Player of the Match: RSL vs. Portland

Another match where a draw feels like a win. On the road in Portland is often a hard place to play, and walking away with a point after losing to a team that was playing it’s 4th match EVER, and getting absolutely destroyed in New York, well, it feels like a win.

There were some great individual efforts on the night. Zac MacMath bounced back and had five nice saves. Justen Glad was solid and very welcome to have back on the field. Pablo Ruiz did a much better job in the middle. Everton Luiz was back in better form. It was nice to have Herrera playing well. Chang was solid as well.

So, who deserves the nod for the player of the match? I was thinking about giving the nod to Sergio Cordova. While he is still not finding the back of the net, his 7 aerials won were huge on the night! He ran the field as a 10 and helped on both ends of the field. He was by far the most statistically on point player for RSL, and yet, we failed to control the ball during the match and we didn’t make the connection with any goals.

Portland had the ball over 65% of the time. They had 15 shots, and yet, the defense, which was so shaky against New York, held strong. I am giving the nod to Justin Glad as the player of the match - and not just for his play, since others outshone him in various areas. I am giving him the nod for the steady presence he brought, the leadership, and the return of a stingy defense.

Justen Glad showed how valuable he is to our back line, and so, he takes the nod this match.