Real Salt Lake Aims to Improve Playoff Seeding at Home against Minnesota Wednesday

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Real Salt Lake Aims to Improve Playoff Seeding at Home against Minnesota Wednesday

October 1, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


HERRIMAN, Utah - Real Salt Lake (14-7-10, 52 points, 3rd West MLS) winds down its 2024 Major League Soccer regular-season slate Wednesday night at home against Minnesota United FC (13-12-6, 45 points, 8th West), the second match of yet another three-game week ending on Sat., Oct. 5. Wednesday's 7:30p MT kickoff is available via Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, as Tyler Terens & Kyndra de St Aubin (ENG) provide the call, as will Diego Pessolano and Daniel Chapela (SPN).

Saturday, RSL earned a valuable road point at Austin FC, drawing 2-2, as early second-half goals by MF Matt Crooks and MF Diogo Gonçalves gave RSL a 2-0 lead at Q2 Stadium. Concessions to the home side in the 81st and 89th minute doomed RSL to settle for just the lone point in a very tight West race for home-field advantage in the postseason, improving its 2024 road record to 4-4-8 / 20 points, and extending the current unbeaten streak to three matches.

RSL has already clinched an MLS Cup Playoff spot for the 14th time in the last 17 seasons, and for the fourth consecutive year under the guidance of Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni. The ongoing campaign represents RSL's eighth 50-point season in Club history - and its first since 2019 - while the 2024 edition of the Claret-and-Cobalt need just six points in its final three matches to establish a new all-time Club record for points in a season, surpassing the 57 accrued in 2012.

This is already the highest-scoring season in Real Salt Lake's 20 MLS years, with 62 goals through 31 matches, eclipsing the 57 scored in 2013. RSL needs three goals in its final two home games beginning Wednesday to set a new all-time Club home mark and break the 2018 mark of 38 goals on home soil.

Real Salt Lake v Minnesota United FC - MLS Matchday 36

America First Field - Sandy, UT

Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 - 7:30p MT

Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass / KSL Sports Zone Radio

CONGESTED WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF RACE PICKING UP STEAM ::

RSL is one of eight Western Conference teams separated by just seven points currently occupying seeds 2 through 9 in the West playoff race, chasing first-place LA Galaxy (17-7-7, 58 points / 31 games played). In pursuit of a top-four seed and home-field advantage in the first-round, best-of-three opening series of the MLS Cup Playoffs, as well as a potential Conference title and/or a berth in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup, the Utah side plays two of its final three contests of the 2024 regular season on home soil. America First Field in Sandy is where the Claret-and-Cobalt have excelled this season, with 10 wins and two draws against just three losses in MLS action, in addition to an 11th home win in the Leagues Cup tourney last month.

RSL welcomes Minnesota to Sandy on Wednesday and then celebrates the return of former Captain Damir Kreilach and Vancouver on the Oct. 19 Decision Day, the two home matches split by a Sat., Oct. 5 road trip to the Bay Area to face the San Jose Earthquakes prior to another FIFA international window the weekend of Oct. 12.

With a road win at San Jose Saturday, RSL - currently 4-4-8 / 20 points away - can secure the Club's second-highest point total in a road season, surpassing the 2013 total of 22 points, second only to last year's mark of 8-5-4 / 28 points.

HOMEGROWN LEGEND GLAD REWRITES RSL RECORD BOOKS ::

2024 MLS All-Star and Homegrown DF Justen Glad - the RSL Academy poster boy now in his 10th MLS season, all with RSL - started his ninth consecutive match Saturday in Austin, after previously missing seven straight starts due to an ankle injury suffered in an early June training session. That appearance was his 271st across all competitions in his Club history, also ranking fifth all-time in RSL's MLS regular-season history (238 games), while his 231 starts allowed the Tucson, AZ native to surpass both Tony Beltran and Chris Wingert, moving Glad into 3rd place all-time. in the 60th minute back on April 13 at home against Columbus, Glad moved into FIFTH all-time on RSL's MLS minutes played ranker, surpassing Club legend Javier Morales at 19,286. With 15 minutes played Wednesday against Minnesota, Glad will move into 3rd place in the Club's MLS minutes ranker (20,653 and counting) as well, with only the legends Nick Rimando (369 starts, 33,069 minutes) and Kyle Beckerman (337 starts, 29,940) exceeding Glad's RSL reg. season services.

LAMENTING DROPPED POINTS IN RECENT LATE DRAWS ::

While RSL remains on track to potentially eclipse the 57 points amassed in 2012, needing six points in its final three matches to establish a new 20-year high for the Club's MLS reg. season body of work, recent collapses have seen the Claret-and-Cobalt drop points important to its playoff positioning. A pair of 2-0 leads at Austin Saturday and at home against Portland on Sept. 21 are the most recent examples, while RSL also failed to protect a 2-0 lead back on May 11 at LA Galaxy, conceding a very late stoppage-time equalizer on the last kick of the game.

