Surviving on road a tall order for RSL

Now comes the hard part for Real Salt Lake -- getting a result on the road.

Having dispatched the defending champion Columbus Crew 1-0 at home in the first leg of their Major League Soccer playoff series, RSL must at least tie in the second leg at Crew Stadium on Thursday night to win the series and advance to the MLS Eastern Conference final against either New England or Chicago.

"We just need to stay focused, stay organized, and capitalize on any scoring chances we get and we'll be all right," midfielder Kyle Beckerman said.

True enough.

But that figures to be a monumental challenge for a team that has played poorly on the road all season and failed time after time down the stretch to earn the points

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RSL was just 2-11-2 on the road during the regular season -- it lost 3-1 at Columbus in July -- and lost three straight road games in the final weeks that could have helped it avoid having to sweat out the final day of the season before finally learning it would reach the postseason.

"Fundamentally, there's nothing that we lack that prevents us from winning road games," general manager Garth Lagerwey said. "It's all in our heads."

To add to the challenge, the Crew insist they haven't been discouraged by having their defensive effort spoiled by RSL's Robbie Findley scoring in the 88th minute in the first leg, even though they have scored only once in their last five games -- four of them losses. The Crew were 9-2-4 at home during the regular season, too, and at one point had a 24-game home unbeaten streak.

"It doesn't change," defender Frankie Hejduk said. "Pretty much we're going to come out firing and we're pretty solid at home, so we're really not too worried about it. ... We have to win at home, and that's what we wanted to do anyways."

Coach Robert Warzycha probably will return playmakers Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Alejandro Moreno to the lineup for the Crew, after trying to shake things up by leaving them on the bench in a move that surprised RSL.

The series will be decided on combined scoring. So if the Crew win by only one goal to tie the series on aggregate, the teams will play a 30-minute overtime period, followed by a penalty-kick shootout, if necessary.

"If we go in there and play right, and our forwards finish the goals how they've been finishing them, I think we'll be OK," goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "We do have to be organized, though, going in there, because when you put Schelotto in there, it's a different team."

mcl@sltrib.com