SANDY, Utah (Friday, May 19, 2023) – Real Salt Lake (3-6-3, 12 pts., 11th West) kicks off a fourth consecutive three-game week this weekend in suburban Denver, traveling to face Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado Rapids (2-5-6, 12 pts, 12th West) Saturday for MLS Matchday 14 (7:30p MT kickoff on the Apple MLS Season Pass w/ Max Bretos and* Brian Dunseth (ENG) / Jesus Acosta and Claudio Suarez* (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).
2023 RSL STORYLINES TO WATCH:
RSL v COLORADO PREVIEW
Real Salt Lake (3-6-3, 12 pts., 11th West) now hits the road for three consecutive matches away, with MLS road tilts at Colorado this Saturday and at Minnesota on May 27 surrounding a road Round of 16 match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match in Colorado on Wednesday, May 24. While RSL has suffered just two losses in its last nine matches across all competitions – posting a 4W-2L-3T mark – and has posted defensive clean sheets in three of its last four MLS contests, the active 370-minute goal drought in MLS is tied for the 3rd-longest in the Club’s 19 years, just 17 minutes shy of a 2015 streak and 188 minutes shy of the record set during RSL’s 2005 expansion year.
Wednesday’s 0-0 draw against visiting Portland dropped RSL’s all-time home mark on Utah soil against the Timbers to 11W-6L-3T, a stark comparison to the teams’ battle a week earlier, which saw a dramatic 4-3 road win at Providence Park, RSL’s highest-scoring match since Sept. 2021.
ALWAYS RESILIENT IN BOUNCEBACK GAMES
Back on the horse quickly at home against a visiting Portland team on the heels of last Saturday’s 0-3 home loss to LAFC, RSL once again proved its mettle and improved upon its record in “bounceback” games under Mastroeni, the Claret-and-Cobalt now 12W-5L-7D, earning a result in 19 of 24 matches following a loss in the “Pablo era,” suffering back-to-back losses now just five times in the former USMNT star’s 68 games at the RSL helm. Under Mastroeni’s leadership, RSL is now 16-11-6 (W-L-T) on Utah soil against MLS opponents.
In recent weeks, RSL has posted four wins, two losses and three draws in nine games across multiple competitions. Three of the four wins have come by the same 3-1 scoreline, prior to the May 10 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 last Saturday’s 0-3 home loss to LAFC bookended by back-to-back 0-0 draws against Seattle and at Houston.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN CUP HISTORY
RSL’s all-time road mark at Colorado – in exclusively MLS regular-season games – is 8W-11L-6T, outscoring the Rapids 33-31. The octet of RSL wins in Commerce City is the highest victory 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.
The one-hour flight across the Rockies will be repeated again next week, as RSL plays for advancement in the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, looking to continue its road run in the Round of 16. Kickoff on Wed., May 24 will be at 8:00p MT on CBS Sports GOLAZO or the Bleacher Report and U.S. Soccer YouTube pages.
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 twice before, the Rapids winning in both 2006 and 2007 contests at RSL’s former Rice-Eccles Stadium home to eliminate the Utah side.
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 11threg. 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. Another 90 minutes without conceding came in Wednesday’s lightning-delayed 0-0 draw with Portland.
