For a team fresh off its long-awaited first win of the season, a 10-day layoff hardly seems like a good thing. Under normal circumstances, Real Salt Lake would be preparing for a match today, but instead it must wait four more days before hosting Toronto FC on July 4.
Even though virtually everyone wants to get back on the pitch ASAP, the players are finding subtle positives in the layoff.
"For me personally, it gives me a little more time to get my fitness back," said RSL midfielder Carey Talley, who played 90 minutes last weekend in his first match back after suffering a leg stress facture. "So for me it's good."
Plus, who doesn't like to have the occasional Saturday night off?
Robbie Findley — hero of the D.C. United triumph — he gets a full weekend to scope out Salt Lake City apartments in hopes of finding a place to live.
Earlier in the week, coach Jason Kreis took advantage of the extra time off to have a team-bonding moment in the mountains. Instead of practicing on Thursday the team visited Sundance ski resort, with everyone hiking down the mountain after taking the chairlift to the top.
Kreis said it was a good opportunity for everyone to take their mind off soccer and enjoy the relatively cool mountain air.
ROSTER SHAKE-UP: It isn't the designated player signing fans were hoping for, but Real Salt Lake made a minor transaction Thursday.
RSL placed midfielder Duke Hashimoto on the season-ending injured list, and replaced him by signing goalkeeper Matt Wideman to a developmental contract. Hashimoto injured his left ACL in practice last week, and had successful surgery on Thursday to repair the tear.
Wideman spent four years at SMU, completing his senior season last fall. He will serve as the team's third goalkeeper while Chris Seitz is away participating in the Under-20 World Cup in Canada.
Hashimoto and Wideman were teammates at SMU for three years.
RSL has one more vacancy on its 28-man roster, which is a senior roster spot, and the team has over $350,000 in salary cap space.
SETTLING IN: When Findley first found out he'd been traded to Real Salt Lake last Wednesday, he admits being stunned.
But the MLS rookie said he tried to block out all the distractions associated with the trade and just focus on soccer last weekend. The result was a two-goal performance that helped RSL win its first game of the year.
"It was tough, but I tried to just stay calm and leave all that other stuff for after the game, not let it worry me," said the soft-spoken Findley.
All that other stuff, like returning to Southern California, packing up his belongings and having his car shipped to Utah, he took care of this past Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Through it all, the fact he made such a great first impression on his new team has helped ease the potential stress of the transition.
"To be able to come here and do that helped me out a lot mentally, and it was good to be a part of their first win," Findley said.
Ironically enough, it wasn't the first time Findley enjoyed success in Utah. Playing with the Boulder Rapids Reserves each of the past two summers in the Premiere Development League, Findley scored twice in two games at BYU in 2005, and then scored another goal in a 2006 visit to Provo.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com