This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Two games in a row, Real Salt Lake has played far from its best, and now it faces a must-win Major League Soccer playoff game against FC Dallas without one of its best players.
So are these guys worried?
Naaaah.
The defending MLS Cup champions insist they're hardly freaking out at the prospect of having to overturn a one-goal deficit at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night, after losing the first game of the two-game, total-goals series 2-1 on the road last weekend.
"Win or lose or draw, it's still only halftime," midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. "Nothing to worry about."
That's because RSL is riding a 32-game home unbeaten streak in all competitions, and has beaten the Hoops four straight times in Utah.
And though midfielder Javier Morales will miss the game while serving a suspension for his red card last weekend, the team maintains it's confident with the depth it has cultivated — especially against an FC Dallas team that will be without midfielder Atiba Harris, suspended for his own red card.
"At home, we'll take those numbers," defender Nat Borchers said. "We have obviously shown our depth this season, so we're ready for them. … Everybody in the locker room is feeling positive that we're going back only down a goal."
The larger question, though, is whether something is going wrong for RSL after such a remarkable season.
The team played what some players called its worst game of the year in its regular-season finale at Colorado — an undeserved 2-2 draw at rival Colorado — before failing to follow its game plan at FC Dallas following a perfectly orchestrated opening 15 minutes that included the opening goal.
Scoring first usually has all but guaranteed an RSL victory this season; the team was 15-1-1 in league games in that situation before last weekend.
But coach Jason Kreis wondered whether Fabian Espindola's strike in the fifth minute helped lull his team into a complacency that kept it from working as hard as he believes it must to control a game with its style of possession soccer.
"We didn't handle it correctly," he said.
Maybe worse, the record-setting defense is showing some cracks.
Since allowing just five goals during the first 13 games of a team-record 14-game unbeaten streak — including only three in six road games in that span — RSL has conceded four goals in its past two games. The swift and aggressive Hoops could have added more, too, had it not been for goalkeeper Nick Rimando making some impressive saves.
"We just have to go home and win," defender Chris Wingert said. "Easier said than done, but we know what's on the table. It's a shame we gave up two late goals because I felt like we battled hard. But we just have to come back and win."
The odds would seem to favor RSL.
In addition to its staggering home unbeaten streak, the team scored 31 of its 45 regular-season goals during 15 league home games this season (though the pace eased to seven goals in its last five home games), and beat opponents — including FC Dallas — by multiple goals at home seven times.
It also has been steeled by a rugged second-half schedule and the dramatic make-or-break pressure of last season's championship run.
So a mere one-goal deficit in front of probably a roaring sellout crowd at home?
RSL can handle that … right?
"I would hope so," Kreis said. "This team, over the last two years … has been put into an incredibly large number of difficult situations. This is no different."
Here's the situation
• Real Salt Lake plays FC Dallas in the home leg of their two-game Major League Soccer playoff series at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night.
• The series will be determined by total goals, so RSL must win by two to advance, after losing 2-1 at FC Dallas last weekend. If the teams are tied on aggregate after 90 minutes — that is, if RSL leads by only one goal — they will play a 30-minute overtime period to determine the winner, followed by a penalty-kick shootout, if necessary.
• The series winner will advance to play either the Los Angeles Galaxy or the Seattle Sounders in the single-game MLS Western Conference final. —
RSL gets CONCACAF opponent
• Real Salt Lake will face the Columbus Crew in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.
• The teams will meet at Columbus for the first leg of the two-game series between Feb. 22-24, with the return leg at Rio Tinto Stadium between March 1-3.
• Exact dates and start times have yet to be determined.
• The winner of the series will advance to meet either CD Olimpia of Honduras or Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica in the semifinals, starting later in March.