Utah Side Hosts Herediano in First-Round Series Return Leg at America First Field;
Tickets Available for Wednesday, Feb. 26 Return Herediano Leg via www.RSL.com/tickets;
2025 MLS Home Opener Saturday Afternoon in Sandy Against Seattle
SANDY, Utah (Tues., Feb. 25, 2025) – Real Salt Lake is finally back home this week on Utah soil for a pair of games, starting with an elimination match Wednesday night at America First Field against Costa Rica champions CS Herediano. Tickets are available at www.RSL.com/tickets for the midweek kickoff, set for 6:30p MT (Fox Sports 2 / Vix+ / CONCACAF YouTube).
With no away goals scored in the first leg at Estadio Nacional last week, RSL must score and win Wednesday to advance to a March 5 / 12 CCC Quarterfinal series against reigning MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy. Should Wednesday’s match end scoreless after 90 minutes, 30 minutes of extra time will follow, with kicks from the penalty mark (if necessary) determining advancement. Any scoring tie after 90 minutes – 1-1, 2-2, etc. – eliminates RSL based on the away goals tiebreaker.
After just six of its last 24 days spent at home, RSL ends a full week on the Wasatch with Saturday afternoon’s 2:30p MT kickoff against the visiting Seattle Sounders FC, a game expected to sell out America First Field, while also being available via Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, with Max Bretos & Brian Dunseth (ENG) on the call, as are Francisco X. Rivera & Martin Zuniga (SPN).
In League play, RSL will look to bounce back from its heaviest MLS Opening-Day defeat since 2007, a 4-0 loss at San Jose Saturday night against the Earthquakes. After a 1-0 halftime deficit, RSL conceded the remaining three goals in a 13-minute period from the 70th to 83rd minutes that saw the home side punish individual errors all over the field. Saturday at PayPal Park, RSL boss Pablo Mastroeni made seven changes from last Wednesday’s starting XI to the one rolled out Saturday, with GK Rafael Cabral, MF Braian Ojeda and FW Forster Ajago the lone holdovers to have started and played 45+ minutes in each of the first two road matches.
Now RSL looks to rebound from the 4-0 shellacking suffered Saturday in San Jose, the page turning back to Champions Cup, with the prospect of four home games in the next 10 days following a long and arduous preseason road that dovetailed into last weeks’ competitive matters at both North American San Jose metropolises.
One of the hallmarks of RSL during the Pablo Mastroeni era has been its ability to bounce back from losses, dropping just 10 overall back-to-back scenarios across all competitions in Pablo’s 141 overall games managed since August, 2021. Wednesday’s elimination game against Herediano gives RSL the opportunity to snap a streak of four consecutive losses in knockout contests, and six of its last eight overall since the 2023 U.S. Open Cup Semifinal run.
Last year, RSL dropped road elimination games in regulation at Houston (Leagues Cup) and at New Mexico (Open Cup) last year, with another via shootout in MLS Cup Playoff matches away at Minnesota, repeating its season-ending PK tiebreaker losses at Houston (2023) and at Austin (2022).
At home, RSL has won its last three elimination matches on Utah soil, last winning a shootout against Houston in the second leg of its 2023 Audi MLS Cup Playoff series. Earlier in 2023, RSL also defeated Liga MX power Leon that August, winning 2-1 after conceding the first goal in a Leagues Cup Round of 32 contest. Two months prior, RSL won its Open Cup Quarterfinal match, also at home, against the LA Galaxy by a 3-2 margin to avoid elimination.
In 2022, RSL dropped a Round of 32 Open Cup match at America First Field against a lower-division opponent, Hailstorm FC, in just the fourth home knockout contest of 17 overall elimination matches during the Mastroeni era. That number jumps to 18 if you include the 2021 “Decision Day” must-win “Damiracle” at Sporting Kansas City, RSL with the game-winning goal at 94:38, mere seconds from full-time, to advance to the postseason in Pablo’s first year as manager, which saw RSL progress all the way to the West Final.
