updated 2:26 a.m. ET Oct. 30, 2011
SANDY, UTAH - Real Salt Lake appears to have rediscovered its dominance at the right time.
Alvaro Saborio scored two goals to lift Salt Lake to a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders in the first leg of their Western Conference semifinals series Saturday night.
Salt Lake did not allow a single shot on goal through 90 minutes, and Ned Grabavoy tacked on a late goal to give Salt Lake a three-goal advantage going into the second and final leg of the series on Wednesday.
"We wanted to make a 90-plus effort tonight," Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "We know we get our offensive chances when we play good defense."
Salt Lake controlled possession and pressed the attack throughout much of the first half. The aggressive play resulted in some early scoring chances.
Saborio finally took advantage in the 42nd minute. With goalkeeper Kasey Keller out of position, Saborio took a pass from Chris Wingert and tapped the ball across the line.
Saborio came up big again in the 53rd minute. He took a pass from Javier Morales after a throw-in and flicked the ball around Seattle defender Jeff Parke with his back heel and sent it into the net.
"I'm so happy he put himself in the right spot," Wingert said. "He's a guy that can step up like that and score a couple of goals like that in big games."
Grabavoy capped off the scoring in the 89th minute when he tracked down a poorly cleared ball, shook off a defender and slotted the ball inside the right post.
It represented the most complete effort in all facets of the game that Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis has seen from his team in several months. Kreis felt particularly pleased with how well the team shut down Seattle's potent offense.
"We're all going to walk away from here feeling really good about the soccer that was played and the passes and the effective passing in the box," Kreis said. "But I'm going to walk away feeling very proud about what the guys put into it defensively. We know inside our locker room that our attacking abilities and our pretty soccer comes from working hard defensively."
There were doubts that Salt Lake could regain the dominant form it showed early in the season after failing win over the final two months of the regular season. No one in the locker room felt surprised at the outcome. Salt Lake had all of its best players healthy and playing together for the first time in several months.
With the roster back to normal, Salt Lake is ready to prove it can be an MLS title contender once again.
"This is a veteran group," Grabavoy said. "I thought the light would turn on."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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