With RSL clinging to a narrow lead on the road, the ref might as well have signaled for an hour.

Yet with its playoff life perhaps hanging in the balance and a painful history of last-minute meltdowns, RSL never wavered against the hottest team in the league. After a furious 90 minutes featuring all manner of pushing, shoving, kicking and name-calling, it confidently finished off a stunning 3-2 come-from-behind victory that allowed it to keep pace in the pursuit of its first Major League Soccer playoff berth.

"We said before the game, this is our season," defender Nat Borchers said.

And for the moment, it lives on.

Striker Yura Movsisyan scored twice for RSL, and midfielder Javier Morales curled in a free kick from just outside the box in the 59th minute - "unbelievable," Kreis said - to lift the team to only its second victory in 13 road games the season and its first since June 14.

"He was supposed to pass it to me, and I was going to hit it and score," midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. "But he said he's got it, and he sure had it."

The victory keeps RSL in a tie for third-place with rival Colorado in the MLS Western Conference, with 34 points and four games remaining. Only the top three teams in the conference are assured a playoff spot, and RSL still must play two of its last four games on the road.

Clearly, nobody had to explain the scenario after a painful home loss last weekend.

Refusing from the start to back down from any challenge, RSL scored almost immediately and then daringly fought back - almost literally, at times - after falling behind just after halftime on the second of midfielder Darren Huckerby's two breakaway goals for San Jose.

Tempers flared throughout the game, with players nearly coming to blows several times as they scratched and clawed for every ball in front of 10,059 fans at rickety old Buck Shaw Stadium.

"We challenged the players this week," Kreis said. "I kind of took the gloves off a little bit and said, 'It's time for you guys to step up.' For me, big games call for big players to make big plays, and so I put it in their court and they took it and ran with it. Our big players showed up today and made big plays."

The Quakes had been on a league expansion-record nine-game unbeaten streak, constructed mostly since the midseason acquisition of Huckerby and three other starters - striker Arturo Alvarez and Scott Sealy and midfielder Francisco Lima.

But they fell behind quickly on Movsisyan's first goal in the third minute, then played with a 2-1 lead for only two minutes before Movsisyan equalized and couldn't put anything past goalkeeper Nick Rimando once Morales curled in his wondrous game-winner.

"We knew we needed a result on the road," Movsisyan said. "So this is really, really big for us. . . . All the guys are now pumped up. We know we can play good soccer, and we know we can go anywhere and fight. I think this showed a lot of character."

mcl@sltrib.com

Storylines

* IN SHORT: Real Salt Lake earns a dramatic 3-2 victory at San Jose to keep pace in the stomach-churningly tight playoff race.

* KEY STAT: RSL wins just its second road game of the year.

* KEY MOMENT: Javier Morales curls in a beautiful free kick from just outside the box in the 59th minute for the game-winning goal.