SANDY, Utah -- Javier Morales produced one of those moments that make a soccer stadium opening memorable.
With Real Salt Lake trailing New York by a goal in the first-ever match at Rio Tinto Stadium, Morales found defender Jamison Olave for the equalizing goal just before the first half drew to a close.
In getting the assist -- his 15th in an RSL uniform -- Morales surpassed teammate Andy Williams to set a new club record. But the milestone felt somewhat hollow to the midfielder when RSL failed to follow up with another goal and spoiled its debut at its new home with a 1-1 draw on Thursday night.
"I would have been happier if we had won and I had not gotten the assist," Morales said.
For RSL, Thursday's match against the Red Bulls left a bunch of what-ifs for the club to ponder.
What if they had come out sharper from the beginning in the first half? What if they had defended corner kicks better and not allowed New York to create so many scoring chances off that one set piece? What if they had put more shots on frame in the second half when they so desperately needed a goal?
The main positive Real can draw from a flat showing at home is that the club at least managed to snag one point instead of none.
"If we would have lost this game tonight, I don't know what I would have done with myself -- but it wouldn't have been good," midfielder Will Johnson said. New York secured the honor of scoring the first-ever goal inside Rio Tinto Stadium. The Red Bulls marched out to a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute when Dave van den Bergh capitalized on a corner kick.
Seth Stammler put his header right on target after the ball swung into the box, just beating Nick Rimando's dive. Kyle Beckerman had perfectly position to head it off the line. He did so, but sent it right to van den Bergh.
From there, the Red Bulls midfielder rocketed a full-blooded drive on the rebound and sent the ball zooming into the back of the net.
RSL answered with the tying goal by Jamison Olave in the 42nd minute. Morales swung a corner kick toward the center of the area. The ball took a bounce and Olave got his right foot onto it and looped it over Conway and into the back of the net.
Real had plenty of chances to go ahead in the second half, but never seriously threatened to score -- even when New York was down a man in the final minutes of the match when Juan Pietravallo was ejected with a red card in the 83rd minute. RSL head coach Jason Kreis attributed his team's offensive struggles to a general nervousness when they had possession.
He felt like, in a lot of ways, they let themselves get distracted by all the hoopla surrounding the opening of Rio Tinto Stadium.
"My single biggest fear about this match was ourselves and how we would deal with everything that goes into this night," Kreis said.
Coming up a couple points short felt like a punch in the gut to a lot of the players who felt like the fans that turned out to see the match deserved better. Beckerman said he thought RSL had played one of its worst games of the year and the club can't disappoint its fans like that the next time out.
"We got to get a win," Beckerman said. "These fans deserve it here with this atmosphere and this stadium. We'll just keep at it, I guess."
The win isn't just crucial to the fans, but it might be essential to whatever playoff hopes remain for RSL after this weekend. Real have 36 points already, but more likely than not will need three points in their home finale against FC Dallas next Saturday.
"We just have to bear down and focus on the fact we've got to play better soccer next week," Kreis said. "Hopefully all the nerves and the adjustments will be out of us by then and we can just focus on playing good soccer."
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