SANDY, Utah (Tuesday, May 16, 2023) – Real Salt Lake (3-6-2, 11 pts., 11th West) continues a third consecutive three-game week by welcoming longtime rival Portland Timbers FC this week for MLS Matchday 13, with America First Field hosting on Wednesday (7:30p MT kickoff on the Apple MLS Season Pass w/ Max Bretos and* Brian Dunseth (ENG) / Rodolfo Landeros and Martin Zuniga* (SPN); 7:00p MT radio pre-game w/ David James & Jay Nolly via www.KSLSports.com / 1280 AM / 97.5 FM and www.KSLNewsRadio.com / 1160 AM). RSL defeated Portland 4-3 at Providence Park in the Pacific Northwest last week in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play, with a Maikel Chang brace leading the way in a game that also saw both Andrés Gómez and Danny Musovski each tally a goal and an assist in a match that saw RSL fight back from 0-1 and 2-3 deficits.
Real Salt Lake (3-6-2, 11 pts., 11th West) remains home in Utah after seeing its a five-game unbeaten streak across all competitions snapped Saturday with a 0-3 home loss to LAFC. Despite the loss, RSL boss Pablo Mastroeni’s side has earned points in six of its last eight (4W-2L-2T) in MLS and U.S. Open Cup play. One of the four wins in those eight games came with a 4-3 road result at Portland – Wednesday’s visitor – in the Open Cup last week at Providence Park, RSL’s highest-scoring match since Sept. 2021.
RSL looks to defend home field Wednesday with what might seem like a middling 7W-6L-2T all-time home reg. season mark against Portland, but with a much more impressive 11 home wins over the Timbers when factoring two MLS postseason wins in Sandy, and two home Open Cup wins all-time.
RSL won 3-1 at home in Portland’s last visit to the Wasatch Front, a “Decision Day” win for RSL that vaulted the Utah side past the Timbers and into the postseason a year ago. Portland native FW Rubio Rubin scored a key goal in that match, one that also saw HomeGrown DF **Bode Hidalgo** find the back of the net in what ended up being his first-team coming-out-party to set the table for his 2023 contributions.
OPEN CUP DRAMA A WEEK AGO v TIMBERS FC
RSL advanced in this year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament with a Fourth-Round road victory at Portland last Wednesday, a 4-3 result that saw RSL climb back from 0-1 and 2-3 deficits. It was a **Maikel Chang** brace that quickly reversed RSL’s 2-3 hole into a 4-3 advantage 15 minutes into the second half, while both **Andrés Gómez** and **Danny Musovski** each provided a goal and an assist to lead the RSL attack.18-year-old GK Gavin Beavers made several saves to keep RSL afloat, while veterans DF **Justen Glad** and Captain **Damir Kreilach** – with 300+ MLS starts between them – each played the full 90 minutes to lead RSL.
ALWAYS RESILIENT IN BOUNCEBACK GAMES
Back on the horse quickly at home against a visiting Portland team that will surely look different than last week, RSL will once again look to improve upon its record in “bounceback” games under Mastroeni, the Claret-and-Cobalt now 12W-5L-6D and earning a result in 18 of 23 matches following a loss in the “Pablo era,” suffering back-to-back losses now just five times in the former USMNT star’s 66 games at the RSL helm … Under Mastroeni’s leadership, RSL is now 16-10-6 (W-L-T) on Utah soil against MLS opponents …
In recent weeks, RSL has posted four wins, two losses and two draws in eight games across multiple competitions … Three of the four wins have come by the same 3-1 scoreline, prior to last Wednesday’s dramatic 4-3 road win at Portland in the U.S. Open Cup … The last five weeks also include a 2-1 loss at Dallas on April 15 and Saturday’s 0-3 home loss to LAFC bookended by back-to-back 0-0 draws against Seattle and at Houston …
EARLY CONCESSIONS DOOM RSL
Throughout this season, RSL has developed a pattern of conceding first – and often early – as LAFC struck in the game’s eighth minute en route to its 11th reg. season win over RSL in 12 all-time meetings … In its nine non “scoreless draw” MLS matches, RSL has conceded first in eight – with only the 3-1 home win over San Jose the exception … RSL also allowed Portland to score early in last Wednesday’s Open Cup road match, but battled back from 0-1 and 2-3 deficits to win 4-3 and advance to the May 24 tilt at Colorado …
The early LAFC goal terminated RSL’s active MLS shutout streak at 230 minutes, following scoreless draws at home against Seattle and at Houston in the prior two weeks … Those defensive zeroes marked RSL’s first two and only two clean sheets of 2023, as GK **Zac MacMath** and the RSL rearguard earned the Club’s first road shutout since last April in Portland, the back-to-back clean sheets RSL’s first since last June 18/25 …
EXTREME SCHEDULE CONGESTION
Wednesday’s contest is the seventh of what could be a 15-game, 48-day stretch that sees Real Salt Lake manage multiple competitions, with several potential U.S. Open Cup and MLS three-game weeks played consecutively … RSL’s first two all-time Open Cup road wins at Vegas and Portland in recent weeks now open up the opportunity for extreme schedule congestion, as Salt Lake’s next #USOC2023 window will be May 24 at Colorado, with the Rocky Mountain Cup winner in that round hosting one of the LA teams on June 6/7 … Familiarity could breed contempt as RSL hosted LAFC May 13, travels to Colorado May 20 and welcomes the Galaxy to Utah on May 31 in previously-scheduled MLS action …
Regarding the schedule congestion caused by the July/August Leagues Cup window, RSL’s pair of Open Cup victories create the possibility of 15 games in 48 days to severely test Club depth … Starting with the April 22 win against San Jose, the current stretch which could also include 10 in 34 days from the May 6 Houston trip to the June 10 NYCFC visit to Utah, for a total of five arduous three-game weeks from May 6 – June 10 …
RSL already has MLS reg. season midweek home contests slated for this Wednesday, May 17 (Portland) and at the end of the month on May 31 (LA Galaxy), meaning that the May 10 (at Portland), May 24 (Colorado) and possible June 7 Open Cup midweek vs. either LA side could test entire RSL roster …
ROCKY MOUNTAIN CUP COMING INTO DUAL COMPETITION FOCUS
The upcoming back-to-back RSL @ Colorado matches could rekindle the fan-created Rocky Mountain Cup rivalry, with RSL winning 11 of the last 14 RMC titles dating back to the Claret-and-Cobalt’s first-ever piece of hardware back in 2007 … the 2020 #RockyMtnCup is disputed due to the Covid-affected campaign, which saw some games count towards the teams’ regular-season records and the third scheduled match not played due to a late-season Covid-19 outbreak running roughshod through the Rapids’ locker room …
RSL and Colorado have competed in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup before, the Rapids winning in both 2006 and 2007 contests at RSL’s former Rice-Eccles Stadium home to eliminate the Utah side …
RSL’s all-time road mark at Colorado – in exclusively regular-season games – is 8W-11L-6T, outscoring the Rapids 33-31 … The octet of RSL wins in Commerce City is the highest road total in RSL’s 19-year history, one more than RSL has at LA Galaxy and two more than the Utah side has enjoyed at San Jose and Chivas USA …
RSL is back home again on Wednesday, looking for a repeat victory over Portland. Tickets for the expected sellout – which could be the Club’s 22nd in its last 26 matches – are available at www.RSL.com/tickets ...