Looking ahead to Saturday, the March 1 matinee at home against Seattle gives RSL an opportunity to improve upon its 9W-2L-9T record at home in its MLS curtain-raisers (dropping just 2018/LAFC and 2023/ATX). Also at stake is RSL’s all-time 12W-1L-4T mark against Seattle on Utah soil, where the Rave Green have not won since 2011 in reg. season action (SEA did win the road leg at RSL by a 1-0 score in the 2012 Playoff series).
RSL opened a season in San Jose for the fourth time in its 21-year history, now posting a 3W-1L-0T record in its three previous “MLS is BACK” matchups against the ‘Quakes (2010, 2011 and 2013 seasons; 6-0 RSL aggregate advantage prior to Saturday). Since that 2010 opener at SJ, RSL is now 7W-3L-6T in its road openers, losing previously at CHI in 2017 and last year at MIA, after going 0-4-1 from 2005-09.
This week, the Claret-and-Cobalt return to Champions Cup mode on Wednesday, hosting Herediano for the return leg of the 2025 CONCACAF First-Round series. With a 6:30p MT kickoff at America First Field, RSL looks to seize upon its fortress-like protection of home soil, where a year ago RSL lost just three home games across all competitions. RSL posted an impressively dominant 12-3-5 / 40-point mark across all competitions in 2024. Tickets to what will be RSL’s 35th international match in 21 years on Utah soil (17W-10L-7T) are NOW AVAILABLE at www.RSL.com/tickets.
RSL will then host Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday at 2:30p MT, in the Club’s first 2025 MLS home match, with the schedule congestion potentially reaching eight games in 27 days to open 2025 with Champions Cup advancement over Herediano. RSL could add another potential home match next Wed., March 5 against reigning MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy in the Champions Cup Quarterfinal stage SHOULD the Utah side find itself able to advance past Herediano (whose championship-winning coach, Jafet Soto, played for RSL in 2006 and now serves as Sporting Director).
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.
As interim head coach in 2021, Pablo helped the team advance to the Western Conference Final before losing at Portland, with RSL also advancing to the U.S. Open Cup Semifinal two years later in 2023 (losing at Houston). RSL also fell in the Leagues Cup Round of 16 in 2023, while failing to advance out of the group a season ago with another loss at Houston, despite a thrilling comeback win at home over Liga MX side Atlas FC.
Mastroeni earned his 50th win across all competitions with RSL in a 4-3 decision last June at Kansas City, with his 3rd reg. season win this season marking his 50th with RSL. During his entire MLS coaching career – which includes the 2014-17 years at Colorado – former U.S. World Cup stalwart Mastroeni has amassed 97 wins, 106 losses and 74 draws across all competitions for the Rocky Mountain clubs.
As mentioned, RSL has exhibited strong grit and resilience as hallmarks of the Pablo era. Saturday’s loss in San Jose was its first in a nine-game span since a league loss at Houston on Sept. 14. RSL dropped back-to-back games for the only time last year on August 5 & 24; all-time under Mastroeni, RSL has suffered back-to-back losses just 10 times in those 141 matches, winning 23 and drawing 13. The late-season, 1-0 win at San Jose – Luna providing the 78th-minute game-winning goal – also improved RSL’s record under Mastroeni when scoring first to 34 wins and 12 draws against just four losses,.
2025 CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP – FIRST ROUND
REAL SALT LAKE (18) v. HEREDIANO (47) – 180’ Aggregate Goals, Away Goal Tiebreaker
Game One – Wednesday, February 19 – HER 0 : 0 RSL @ Estadio Nacional – San José, Costa Rica
Game Two – Wednesday, February 26 – 6:30p MT @ America First Field – Sandy, Utah, USA
(Winner hosts LA Galaxy on Wed., March 5, traveling to Carson, CA on Wed., March 12)
This season, Real Salt Lake returns nearly 21,000 collective minutes played from last year’s roster, as the Club looks to build upon a record-setting 2024 campaign, as 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 29-team MLS shield race, while also establishing a new all-time scoring high of 65 goals.
RSL opens 2025 seeking a fifth consecutive MLS postseason berth, and its seventh in the last eight years, on top of the highly-anticipated CONCACAF Champions Cup run, RSL’s fourth-ever continental opportunity and its first participation in the competition involving North American, Caribbean and Central American club teams since 2016.
Tickets and information for both competitions can be accessed at www.RSL.com/tickets.
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