Earlier this season, RSL was able to extract points late from losing positions as well, scoring three unanswered in the final half-hour to force a 3-3 finish at Dallas in late May, a few weeks after erasing a 2-0 deficit at home to Colorado in an eventual 5-3 win. RSL did equalize at the death at Seattle for a 1-1 draw at Lumen Field just three days after the Dallas heroics.

Scoreless draws at home against a heavily-rotated Columbus team and on the road at Montreal also jump off the schedule as opportunities lost to bolster points in a season that has seen RSL lose just six road games in three competitions this season, while on the verge of setting a new home standard in Sandy, where the team has historically won 70% of its matches in the last 15 seasons.

FINAL STRETCH OF SEASON / PLAYOFF PUSH FOR PABLO ::

During the Pablo Mastroeni era - qualifying for the MLS Cup Playoffs in each of the three previous seasons - RSL has endured a rollercoaster ride in the final 10 games of each season. Time now to improve upon the 2W-3L-2T record from July 20 - present MLS contests.

Back in 2021, RSL split its 10 games under Pablo, winning five and dropping five, securing a dramatic Decision Day win at Kansas City to qualify for the postseason, eventually progressing to the West Final and suffering elimination at Portland.

In 2022, RSL posted a 3-3-4 / 13-point finish, suffering unexpected home draws / losses but delivering yet another Decision Day win, this time a dominant 3-1 home victory over Portland. That year's RSL side burst out to a 2-0 lead at Austin courtesy an early Sergio Cordova brace in a first-round, single-elimination MLS Cup Playoff match, but a 53rd-minute Rubio Rubin ejection ended up with RSL falling in PKs after 120 minutes.

Last season, RSL went 4-5-1 / 13 points in its final 10 matches, as it learned how to play without injured metronome Pablo Ruiz following his non-contact Leagues Cup Round of 16 injury at LAFC. RSL did win three of its final five last year, including its lone win at LAFC on a late Chicho Arango goal, and a 1-0 Decision Day victory at Colorado, one that saw Diego Luna emerge and announce his presence with authority, scoring four goals in his final five matches of 2023, including the three-game series with Houston ... However, the postseason once again saw RSL eliminated by the narrowest of margins, as both games two and three of the first-round series with the Dynamo were decided by PKs.

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM ::

If the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs presented by Audi began last week, second-seeded RSL would face off for a second consecutive season against the Houston Dynamo. RSL would look to rebound from two years of battles with Houston, a place in which it has not won since the 2018 season, defeating the Dynamo in just three of the last 14 meetings across all competitions. RSL has seen Houston end three different competitions in the 2023/24 campaigns, as RSL fell 1-3 at Houston in last year's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal in a 120-minute affair, before being ousted from the first round of the 2023 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in a three-game series that saw the final two legs decided by penalty kicks. On August 5 of this year, RSL fell 0-3 at Houston to suffer elimination from the 2024 Leagues Cup, when nearly any other result would have seen the Utah side win its group, which also included Atlas FC (Liga MX).

Earlier this year, RSL registered a 3-2 come-from-behind home win on July 3 against Houston to snap the recent drought; prior to last year's reg. season loss, RSL went unbeaten against Houston in 11 consecutive games dating back to 2017, including five straight in South Texas. All-time, RSL owns a 3W-14L-6T record in Houston, with the Dynamo enjoying a +16 goal differential across all competitions, buoyed by last weekend's 4-1 win over RSL.

CAPTAIN CHICHO ARANGO, STARLET DIEGO LUNA END SCORESHEET DROUGHTS ::

In RSL's last home game back on Sept. 21, a 3-3 draw with Portland, two of RSL's attacking superstars - Captain, Colombian striker and MLS Golden Boot contender Chicho Arango and young U.S. starlet Diego Luna - each found the scoresheet for the first time since July 6, a 5-2 home win over Atlanta, a span of nine games and 72 days.

The once-incendiary striker enters Wednesday against Minnesota just one goal shy of breaking Alvaro Saborio's single-season RSL goal record of 17, set in 2012, while his assist back on June 19 saw the RSL Captain join Albert Rusnák and Jeff Cunningham as just the third RSL player in 20 seasons with a 10g / 10a campaign.

Luna's goal midway through the first half gave RSL a 2-0 lead over the Timbers, despite a muted celebration due to the VAR review that ultimately awarded Luna his sixth goal of the season. Arango was awarded his 12th assist of the 2024 reg. season when he set up fellow DP Diogo Gonçalves for the apparent 90th-minute game-winner.

Arango returned that Saturday against Portland after missing six of the last previous nine RSL games due to either MLS suspension - forcing him out of the 1-1 July 17 RSL draw at LAFC, the 2-3 loss at Colorado on July 20, the July 24 MLS All-Star Game against the Liga MX All-Stars and the 2-1 Leagues Cup win over Atlas - or injury (just 41 minutes played Aug. 24 in 0-2 loss to San Jose, without even dressing in 2-0 Aug. 31 win over New England). Chicho then played a full 90 minutes in the 1-4 loss at Houston prior to serving a yellow card accumulation suspension in the 3-2 victory over FC Dallas on Sept. 18.

