SALT LAKE CITY -- First place in the Western Conference has been within the grasp of Real Salt Lake at various points this season. Each time, the chance to move up the conference ladder has slipped away from RSL -- either through a lopsided loss or a head-scratching tie.
One more opportunity to finally rise to the top is available if RSL can take down the Columbus Crew on Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Given the fact that seven of its next 10 games are on the road, this could be the final chance RSL has to make the kind of big splash it has been seeking to create in its turnaround season.
"Enough is enough," midfielder Dema Kovalenko said. "This is the fourth time and we've got to take it. I don't know if it's going to happen again. We understand that."
For Real, the match against the Crew also represents a must-win situation in some ways. RSL has struggled to come up with victories on its home turf lately, settling for ties in the wake of scoring struggles.
With success being much harder to come by outside of Utah, RSL coach Jason Kreis knows his team can't afford to leave three points unclaimed this weekend.
"For me, it's a bigger deal to get another win at home," Kreis said. "The record indicates it as well. We have four wins and five ties at home. For me, that's not enough wins at home."
Saturday's match will be the first of two without Kreis on the sidelines. He was handed down a two-game suspension and a $2,000 fine earlier in the week for several critical comments directed toward the referee and linesman in the postgame press conference following RSL's 0-0 draw with Houston.
In accordance with MLS rules, Kreis may enter the locker room at halftime and before and after the match. But he is not allowed to coach the team from the sideline during the match.
Kovalenko defended what his coach said in the heat of the moment, saying it was Kreis' way of letting his team know that he has their back.
"He always wants to do the right thing and that's what he thought was the right thing to do at the moment," Kovalenko said. "Guys understand that and respect it."
Besides Kreis, Real Salt Lake will also be without starting defender Chris Wingert. Wingert drew an automatic one-game suspension after being issued a red card in the waning minutes against Houston.
Wingert's absence in the backline will be a tough obstacle to overcome because he has been a defensive anchor and a model of consistency all season.
"It will hurt because he's one of our most consistent performers," Kreis said. "He offers leadership and he offers vocal commands to the players in front of him."
Kreis hopes that Ian Joy or Tony Beltran can step up and fill some of the leadership void on Saturday. He has high praise for Joy, who believes is much stronger mentally at this point in the season than he was when he first joined the team coming out of Germany.
RSL has shown a penchant for rising up and performing well at home against upper-echelon MLS teams. The club will certainly need to have that part of history repeat itself against Columbus if it hopes to avoid a slow fade from contention in the Western Conference.
With how tight the conference has been in recent weeks, the slipups at home have been that much harder to swallow. RSL knows it cannot afford continuing to give away points at home if it hopes to finally secure a playoff spot in October.
"It's tough because the points we could have gotten, we know we could use them at the end," midfielder Javier Morales said. "But we still have an opportunity to go to first place."
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