Thursday was a rough game. For the first 15 minutes, RSL appeared to be stuck in second gear. When it finally got up to game speed, the game was mired down by some chippy play and a Santa Tecla team doing everything it could to gum up RSL in hopes of a spoiler on the home team's field, and perhaps a chance at staying in the hunt for the CONCACAF Champion's League playoffs.
The second half started the way the first ended, a bit bewildering. RSL clearly controlled the game but couldn't score. Santa Tecla was playing a brand of rough-and-tumble soccer RSL was not used to. The visitors scored in the 62nd minute and that's when Jeff Cassar went to his stars. Within 15 minutes, Juan Manuel Martinez, Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales had settled the game and put RSL up by a goal. The game ended 2-1. RSL now sits with 7 points and an opportunity to advance out of group play with a draw or victory against Deportivo Municipal on Oct. 20.
Here are the player grades:
Jeff Attinella (GK), 7, showed some of his best distribution Thursday night, using his strong arm to put balls right in stride around midfield on several counterattacks. He didn't have much to do in the way of saves as the RSL backline did well keeping Santa Tecla from building out of the midfield. But he was left lacking in the 62nd minute, when Santa Tecla's Irvin Herrera outhustled the RSL defense to slip a shot through Attinella's legs to scare RSL with the first goal of the game.
Abdoulie Mansally (DEF), 8, was really no match athletically for Santa Tecla. His speed and physicality gave RSL a great attacking presence down the left side. The second half seemed to be a slug-fest between Mansally as he took on all comers. Mansally was the last man standing in defense of RSL's win.
Elias Vasquez (DEF), 7, is fast becoming known for his hard-nosed style of play. He gave no quarter Thursday night against a surprisingly quick Santa Tecla attack. Vasquez earned a yellow card midway through the first half for a potentially goal-saving takedown just outside the box as he took on a lone Santa Tecla attacker after Abdoulie Mansally slipped and left his man unmarked. He did fail to pick up streaking Santa Tecla striker Herrera in the 62nd minute and ended up leaving Attinella out to dry.
Aaron Maund (DEF), 8, seemed to be in the middle of everything Thursday night. Santa Tecla, for the most part, attacked RSL centrally when they made it into the final third of the field, and Maund held his ground well. He was particularly good in the air against the much smaller Santa Tecla front line.
Tony Beltran (DEF), 9, was absolute class Thursday night coming up the right wing. He seemed a man among boys. Beltran was excellent on defense, but he was most potent in the attack through the midfield and into Santa Tecla's flank to send balls wide for Luis Gil to work into the box from wide or to the feet of Olmes Garcia.
Luke Mulholland (MID), 9, was sent to the ground roughly early in the game and stood up with a "so it's gonna be like that?" look. From that point on he dominated Santa Tecla in the midfield with physical challenges and excellent positioning.
Luis Gil (MID), 8, was effective in the attacking central mid position, particularly with diagonal balls out of the middle to his wing forwards. He also added a nice defensive presence that helped RSL control the midfield.
Pecka (MID), 4, struggled to make much of a contribution in a rare start Thursday night. He took the majority of the first half to settle into his defensive midfield position, and while he was able to link up with Sebastian Jaime and Luis Gil on the attack, the lack of organization and discipline was one reason RSL couldn't find much rhythm Thursday night. He was subbed out in place of Javier Morales in the 65th minute.
Javier Morales (MID) (SUB '65), 9, came on for Pecka, sending Luis Gil out wide. His first touch was a free kick from 30 yards out. While it didn't end up in the net, the quality was good and seemed to start building the momentum RSL needed to finish out the game. His perfectly weighted 74th-minute cross from 35 yards out fell right to Olmes Garcia's head, and he pinged home the game-tying goal. He earned his second assist of the night when he connected with Juan Angel Martinez for RSL's second goal in the 77th minute.
Kyle Beckerman (MID) (SUB '66), 8, came on for Luke Mullholland and immediately had an impact as he both settled his team, and was immune to Santa Tecla's theatricals in the midfield. But it was his ability to provide that final link with the attack in the form of Javier Morales and Juan Angel Martinez that made the biggest difference.
Sebastian Jaime (FWD), 7, outclassed the Santa Tecla defense all night long, but he allowed them to get into his head with their physical play. It threw off the Argentine striker enough to keep him from using his class to his advantage.
Olmes Garcia (FWD), 8, fed off Joao Plata's energy early on. He was happy to take on defenders one on one and earned a handful of very well positioned free kicks around the goal in addition to playing stiff defense in the final third of the field. Garcia had two goals called back, but his header in the 74th minute was textbook, and gave RSL the goal they needed to keep Santa Tecla honest through the end of the game.
Joao Plata (FWD), 7, showed the most life early on for RSL. His energy started to rub off on the boys, and by the 15th minute the game started to flow. Gil was indicative of RSL's game, Thursday. Doing pretty much everything right until they made it into the final third. His 53rd minute charge into the box with the ball may be most demonstrative of this. Rather than passing to a wide open Luis Gil to his right, he went for the shot while falling down and put the ball right in the keeper's hands. His play improved tremendously the minute Morales and Martinez entered the game.
Juan Manuel Martinez (FWD) (SUB 72'), 8, is quickly building a rapport with fellow Argentine, Javier Morales that has not been seen at RSL. The two seem as though they've played together all their lives. Reading each other's body language and positioning perfectly. And El Burrito is turning into the scoring threat RSL has lacked this season. His one-two play with Morales in the 77th minute put Martinez in perfect position mid-box to get a difficult knuckle shot off to clear Santa Tecla 'keeper Juan Trinidad to put RSL on top.
Chris Higbee is a former General Manager of DeseretNews.com and continues to write about soccer and the arts.