it went 9-5-1 last season. Prior to kickoff, RSL will unveil its championship banner.

Strong midfield play is crucial for Real, with captain Kyle Beckerman leading the group. His contract was extended through the 2013 season Thursday.

The three-time All-Star has 19 goals and 26 assists in 83 starts.

"I'm very happy here - the team, the community, the organization," said Beckerman, in his third season with Salt Lake. "I think that since we started coming together in the last couple of years, we've had something special going on here, even before we won the Cup. And now I really think we have something even more special going, and I want to be a part of it."

Beckerman, Will Johnson and Ned Grabavoy are Real's top midfielders.

Seattle (1-1-0) boasts a strong group of its own, led by Osvaldo Alonso and Brad Evans. They may be asked to be more aggressive offensively following the loss of forward Nate Jaqua.

Jaqua underwent surgery Wednesday for a lower abdominal fascial repair and is expected to miss at least four weeks. Jaqua started 27 games last season, setting career highs with nine goals and seven assists.

His absence will put even more of the scoring burden on 22-year-old forward Fredy Montero, the 2009 MLS newcomer of the year. He finished third in the league with 12 goals and four game-winners last season, and had one in Seattle's 2-0 victory over Philadelphia on March 25.

The Sounders struggled offensively last Saturday night, losing 1-0 to New York. Seattle surrendered its first goal of the season after giving up 29 last year, tying Houston for first in the league.

The Sounders allowed one goal to RSL in two matchups last season, but it came in Real's 1-0 victory Aug. 8. Seattle beat Salt Lake 2-0 on March 28, 2009.