Real Salt Lake Home Regular Season Finale Saturday in Must-Win Rocky Mountain Cup against Colorado
MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Home Regular Season Finale Saturday in Must-Win Rocky Mountain Cup against Colorado

Published on October 3, 2025 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


HERRIMAN, Utah - Real Salt Lake (11-16-4, 37 points, 11 th West / 21 st Shield) remains home Saturday to host visiting rival Colorado Rapids (11-14-7, 40 points, 8 th West / 18th Shield) in a critical, must-win Rocky Mountain Cup decider as the Claret-and-Cobalt look vault itself back above the Western Conference 2025MLS Cup Playoff line. Saturday's match provides an opportunity for RSL to win back-to-back matches for the first

time since mid-July, while a multi-goal victory is necessary to reclaim the fan-created Rocky Mountain Cup. With a win Saturday by two or more goals, RSL seizes the Rocky Mountain Cup for the fourth time in the last five years and for the 15 th occasion in the last 19 seasons (excluding the disputed 2020 edition).

Saturday's contest is available via Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, with Neil Sika and Lloyd Sam (ENG) on the call, as are Erasmo Provenza and Ivan Kasanzew (SPN). Iconic RSL voice David James and former MLS goalkeeper Jay Nolly will call the game for KSL Sports Radio (1160 AM / 97.5 FM), with Nelson Moran in his 21 st season as RSL's Spanish radio home on both 102.3 KDUT FM / 106.3 FM KBMG.

Last weekend, RSL saw a late first-half goal from Paraguayan international Braian Ojeda - his fifth goal across all competitions this season - end a dominant first 45 minutes, while playmaker Diego Luna set up second-half strikes from two RSL newcomers: wingback DeAndre Yedlin and striker Victor Olatunji. Luna's assists were his sixth and seventh of 2025, to go along with a Club-high nine MLS goals and 10 across all competitions, eclipsing his previous career-high of eight goals, set last season.

The late 3-0 lead was RSL's first three-goal lead of 2025, and Olatunji's goal - his second in five games with RSL since arriving in mid-August - gave RSL three goals in a match for just the second time this season (July 5 in a 3-2 home win over St. Louis).

Saturday, RSL will still be without the services of homegrown 18-year-old winger Zavier Gozo, whose 2025 FIFA Youth World Cup competition began Monday with two assists in a 67-minute start for the United States U-20s, a 9-1 win over New Caledonia in Chile. Thursday in the 3-0 win against France, Gozo came off the bench for the final 25 minutes, scoring the game-winning goal in the 85th on a slicing header, assisting on Brooklyn Raines' goal for the 2-0 lead and slamming another shot off the bar late, the rebound finished by Real Monarchs' man Marcos Zambrano. Gozo, the West Valley-born and Eagle Mountain-raised Utah native provided both assists in a 2-1 home win over Kansas City back on Sept. 13, along with a highlight-reel golazo in the Sept. 17 LAFC loss. Gozo's athletic, acrobatic, twisting aerial overhead volley cut LAFC's two-goal lead in half in the 76th minute, earning SportsCenter Top 10 recognition as the #1 overall highlight the following day. His six goal contributions this season (four goals, two assists) are the most by a teenager in RSL's 21-season MLS history.

RSL now puts its 9-9-3 (W-L-T) home mark on the Wasatch Front thus far this year in MLS, Champions Cup and Leagues Cup matches on the line against Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado on Saturday, needing a multi-goal victory against the Rapids to continue its dominance in the fan-created series, as well as the full three points to move above the West playoff line and into the 8/9 position with two road games remaining (Oct. 11 at Seattle, Oct. 18 at St. Louis).

RSL has posted a 7-3-2 (W-L-T) home mark across all competitions on Utah soil since June 1, with an eighth victory Saturday opening up the possibility that the Western Conference play-in game could be hosted in Sandy on Oct. 21/22. RSL and Colorado are two of the five teams within four points of each other for the final two playoff spots, joining Dallas, San Jose and Houston. RSL and Dallas each have three games remaining this season, with Colorado, Houston and San Jose idle during the Oct. 11 matchday during the FIFA international break.

A year ago, RSL amassed a 12-3-4 (W-L-T) record at home, where the Club has traditionally enjoyed a fortress-like record of success, winning nearly 70% of games and averaging just under two points per game in parts of 17 seasons across all competitions at what is now America First Field.

The Ojeda goal against Austin gave RSL the distinction of now scoring first in 21 of 36 matches played in MLS reg. season, Leagues Cup and Champions Cup this year, recording 10 wins and four draws against seven losses when drawing first blood. The July 26 comeback home win against San Jose marks the lone victory recorded thus far in 2025 when conceding first.

The 2-1 win at home back on Sept. 13 against Kansas City snapped a three-game losing streak for RSL, its longest since August, 2023; since former USMNT star and MLS veteran Pablo Mastroeni seized the Claret-and-Cobalt head coaching reins in August, 2021, RSL has dropped consecutive games just 17 times in 178 matches during the Mastroeni era, winning 31 and drawing 15 in games following a loss.

RSL's two remaining reg. season road games occur on the penultimate reg. season weekend on Oct. 11 at Seattle in a match rescheduled due to the Sounders' recent Leagues Cup advancement, and at St. Louis for MLS "Decision Day" on October 18.

The 3-1 victory at San Diego on April 26 marked Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni's 100th career coaching win across all competitions for the two Rocky Mountain Cup competitors, RSL (2021-present) and Colorado (2014-17). The former U.S. World Cup stalwart has now amassed 107 wins, 120 losses and 80 draws across all competitions for the Utah/Denver-based sides. Last June in Kansas City, Mastroeni earned his 50th win across all competitions with RSL in a wild 4-3 road decision, with the 2-0 reg. season win over LA Galaxy on April 5 marking his 50th MLS victory with RSL. Since August, 2021, his arrival in Utah, Mastroeni's all-time RSL coaching record is now 70-64-44 (W-L-T).

During each of Pablo's previous three full seasons at the RSL helm, the Club has increased its annual point total (47 in 2022, 50 in 2023 and 59 last year), while increasing its Western Conference table position as well (7th in 2022, 5th in 2023 and 3rd last year). The 2025 campaign features RSL's pursuit of a Conference-best fifth consecutive postseason berth, a seventh in the last eight seasons and its 15th in the last 18 years.

Last year saw RSL advance to the MLS Cup Playoffs for a fourth consecutive occasion, the sixth time in seven seasons (2020 the lone exception), and for the 14th time in the last 17 seasons since first qualifying in 2008 (2015, 2017 the other outliers). The 2024 MLS regular season reached an all-time high of 59 points for RSL, which finished third in the Western Conference and sixth overall in the then-29-team MLS Shield race, while also establishing a new all-time scoring high of 65 goals.

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