Real Salt Lake got a much-needed result Saturday night, but for the players and coaches, it wasn't the one they wanted or the one they felt they deserved.

Nonetheless, considering RSL was on the verge of another loss until a Jason Kreis 89th minute header, a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls isn't all bad.

"It's great to get the goal from Jason, but to be perfectly honest, we're pretty disappointed with just a point," said Chris Klein, who delivered the cross that Kreis buried. "But we're not disappointed at all in the effort. I thought we were in control for most of the game, but we felt we should've had a victory tonight, but we're moving forward and I think we're making strides in the right direction."

It may be just one point, but for Real Salt Lake it sure beats starting the season out 0-3 after an offseason of major improvements and promises.

For the Red Bulls, it was their third straight tie to open the season, with two of them coming on the road.

In reality, New York is pretty fortunate to walk away with a tie. Even though RSL only enjoyed an 8-7 advantage on shots on goal, it was definitely the more dangerous team throughout the game, particularly with its 12-3 advantage on corner kicks.

"It's frustrating, because I thought we played well," said RSL coach John Ellinger. "We had possession, we cut down on our mistakes today, the effort was great."

Throughout the game, however, Salt Lake continued to squander those scoring chances thanks to some outstanding Tony Meola saves, and it nearly cost the team in its home opener in front of 16,132 fans at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

In the 77th minute, the Red Bulls went ahead against the run of play as Amado Guevara pounced on a rebounded shot by Edson Buddle. While Ellinger was disappointed with the defensive breakdown that led to the rebounded goal, the opportunity should've been snuffed out seconds earlier. A number of defenders and midfielders had an opportunity to close down Guevara before he played the ball into Buddle, but none of them did.

"It was another one of those soccer moments where you beat up on a team for 89 minutes and they end up with a goal and you walk away with a loss," said Kreis.

This time, Kreis had a slightly different ending for the script.

Upon entering the game in the 64th minute for Mehdi Ballouchy, Kreis noticed that New York's defenders weren't marking him too tightly on free kicks and corner kicks. That ineffective marking ultimately cost New York its first win of the season.

In the 89th minute, a New York foul about 10 yards from the corner flag gave RSL a free kick that essentially amounted to a corner kick. Klein whipped the ball in the box , and the loosely marked Kreis redirected the equalizer past a helpless Meola.

"With those you just want to drop it in a general area, and it's up to our guys to get to that spot," said Klein. "It's no secret that Jason Kreis has a nose for the goal. What is he, 5'7, 5'8, 5'9? I don't want to short him, but for him to get in there and get the goal, that's why he's the all-time leader in goals."

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With the score deadlocked at 1-1, neither team was out of the woods yet with four minutes of stoppage time.

New York nearly regained the lead in the 93rd minute, but RSL keeper Scott Garlick saved a point-blank shot by Thiago Martins. A minute later, and just seconds before the final whistle, Andy Williams played an unbelievable ball up the right sideline to Klein. The Salt Lake newcomer took two touches into the box but put the shot over the bar with Meola charging him hard.

RSL will try and secure its first victory of the season next Saturday when it travels to the Houston Dynamo, a team on a two-game losing streak after Saturday's away loss at D.C. United.


E-mail: jedward@desnews.com

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