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Sandy • Scoring goals has been a challenge for Real Salt Lake for most of the season, amid injuries and absences that decimated the attacking corps and a schedule that hasn't given them many breaks.
But things might just be looking up.
With first-choice strikers Alvaro Saborio and Fabian Espindola starting to regain their top form, RSL is coming off back-to-back multi-goal games for the first time in three months as it prepares to meet nemesis FC Dallas at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday in the first of two meetings in a four-day span.
"For a regular-season game, this is about as big as it gets," defender Chris Wingert said.
That's because the Hoops are the hottest team in Major League Soccer at the moment, even without injured Most Valuable Player David Ferreira, having lost only once in their past 13 games to emerge as perhaps the new favorite to win the Supporters Shield regular-season title. What's more, they stunningly eliminated RSL from the playoffs last season, and claim one of the league's brightest young stars in goal-scoring midfielder Brek Shea.
But both teams are caught in the unusual position of meeting again on Tuesday, in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup tournament.
The winner of that tournament will earn a berth in the CONCACAF Champions League, and RSL coach Jason Kreis has said he will put "massive emphasis" on getting back to the international tournament his team nearly won earlier this year. Whether that means resting some regulars at home against FC Dallas so they're fresh for the must-win game on the road in a stadium where RSL has never won, he wouldn't specifically say.
"We definitely need to consider rotation of players," he acknowledged.
At least, RSL appears to be snapping out of its scoring doldrums.
The team has scored six goals in its last two league games — albeit against the two worst teams in the MLS Eastern Conference — after managing more than one goal only once in the previous 11 games, in the wake of the devastating ankle injury to star playmaker Javier Morales.
Saborio has scored his first three goals of the season in that span after returning from playing for Costa Rica in the Gold Cup, while Espindola has scored three times in the last five games while battling through a couple of leg injuries. In all, the pair has scored six of the team's last eight goals.
"We were playing bad, now we're getting back with our touch and we're scoring, too, so that's good," Espindola said. "We're finding the net."
That could be crucial against the highest-scoring team in the MLS Western Conference.
The Hoops have not been shut out since a scoreless home draw against RSL on May 22 — the first points for RSL at Pizza Hut Park, after nine straight losses — and have scored 13 goals in their seven games since then.
Meanwhile, RSL is without veteran defender Nat Borchers, who will miss the game serving the automatic one-game suspension that came with his controversial red card in a 3-3 home draw against New England last weekend.
"I'm not worried," Borchers said. "We're going to fill in just fine."
Saborio and Espindola aren't the only forwards who have missed significant time for RSL this season.
Fellow forwards Arturo Alvarez and Paulo Junior have been hurt or away a lot, too, to the point that RSL converted inexperienced midfielders Jean Alexandre and Luis Gil into forwards recently. The team also has continued to watch former Philadelphia Union striker Chris Agosor, who has been on trial hoping to land a contract.
But as happy as he has been to see Saborio and Espindola scoring goals again, Kreis said he has been impressed with his team lately.
"I know that it's easy to get caught up in the statistics of the thing, but I feel like my team has been playing well for now, five, six games in a row," he said. "Maybe the goal-scoring hasn't been there the way it was last year, but I'm not so sure it ever needs to be. I think we just need to continue to try to play the way we want to — which is a very attack-oriented, possession style."
FC Dallas at RSL
P At Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy
Kickoff • Saturday, 7 p.m.
TV • None
Radio • 700 AM, 1600 AM, 106.1 FM
Records • RSL 7-3-6, FC Dallas 10-4-4
All-time series • FC Dallas leads, 11-6-2
Last meeting • RSL 0, FC Dallas 0 (May 22)
About RSL • Back on a five-game unbeaten streak, they have scored six goals in their past two games after scoring only seven times in their previous 10. … Forward Fabian Espindola leads the team with five goals — three of them in the last five games. … Defender Chris Schuler is expected to start in place of suspended center back Nat Borchers. … Goalkeeper Nick Rimando has a 0.80 goals-against average and 41 saves.
About the Hoops • Riding a three-game winning streak, they have lost only once in their last 13 games. … Midfielder Brek Shea is having a breakout season with eight goals, including four in his last four games. … They're playing six of their next nine games on the road. … Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman has a 0.94 goals-against average and 44 saves.