Real Salt Lake beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 after penalties in front of 46,011 at Qwest Stadium in Seattle. RSL finished their unlikely playoff run with a championship, working through the Eastern Conference after taking the final wildcard slot in the playoffs. On the way, they beat the regular season Eastern Conference and Western Conference champions.
Once again, the story for Real Salt Lake was goalkeeper Nick Rimando's play in the penalty stage. Rimando was named Most Valuable Player. "The underdog has a championship now," he told ESPN's Allen Hopkins. "We had our ups and downs, but this team believed and we're champions."
Mike Magee scored the game's first goal in the 41st minute from David Beckham and Landon Donovan. RSL equalized in the 64th-minute when Robbie Findley scored. Galaxy keeper Donovan Ricketts had to leave the game in the 66th-minute after injuring his right hand. Josh Saunders came on for Ricketts, his seventh game of the season and third as a substitute.
The Galaxy were forced to use two of their three substitutes due to injury, first for Ricketts and then their final substitution when Omar Gonzalez had to be taken off for AJ Delagarza. Salt Lake made an injury sub in the first-half, when Clint Mathis was brought on for Javier Morales. They used their final substitute in the 75th-minute when Yura Movsisyan ended his MLS run in favor of Fabian Espindola. The second-half injuries contributed to the seven minutes of added time.
With the overtime session not changing the score, Rimando faced his second set of penalties in two games. Once again, it was Rimando with the save, this time on Jovan Kirovski in the third round. This time, Saunders matched him saving RSL captain Kyle Beckerman's shot.
LA captain Landon Donovan put his attempt over the bar to start the fourth round. Eastern Conference final hero Nick Grabavoy converted to give Salt Lake the lead. Mike Magee converted to start the fifth round, setting up Andy Williams for the potential Salt Lake winner. Saunders held up again, saving the shot.
Round six of penalties, and Chris Klein converted for LA. Chris Wingert beat Rimando to send it to the 7th round. Rimando saved Edson Buddle's shot, for another potential game-winner for RSL. Robbie Russell stepped up for RSL and sent Saunders the wrong way, winning the 2009 MLS Cup for Real Salt Lake.
