They finally proved him right Saturday.

Employing a new formation to improve its play on the outside, RSL broke free from its two most embarrassing streaks by scoring early and holding on to beat Chivas USA 1-0 in front of 10,573 fans at the Home Depot Center. RSL had never beaten the Goats on the road - it was 0-6-1, entering the game - and was the only team in Major League Soccer that had not yet won on the road this season.

"We're a young team, we're new, so we're still learning," midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. "We're going to have some more bumps in the road. But that was a big step for us. . . . We raised the bar today."

The players had to kill off four minutes of stoppage time before they could celebrate by pumping their fists and exchanging backslaps and hugs, but just like that, they were back in the thick of the playoff race.

The victory vaulted the team over Chivas, from fifth place in the MLS Western Conference into a tie for third with a 4-5-3 record and 15 points, with still four of its next five games at home.

Just as important, it proved RSL could hold a lead in the most unfriendly of environments.

Sure, there were plenty of anxious moments as Chivas pushed to equalize - Salt Lake City's Justin Braun had a shockingly open breakaway for Chivas in the 63rd minute, for example, only to fire his shot right at goalkeeper Nick Rimando, and teammate Sacha Kljestan sent a header just wide in the 73rd - but ultimately, the team took a huge stride.

"I'm just so, so proud of the guys," Kreis said. "We said at halftime, 'Here we are again, in the spot that we talked about multiple times this season, so let's show everybody - let's show ourselves - that we learned something.' And the guys did a fantastic job with that. They've taken a big, big step forward."

Striker Robbie Findley gave RSL the lead in the 34th minute, running onto a beautiful through-ball from Beckerman and eluding former teammate Carey Talley - traded to Chivas last month - and goalkeeper Dan Kennedy near the top of the box to fire a left-footed shot into the top right corner of the net for his second goal in three games.

"You can only go on for so long," Findley said. "We've been working hard at this, doing a lot of things to get to this point. I mean, you put in the hard work, it's going to pay off."

Findley was playing out wide on the left as part of a 4-5-1 formation that included midfielder Matias Cordoba making his first start for RSL.

Striker Yura Movsisyan made his first appearance in awhile, too, replacing Cordoba on the right side of the midfield in the 61st minute after missing five games because of knee surgery - though he left the game after just 26 minutes after aggravating the injury.

"We knew all along we could do it on the road, it was just bad luck and bad concentration," Rimando said. "But we proved it today. We played 90-plus, which we needed to do, and we got the result that we needed to get. It's definitely uplifting and something that's going to carry us, for sure."

mcl@sltrib.com