2009 Game 2: Crew vs. RSL: Beatdown Supreme

Hmmm... So was game 1 just an "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" situation or something? Because this looked like a completely different team out there this week. RSL looked energetic, they pushed the action, and, most importantly, finished some chances. Hopefully RSL can build on this one and go on a *gasp* early season winning streak!

First half grade: B+
RSL certainly started off with a bang, when about 1:30 in, Will Johnson hit a blistering free kick from about 30 yards that Will Hesmer just parried away. The ball dropped right to Robbie Findley who put it away for an early 1-0 lead. I like the move of letting someone other than Javi take a kick every now and then, and it certainly showed it can pay dividends here. Columbus seemed to take control soon after, culminating in a Jason Garey goal in the 22nd on a classic RSL scrambling-nonsense defensive play. Momentum swung back to RSL 7 minutes later when Columbus keeper Hesmer inexplicably kicked a clearance directly into Robbie Findley at the top of the box. Findley collected the ball, calmly ran around Hesmer, and neatly tucked the ball away. 2-1 RSL. RSL played fairly strongly the rest of the half and took that lead into halftime.

Second half grade: A+
Wow. RSL basically laid 45 minutes of complete domination down on Columbus this half, and it showed with RSL scoring 2 more (and if Yura could finish, it would have been about 4 more). In the 62nd, Yura and Robbie proved that they CAN work as a unit with Yura taking a ball out wide left of the box and playing a gorgeous cross in to Robbie in the box. Findley then hit an equally gorgeous header into the bottom left corner of the goal. 3-1. Just five minutes later, Kyle Beckerman opened his scoring account for the season, rifling a header (off a Mathis corner) past Hesmer and into the net for a 4-1 lead. Findley was then pulled soon after, to a standing ovation from the home fans, or else I'm convinced he would have gotten a 4th. RSL nearly struck again a few times, but the Columbus D held for the last 20 minutes and RSL won going away, 4-1.

Full game grade: A
A very VERY solid home opener for the reds, which hopefully portends good things to come. Even with Columbus missing Hejduk, they still are a good team, last year's champions, and RSL took it to them. Well done.

Positional Grades:
Defense: B-
Midfield: A
Forwards: A-

Player Grades:
Nick Rimando-6 Caught a bit out of position on the goal, but otherwise made good decisions.
Tony Beltran-6 MUCH improved over last week's disaster.
Nat Borchers-7 Solid in the back.
Jamison Olave-6 Made some big plays, but showed his careless/lazy side quite a bit in that first half.
Chris Wingert-6 Struggled at times, but overall ok.
Clint Mathis-8 Another stellar game from Clint. Where was this last year (and in 05)?
(Ned Grabavoy 75)-6 Did well in limited time, should have an assist, but Yura was busy at Grand Suck-tral Station.
Kyle Beckerman-7 One of KB's better games in a while. Maybe he should go on ESPN.com more often?
Javier Morales-6 Quiet game but made the plays when needed.
(Jean Alexandre 85)-6 Didn't have a lot of time, but looked energetic.
Will Johnson-7 The early free kick (that led to the RF goal) was a doozy.
Robbie Findley-9 Made the most of his chances and was rewarded with RSL's first hat trick! Awesome!
(Andy Williams 70)-6 Decent in a brief stint.
Yura Movsisyan-5 Bonus point for the assist, but he has got to work on his finishing. He missed another 2 or 3 this game that a drunk monkey would've scored on.

Coach grade (Kreis)-7 Kept his team on the attack and with the right mentality. Nice to see RSL not let up, even with a 3 goal lead.
Ref grade (Prus)-7 RR whipping boy Alex Prus apparently got some contacts or something. Certainly wasn't perfect (although for him it may have been), but a decent job all around.

RSL Man of the Match-Robbie Findley
Gee...that was a tough decision...

Assclown of the Match-Alex Prus
For making me eat my words (see the Ref grade section). The bastard.

Pros:
+Robbie Findley comes alive.
+Is Clint for real? Finally?
+RSL gets a nice win over a solid team.

Cons:
-Weather, increased ticket prices, poor marketing, a Thursday game, and some community apathy lead to a horribly small crowd.
-Yura still can't finish, even the easy ones.

What we learned:
1) RSL may just be a team to be reckoned with after all.
2) Columbus needs Hejduk to have a chance.
3) Luis Miguel Escalada may not be with the team much longer. I know he is coming off and injury and was listed as questionable, but it's a bit surprising Jason didn't give him even 5 or 10 minutes of garbage time late.

And now, up next for RSL: The beauty, the pageantry, the wonder...The Ben Cup 2009. Kicking off April 11th in Sandy, UT! YES!