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Sandy • It might be a bit of a stretch to say that everything's going to be all right now for Real Salt Lake.

But it sure won't hurt.

Jean Alexandre scored his first professional goal and assisted on another to lead RSL to a 2-0 victory against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night to snap out of a discouraging stretch and perhaps lay the foundation for another long unbeaten streak at Rio Tinto Stadium.

"We needed this," defender Nat Borchers said.

That was the general consensus after RSL had scored just twice in its previous five games, lost seven of its best players to injury, suspension or international duty and saw its 29-game regular-season home unbeaten streak come crashing down with a loss last weekend.

But against a similarly short-handed expansion team riding a 12-game winless streak and playing just days after its coach was fired, RSL had no problem owning the show. It dominated possession all night in front of 15,174 fans and scored multiple goals for the first time in two months.

"A step in the right direction," coach Jason Kreis said.

Alexandre, for one, made plenty of those.

Normally a defensive midfielder, Alexandre was playing forward for just the second time since college because almost all RSL's other options at that position are gone, and he unlocked the game with a terrific sequence in the 32nd minute.

Taking a one-touch pass from teammate Kyle Beckerman near the edge of the box, he somehow held off one defender at his back, juked around another and beat onrushing goalkeeper Joe Cannon to the far post.

"Golazo!" forward Fabian Espindola exclaimed later.

Alexandre said "only God knows" how he managed to regain control of the "world-class pass" from Beckerman and turn it into the first goal of his career. His first touch knocked the ball into the path of a defender, but the deflection delivered it right back at his feet.

"I've been dreaming about my first goal, and in my mind, it's always like a scrappy ball that hits me off the head and goes in the net," Alexandre said as he lay on a training table with his right ankle packed in ice. "Actually, it was a decent goal, so I'm happy for that."

RSL will take every lucky bounce it can get these days, as it works to regain its rhythm in the wake of losing playmaker Javier Morales to a devastating ankle injury.

It will play five more games in June, and Morales won't return until at least September.

"I was pleased with the competitive spirit of the guys, from minute one to minute 90 tonight," Kreis said. "We did a lot of really positive things, in my book. Still room for improvement. Still a couple of steps forward to make."

Kreis was especially pleased for Espindola, who scored the insurance goal in the 79th minute by splitting two defenders and running onto a sharp pass from Alexandre. Racing up the middle of the field, he coolly fired a left-footed shot past Cannon to finally earn a reward for all his hard work in creating chances.

"We needed that — three points at home," Espindola said. "That was huge."

Goalkeeper Nick Rimando made a couple of wondrous saves near the end to preserve his sixth shutout of the season, and RSL improved to 6-2-2 for 20 points, while dumping the Whitecaps to 1-6-7 for 10 in the basement of the MLS Western Conference.

"We have to work that hard if we want to win games," Kreis said. "When we don't work that hard, we won't win games. And when we do work that hard, we'll win most of them." —

Storylines

R IN SHORT • RSL gets back on the winning track with a 2-0 home victory against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

KEY STAT • RSL launches 24 shots, compared with just six for the Whitecaps.

KEY MOMENT • Jean Alexandre scores his first career goal in the 32nd minute to put RSL in control.