SALT LAKE CITY -- Few MLS teams have seen their fortunes change as drastically in the span of a couple of games than Real Salt Lake.
Before leaving Utah on its most recent road trip, RSL stood on the cusp of seizing first place in the Western Conference. Now, following losses to Colorado and FC Dallas, the club returns to Salt Lake trying to avoid sinking into last place.
Recapturing some of the momentum against the San Jose Earthquakes at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday will be essential in more ways than one.
A victory against the expansion side would be the perfect way to start off a stretch of four home matches in the next five weeks. A loss or a tie could make it difficult for RSL to prevent its current downward spiral from escalating.
"If we get on a roll and get some momentum and string some points together, we're right back in it," said defender Tony Beltran. "The West is still very tight."
If nothing else, home turf offers a chance for the RSL side to find more of a winning groove. Victories have been tough to produce away from home this season. RSL is winless in five road games and each setback has looked rather ugly.
Against Dallas, the club let a 1-0 lead slip away after yielding two goals in the final 10 minutes of its 2-1 loss. RSL did a reasonable job of containing attacks from the Hoops for about 80 minutes. But it could not figure out how to contain Dominic Oduro in crunch time.
Oduro knotted the score in the 83rd minute when he flipped a nice cross from Drew Moor into the net, beating goalkeeper Nick Rimando. Then Oduro burned RSL with a game-winner in the 91st minute, eluding a sprawling Nat Borchers to set up a cool finish for the game-winner.
Continual late-game breakdowns such as the one at Dallas are becoming more and more frustrating to RSL coach Jason Kreis.
"We've got to learn how to finish games," Kreis said. "We've got to learn how to get a lead and just hold that lead and not concede anything."
For RSL, it boils down to a simple issue of gaining maturity and consistency. Even with the talent and depth it owns on paper, the club is still relatively young in terms of experience.
Being so close to first place a couple of weeks ago provided a temporary mask for the growing pains that lay ahead.
"We weren't ready to be in first place," Beltran said. "It didn't feel like we deserved it because we haven't played our best soccer yet. We haven't shown we're a dominant force like we know we can be."
San Jose might be just the right opponent to for RSL to show off its dominant side. It has been rocky at times for the Earthquakes. San Jose ended a four-game winless streak last week with a 2-1 home triumph against Houston -- its first such victory since returning to MLS action this year.
RSL handled the Earthquakes with ease in their last trip to Salt Lake a month ago, earning a 4-0 victory in a U.S. Open Cup qualifying match. San Jose looks vulnerable coming into the rematch.
Jay Ayres is still out after sustaining a broken cheekbone previously against RSL. Kei Kamara and Ivan Guerrero -- both scorers against the Dynamo -- are absent for World Cup qualifying matches this week. Ronnie O'Brien will likely sit out as well.
Aside from Ian Joy, who is serving a one-game suspension for his pair of yellow cards in Dallas, RSL expects to have many of its key players on the field Saturday evening.
For all of its troubles, RSL is only six points out of first place in the West and a win at home against the Earthquakes could change up everything dramatically.
"I think we'd be a lot more frustrated if the gap between us and first place were a lot more points," Rimando said.
Rimando said that RSL would close that gap as soon as it pieces together a strong 90-minute performance. But more inconsistency could be problematic for a club only one point removed from last place.
Jose wants big club or nothing
RSL won’t take play-in game lightly
