Goalkeeper Nick Rimando has not featured for Real Salt Lake for the last month. In fact, his last game for the club was back in June. Hence, many were sceptical about the chances of Rimando helping the club, who were on a bad run of form. The team was coming into the weekend’s match against Colorado Rapids on the back of two consecutive defeats in the league. This has eroded the lead they have had in the table. Even though Rimando was unable to see his team win against Colorado Rapids, Rimando produced one of the impressive performances in the Real Salt Lake jersey.
This earned the praise of his manager and teammates alike. The club managed a 2-2 draw with Colorado Rapids, but they could have easily lost the match had it not been for the reflexes of Rimando. He produced several stunning saves over the match to give his team at least a point from the encounter. Grabavoy gave the lead for Real Salt Lake after just 2 min, but they were not able to hold on to the lead for much longer because of Brown’s equaliser in the ninth minute. Castrillón’s 71st minute goal then cancelled out the penalty from Saborío in the 21st minute.
“Stunning, absolutely stunning. He continues what I think is easily, hands down, the best year of his entire playing career. Without Nick Rimando in that game, I think we lose it,” said Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis. “Yes, we didn’t win the Rocky Mountain Cup, and that means a lot to the fans, but we got a result. We are still ahead of Colorado in the standings, and most important, we got to keep our confidence up and very important game on Wednesday,” said the 34-year-old goalkeeper after the Colorado Rapids match.