Man of the Match: Nick Rimando

It is almost expected that Nick Rimando will have a great showing in the first game of the season. It seems like every year, he is the most prepared to play from the get go and the game against Toronto FC was no exception.

Nick Rimando gave the RioT something to cheer about a few times on the day and the oft repeated “Nick Rimando” chant rang out a couple times. He had three saves on the night, two of which were nothing short of world class. His save against Jozy Alitore early on before RSL was able to get its footing prevented the game from getting ugly early.

Rimando committed a penalty on Sebastian Giovinco in the second half that could very well have put the game away in a match where shots on goal were not coming easy for either team. After some protest to the ref, he took the situation into his own hands and dove right to make the save sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Were it not for Rimando, RSL would likely have lost their first game of 2017. As he has done many times before, Rimando did more than his part to earn RSL a valuable point against the 2016 MLS Cup finalists.