Chicho - no longer the League's Golden Boot leader, his 17 goals now four back of D.C. United's Christian Benteke (19) and one behind LAFC man Denis Bouanga, despite the Colombian's scoring drought from July 6 - present - did start and play the first 62 minutes of Saturday's 2-2 draw at Austin.

The RSL Captain has three games remaining to re-enter the Golden Boot push and raise his name back up in the Landon Donovan MVP discussion, contributing to 29 of RSL's 62 goals this season. The 28-year-old now has 116 goals in his professional career, which started in his native Colombia and includes stops in Portugal and Mexico alongside a stellar MLS record of 60 goals in 99 games across all competitions for RSL and LAFC. Since last July, Chicho has 27 goals and 15 assists in just 46 appearances across all competitions for RSL, which missed his presence late in the season and in the playoffs last year in Houston due to a nagging hamstring injury.

DOMINIK & DIOGO KEEP IT ROLLIN' - CROOKS, CHICHO & LUNA FINDING FORM ::

Saturday's 2-2 draw at Austin featured goals from MF Matt Crooks - his third of the season coming on a rebound of a Chicho Arango shot - and MF Diogo Gonçalves converted a penalty kick to find the back of the net for a second consecutive match.

Winger Dominik Marczuk, a 20-year old Polish youth international, has started in three consecutive matches, banging home his debut goal back on Sept. 21 against Portland in the 10th minute to give RSL a 1-0 lead, taking an Anderson Julio cross at the far post cutting back in the box to his left, slamming home a 10-yard lefty shot. In the Sept. 18 home win over Dallas, Marczuk earned his first assist of the year, a game-winner in the 62nd minute that set up Julio for an easy tap-in, in his first-ever RSL start.

That 3-3 draw with Portland also saw both Captain Chicho Arango (one assist) and starlet Diego Luna (his sixth goal of the year) find the scoresheet for the first time since July 6, a nine-game / 72-day span.

LONG-RANGE HEROICS FIND FORM OF RSL ZAPATAZOS ::

The Sept. 18 Anderson Julio bombazo from just inside midfield - his shot registering at 57.5 yards, according to Sportec - adds to the lore of recent long-range offerings by RSL players. RSL MF Nelson Palacio's scintillating, game-winning ZAPATAZO August 1 from deep - 38 yards out, at 78.1 mph (according to Sportrac) - was the previous highlight from distance, coming in a 2-1 Leagues Cup group stage win over Atlas FC.

RSL Captain Chicho Arango scored from midfield back on June 1 in a 5-1 home win against Austin as part of his hat trick that day, while MF Pablo Ruiz saw his 68-yard offering at Audi Field in Washington D.C. last summer a finalist for the 2023 MLS Goal of the Year.

Back in October, 2022, RSL's previous match against Atlas FC as part of that year's "Leagues Cup Showcase," RSL fell at home, 1-2, in a game will be remembered for former RSL Homegrown Aaron Herrera's long-range goal - a 78-yard bombazo - that gave the home side the lead.

And then on Sept. 23 at Cal-State Fullerton, it was the Real Monarchs' turn to get in on the long-range action, as MF Griffin Dillon - a native of Draper, UT and a former RSL Academy man who matriculated to the Univ. of Maryland - scored the insurance goal in a 2-0 win at LAFC 2, chipping another former Academy product - GK David Ochoa - from just inside midfield.

YET ANOTHER BOUNCEBACK RESPONSE REGISTERED DURING MASTROENI ERA ::

RSL's 3-2 win Sept. 18 over Dallas saw the Club rebound from the Sept. 14 1-4 drubbing at Houston. The resilience, response and determination of RSL's collective DNA during the Pablo Mastroeni era - also known as the "xDAWG" mentality - was once again on full display amongst a heavily-rotated group that saw five personnel changes and two positional moves four days later. During 134 games coached by Mastroeni since taking the Claret-and-Cobalt reins in late August, 2021, RSL has dropped back-to-back matches now just 10 times overall - with four of those 10 occurring last August, following the season-ending, non-contact knee injury suffered by metronomic playmaker Pablo Ruiz in mid-August at LAFC in the Leagues Cup Round of 32 match.

In those 134 games coached by Pablo since late August, 2021, matches following a loss has seen RSL bounce-back successfully and respond with 23 wins and 13 draws against just 10 losses, avoiding long droughts and not letting losing streaks fester. Mastroeni's all-time RSL record across all competitions is now 55W-46L-33T mark in MLS reg. season, MLS Cup Playoff, Leagues Cup, Open Cup and int'l friendly matches, guiding the Club to the 2021 MLS Western Conference Final and the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal.

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