This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

When asked how to describe his reaction to the immense unlucky start to 2015 — minus the expletives, of course — Real Salt Lake technical director Craig Waibel said he couldn't because there'd be nothing else. That's how frustrating it was Sunday evening to learn that Joao Plata, RSL's leading scorer in 2014, suffered a fractured fifth metatarsal in his left foot in the first training session of the year.

Players reported for the official start to the club's 2015 preseason Sunday at the Soccer City indoor complex in Draper. It was a normal training session, but the artificial turf caught RSL's most dynamic goal-scorer toward the tail-end of the outing. Waibel said it was a "non-contact" injury and that Plata took an awkward step that led to the first dealing of adversity of the season that hasn't even begun.

Head coach Jeff Cassar said Sunday after training that Plata would immediately be taken to get X-rays on his left foot. By Sunday evening, RSL learned that it would be missing an key contributor due to the same injury that has befallen Alvaro Saborio, Devon Sandoval, Chris Schuler and former outside back Chris Wingert in recent seasons.

Plata will undergo surgery at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center Monday afternoon, performed by RSL team physician Dr. Andrew Cooper. The timeline for recovery? Three-to-four months.

"There's a lot of magic numbers that get thrown around," Waibel told the Tribune Monday morning. "In its simplest form, we expect him to recover from this injury well before the end of the season, if not before the middle."

Now Cassar, the coaching staff and the players head to Casa Grande, Ariz., to officially kickstart their drive toward the 2015 Major League Soccer season without their star of 2014. And certainly in a cruel, ironic twist of fate, the club announced the outright purchase of Plata's contract and signing him to a multi-year deal that makes him a Young Designated Player. His emergence a season ago led to 13 goals, six assists and national team call-ups with Ecuador where he scored twice during international friendlies last fall.

"Obviously it's disappointing anytime you lose a player, regardless who it is to an injury," Waibel said. "At the same time, we like our roster, we like our options and we like the players that are behind him. We're obviously going to get a much better look at Olmes Garcia, Sebastian Jaime, Jordan Allen — you take Plata out of attacking options for a while. The expectation was that Joao would start obviously, but now it's time for one of these other guys to step up like Joao did last year and show that they can be a high-impact player for us."

Naturally, the search will be on for a silver lining. Saborio returned from his fifth metatarsal injury in three months. So, can there be a silver lining to this injury considering the timing?

"Sure," Waibel said simply. "There is a silver lining when you lose a player to injury. The glass-half-full version is, it's a short-term injury and it gives other guys chances to step up and prove they can earn minutes until Joao is healthy. There's a lot of glass-half-full ways to look about this: Injuries are going happen, you can't predict him. It happening on the first day of training is a little strange, but it gives Jeff a chance to have other guys to prove they can have big minutes. It gives Jeff the full preseason to plan to play without Joao. When he gets added back into mix, he's going to be a dangerous option."

RSL's forward corps is down to Saborio, Sandoval, Jaime and Garcia. As Waibel alluded to, Homegrown player Jordan Allen can play anywhere on the field, despite being listed as a defender on RSL's preseason roster.

Waibel said he wouldn't be surprised to see one or two forwards brought in to be looked at during training camp, but that all remains contingent on how Cassar sees the current forward corps performing in preseason.

-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani