RSL drops to V-Varen Nagasaki, 3-1, in Pacific Rim Cup final

Real Salt Lake dropped the result in their second preseason match — the Pacific Rim Cup final against J2 League side V-Varen Nagasaki. After a rough outing by the Utah side, the game ended in a 3-1 victory for Nagasaki.

Petke fielded a veteran-heavy lineup to start the final Pacific Rim Cup game, featuring players such as Albert Rusnak at center attacking midfield, Kyle Beckerman next to Nick Besler at holding mid, and Brooks Lennon, Nedum Onuoha, and Aaron Herrera across the back line.

Complementing those vets were names like newly-signed striker Sam Johnson and homegrown Erik Holt at center back.

After a couple big saves from ‘keeper Andrew Putna and some last-minute defensive work from Corey Baird, RSL gave up the first goal as Nagasaki opened the scoring in the 20th minute, getting things going early with a 1-0 lead.

Nagasaki struck again after Putna made a save on one shot, but they were able to collect the rebound and put it past him to double their lead, putting RSL in a worse spot in the first half.

Real Salt Lake went into the halftime break with a deficit after a rough first half, trailing the J2 League side by a score of 2-0.

The 63rd minute saw a nearly full lineup change, as is expected to happen in most preseason games. The new lineup saw mostly new and young guys, including Julian Vazquez, Kalen Ryden, Justin Portillo, Maikel Chang, and 2019 draft pick Kyle Coffee. Nick Besler also stayed in the game but moved to center back, where he was featured for a number of games last season.

RSL pulled one back in the 84th minute with an absolute rocket from youngster Julian Vazquez, putting them right back in the game with a 2-1 score line.

Unfortunately, Nagasaki grabbed another one immediately after RSL’s goal in the 85th minute, going right back up by two with a score of 3-1, and that’s how the game would end.

Real Salt Lake moves on to Arizona for the third and final leg of their preseason, where they’ll take on the New York Red Bull sin their next preseason matchup.