Yes, RSL is in second place behind Houston. However, the next five teams, including Saturday's opponent Chivas USA, are uncomfortably close. The last-place Los Angeles Galaxy, in the midst of a 12-game winless streak, sits only five points behind Real.

Of RSL's six remaining regular-season games, three are at home, including the Oct. 9 christening of the new RSL Stadium in Sandy against New York. The key question for Salt Lake remains the same as it has for much of 2008: Can the team win outside of Utah? Can RSL, 1-9-2 away from Rice-Eccles Stadium, earn enough road points to finally qualify for its first postseason berth?

Also, will RSL continue to have a home-field edge once it moves into the new stadium and its natural grass? Real Salt Lake has seven victories and five ties on the artificial turf. Saturday marks RSL's final game at Rice-Eccles.

"I definitely want real grass, but the turf does give us a real advantage along with the altitude," forward Kenny Cutler said. "But playing in the new stadium will be bigger than having turf.

"We're not going to lose points at home. We'll try and carry that attitude to the new stadium and hopefully get six points over the last two games."

Prior to any thoughts of winning at the new stadium, RSL must concern itself with the two away games at San Jose and New England, as well as blending in the new guys - Will Johnson, Robbie Russell and Clint Mathis - for the stretch run.

"We're working on the things we need to be doing so we don't drop points like the last couple of games," said Johnson, a forward who has one scored goal in three games. "We have a huge game on Saturday, which we're excited for."

The top three teams in each conference qualify for the Major League Soccer playoffs, while two MLS teams with the most points not in the top three receive wild-card berths.

As bewildering as it may seem for a team that has performed so poorly on the road, RSL coach Jason Kreis pointed toward a lack of focus and - curiously enough - overconfidence, following some early-season successes.

For example, last Saturday forward Yura Movsisyan scored in the 38th minute to put Salt Lake in the lead. But thanks to a series of mistakes, New York scored twice in the second half to win. The week before in Los Angeles, RSL led late before the Galaxy came back to tie.

"If we break down the away games, especially in the second half of the season, I'd say we played very well for stretches," Kreis said. "We haven't put together 90 minutes yet, which is a problem.

"It's also a problem that we tend to have a little success too early on road games. We're the team typically scoring first, and I think we've become a little arrogant, a little bit too sure of ourselves, thinking we're just going to kill the team."

Kreis acknowledged that RSL's forwards and midfielders have been inconsistent in front of the goal all season, while mistakes by the back line have given opponents better opportunities. So far, RSL has been outscored 31-30, despite taking 23 more shots on goal.

"I'm not saying we've given up a ton more chances," he said. "But we're being punished for the chances we're allowing. So we have to be more focused, especially on the road."

While making the playoffs remains the goal, going forward in the postseason must mean RSL needs to improve its road efforts. RSL closes the season at Colorado, and that game promises to have playoff implications.

"We need to catch up on some points," said Movsisyan. "We're all tactically smart and physically fit. We have to do the little things a little better."

Movsisyan has a foolproof formula for success:

"Keep them at zero and score more goals."

martyr@sltrib.com

Games remaining

Saturday: Chivas, 7 p.m. (Rice-Eccles finale)

Sept. 27: at San Jose

Oct. 4: at New England

Oct. 9: New York (new RSL Stadium debut)

Oct. 18: FC Dallas

Oct. 25: at Colorado

Standings

WESTERN DIVISION

Houston 10 5 9 39

Real Salt Lake 8 9 7 31

Chivas USA 8 10 6 30

Colorado 9 12 3 30

San Jose 7 9 8 29

FC Dallas 6 9 9 27

Los Angeles 6 10 8 26

Note: 3 points for a win, 1 for a tie

Facts

RECORD: Home - 7-0-5; Road - 1-9-2

GAME-WINNING GOALS: Kyle Beckerman (2), Robbie Findley (2), Javier Morales (2), Fabian Espindola (1) and Tino Nunez (1).