Lowcountry success leads to MLS awards

Jason Kreis wasn't about to challenge the fickle soccer gods.

If winning a second straight MLS Cup required another extended stay in the Lowcountry to play in the Carolina Challenge Cup, then the coach of Real Salt Lake was all for it.

The seventh Carolina Challenge Cup will kick off today when Real Salt Lake takes on D.C. United at 5 p.m. at Blackbaud Stadium.

The Charleston Battery faces Toronto FC in the second game, which is expected to start around 7:15 p.m.

Five of the last six winners of the Carolina Challenge Cup have gone on to win the MLS Cup or the MLS Supporters Shield, given to the league's regular season champion.

"I don't think you can call it a coincidence any more," Kreis said with a smile. "One or twice you could shrug if off as nothing, but five out of six? That's got to be more than a coincidence. That's starting to be a trend. You'd think every team in the league would be at the Battery's door trying to get into this tournament"

Real Salt Lake won the event last year and Kreis said the team used it as a springboard to capture the franchise' first MLS Cup, beating the L.A. Galaxy in penalty kicks.

"You'd be hard pressed to convince me that this wasn't the start of things for us as a team," Kreis said. "We took a good bit of pride in winning the tournament last year. We want to be a team that every time we step on the field for a match we expect to win. I think that's the way you have to approach every game you play and that's the way we're going to approach it this week."

This will be the final tune-up for Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC and D.C. United before the MLS season openers, which are slated to being on March 27.

"We spent two weeks in Arizona on our first preseason trip and that was mostly about getting guys fit an working on the small things tog et the guys ready for the regular season," Kreis said. "Now, we're looking for more than that, we're looking for good soccer. We're looking for combinations and packages that we can put forward so we can get ready for the season. We need to get more out of this tournament than we did the two weeks we were in Arizona."

Meanwhile, the Battery has had less than a week to prepare for the tournament.

"This is normally the final week before the start of the MLS season, so the MLS teams are a lot further along than we are in their preseason preparation," Anhaueser said. "I know our players look forward to this tournament every season. You want to compete against the best teams and the best players to see how you match up."

The Battery will be without two key players in midfielder Mark Briggs and defender Colin Falvey, who are still playing in Malta and New Zealand respectively.

"We don't have everyone in camp right now," Anhaeuser said. "Mark and Colin are still playing, so there are going to be some young guys that will have an opportunity to get on the field and show us what they can do against a very high level of competition."