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Borchers, RSL face Glax in today’s final
Former University of Denver and Colorado Rapids defender Nat Borchers will be playing in MLS Cup 2009 today in Seattle as his Real Salt Lake squad takes on the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Game time at Qwest Field is at 6:30 p.m. MT.
RSL defeated the Rapids 3-0 on the final day of the season to qualify for the the playoffs with an 11-12-7 record. Salt Lake will be facing David Beckham, 2009 Major League Soccer MVP Landon Donovan and the rest of the Glax, who had the best record in the Western Conference at 12-6-12.
Borchers has been a favorite of the Tanner family since his first start for the Rapids in 2003. It was bittersweet when he left the team to play professionally in Norway; we were excited for his career possibilities, but we were sad to see him leave.
However, there was no sweet, just bitter, when he was allocated to Real Salt Lake upon his return to MLS. The only positive was the chance to see him play (albeit with that team’s crest on his kit).
But my daughter, Sydney, remains a huge fan, so I’m sure I know which team she’ll be cheering for on Sunday.
Borchers recently spoke to the folks at DU about the experience of being in the finals against the Galaxy:
“We’re like the blue-collar team going up against the white-collar team. We’re excited to play a team like L.A., but we are also confident based on the way we’ve been playing heading into this game. We kind of backed our way into the playoffs, but when our backs were against wall, we seemed to play our best soccer.
“When it comes to playing at the level, every single game is important, and you always have to bring your best soccer. But in the playoffs, big-time players generally step up. We hope our big guys will step up again because we are looking to come home to Salt Lake with some hardware.”
Borchers was the only member of Real Salt Lake to start all 30 games this season, playing 2,679 of the team’s 2,700 minutes. He scored one goal.
Borchers, who started every game during his career at DU, was the Pioneers’ leading scorer in 2002, with six assists and 18 points. His offensive leadership and tenacious defense earned him the Player of the Year award in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
The Pueblo native was a three-time member of the All-MPSF squad, earning first-team honors twice and second-team accolades once. At East High School in Pueblo, Borchers was a member of the Club Colorado Select team and was a first team all-state honoree and the 1998 South Central Conference MVP.
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