Clint Mathis first stepped onto the national stage as a high-scoring striker for the University of South Carolina. More than a decade later, the former two-time All-American made the most of his return to the Palmetto State.
Mathis scored two goals during the Carolina Challenge Cup, including the game-winner Saturday night against Toronto FC in a 2-1 victory, as Real Salt Lake swept the week-long event and took home tournament title.
"It was great to come back to where it all kind of started for me," Mathis said. "I got to see some family and friends and get a couple of goals. Hopefully those goals will carry over into the regular season.
"I feel good. I'm still trying to get fit from my knee surgery, but I feel good, younger than I have in a number of years. It was good to play against competition like this with the regular season coming up."
Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis knows he'll need the same kind of effort out of Mathis during the regular season if the team wants to return to the MLS Cup Playoffs.
"It's been good to have Clint here for the entire preseason," Kreis said. "I think he has a real understanding of what expect from him. The work that Clint has put in has been second to none. He's such a smart player. He's a difference maker, so to see him get on the end of a ball in the box is big time for us. We need that from him because we need him in the box."
Mathis is hoping the momentum that RSL built during the Carolina Challenge Cup can carry over to the regular season.
"I definitely think we're building on what we did last season," Mathis said. "We want to start where we left off last season and coming here and winning this tournament is definitely a good way to start the end the preseason. Hopefully we take these results and build on them. The earlier you can get wins and get points on the board, the easier you make it on ourselves during the season."
While winning the Carolina Challenge Cup was a nice accomplishment, Kreis said there's still plenty to work to do before the start of the regular season.
"I don't want to put a whole lot of stock in the results, but I feel like from the play and what I've seen from the preseason that we're moving forward," Kreis said. "I was so pleased at where we were at the end of last season it seems like we're building on that.
"Once our fitness gets there we're going to be a good team. There are still a few things we need to iron out, but I really do feel good and confident about this team. I feel very good that we managed to win a couple of games in a row. It was something that we didn't manage to do all last season."
Kreis said the chemistry between strikers Robbie Findley and Yura Movsisyan has continued to develop from last season.
"It was actually something we saw midway through last season," Kreis said. "We put them together for a couple of games last season and they were extremely dangerous. So going into this season it's something we feel very good about. They're going to need more time together, but I saw a lot of good plays between them this week.
"They're both very, very pacey, and very dangerous. I think it's a very nice problem to have with those two guys."
Meanwhile, while Toronto FC coach John Carver was disappointed in the loss to RSL, he was pleased with the overall effort of his team during the tournament.
"We've had three games in a short space of time and I've been able to use just about everyone on our roster," Carver said. "That usually doesn't happen in the regular season. So, all in all it's been a good workout and a great tournament. This is one tournament I like coming to and hopefully we'll be invited back. I think we were able to prove to ourselves that we've got a good team here."
Andrew Miller is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
