Andy Williams struck again.
The Real Salt Lake midfielder has had a penchant for scoring memorable and timely goals in his three-year career in Utah, and Wednesday night's goal from 50 yards out fit both criteria.
Not only did it seal RSL's 3-1 victory when Kansas City seemed poised to spoil it, but it was a goal few RSL fans in attendance will ever forget.
"At the reserve game two weeks ago, he scored two that were better than that," said Real coach Jason Kreis. "He's the type of player that can turn things around on a dime, and we love to see more of that."
As always, Williams downplayed the goal. The 85th-minute tally was his second memorable strike against Kansas City. Back in April, Williams scored from distance in overtime as RSL beat the Wizards 2-1 in a U.S. Open Cup qualifying match.
Williams started the game on the bench Wednesday to make way for the debut of Argentine midfielder Javier Morales. Williams entered the game at halftime but only because Morales aggravated a shoulder injury.
PLAYING IT SAFE: RSL defender Eddie Pope was replaced in the 55th minute Wednesday by Chris Wingert, but it had nothing to do with an injury.
Fresh off a 90-minute performance last Sunday, and with the prospects of Pope playing 90 minutes again Saturday at the L.A. Galaxy, Kreis decided to rest his star defender for the final 35 minutes against the Wizards.
"At 33, three games in seven days is a lot," said Pope. "I came off to take it easy because I definitely want to play this weekend."
The substitution put an end to eight straight 90-minute outings for Pope. The veteran defender, who's announced he's retiring at the end of the season, has started all 20 games this year and played 90 minutes in 17 of those matches.
CORNER KICK MADNESS: Entering the 2007 season, Real Salt Lake had scored just one goal off of a corner kick in two years. On Wednesday, newcomer Matias Mantilla helped double that output by volleying in a first-minute corner kick.
It was RSL's second goal off a corner kick this year, the other courtesy of Chris Brown on June 18 against the Galaxy at the Home Depot Center. Prior to Brown's goal, Real had gone an estimated 250 corner kicks since Pope scored on a corner kick in early 2005.
MISSED A THRILLER: It's not really surprising that Real Salt Lake played in front of the smallest crowd ever for an MLS regular season game at Rice-Eccles Stadium. After all, attendance is rarely good for midweek games, especially for teams with no hope of making the playoffs.
It's too bad though, because the fans who decided to stay home might've missed RSL's breakout performance of 2007. Only 11,721 fans were on hand to see the upset victory.
Real's previous lowest crowd was against Kansas City as well. That match back on Aug. 13, 2005 only drew 12,305 fans.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com