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Sandy • Nobody on either side seems interested in overstating the importance of an early regular-season game, even if Real Salt Lake and Sporting KC are the two best teams in Major League Soccer so far, sitting atop their respective conferences with five wins and 15 points each.
Preview of the MLS Cup title game?
Nobody wants to hear it.
But there still is a potentially important milestone at stake for RSL, if it can win its third straight road game to start the season by taking down Sporting KC at Livestrong Sporting Park on Saturday night.
It would be in first place.
Not just in the MLS Western Conference, either. That's somewhat familiar. No, RSL could stand atop the entire league for just the third time in franchise history, potentially giving it a whole new outlook as it pursues the Supporters Shield regular-season title and the MLS Cup championship.
Of course, in fitting with the understated nature of the buildup to the game, coaches and players have insisted that's not a big deal.
But midfielder Will Johnson did acknowledge that "it's nicer to play from ahead than when you're behind, trying to catch up.
"Obviously," he said, "the last two years, we've been trying to play catch-up to L.A., and we've gone on some runs and got close to them, but we've never been able to get top of the table. So if we can get up there and keep winning, and give ourselves some room for error — which we haven't had the past couple of years — obviously, that would be a nice thing."
The team actually has reached the top of the standings, twice.
But only for a moment.
RSL led the league for exactly one day late in the 2010 season, and for four days last April, before the best start in franchise history gave way to devastating Champions League disappointment and the overwhelming crush of injuries.
Doing so again, however, might afford it a longer stay, and perhaps cement the perception of RSL as the league's top title contender.
Victory at Sporting KC would assure RSL of owning a piece of first place for at least a week, since Sporting could merely pull even with it, if it were to win its game at Vancouver on April 18. Both teams then play on the road next weekend — RSL at San Jose, and Sporting at Portland — with only San Jose close enough now to catch up by that point.
"I don't think that means a whole lot right now," coach Jason Kreis said.
Of course not.
Both teams are riding high, though, with Sporting KC the only unblemished team in the league — it has allowed just one goal all season — and RSL in position to set a franchise record for the best seven-game start, with victories in its first two road games already.
Kreis has credited Sporting KC with being a "very disruptive" team, pressuring its opponents into mistakes and crowding the midfield in a way that "puts us into perhaps another place, where we have to decide if we can play another way."
"We look at it as a big challenge," defender Nat Borchers said. Sporting has "dominated everybody else in the league this year."
But RSL has been rolling, too, having beaten both the Los Angeles Galaxy and Portland Timbers on the road, by scoring three goals in each game. Kreis believes his team will test a defense that has not allowed a shot on goal in a league-record 245 minutes.
"When you watch the games, they're allowing chances at goal," Kreis said. "But the quality in the final third of their opponents hasn't been great yet. So I think, for us, if we continue to do what we have been doing, we won't have a problem. We'll get some shots on goal."
The big question, though, is whether it will reach the top of the table, too.
Twitter: @MCLTribune —
Real Salt Lake at Sporting KC
P At Livestrong Sporting Park
Kickoff • 6:30 p.m. MDT
TV • CW30
Radio • 700 AM, 1600 AM, 102.3 FM
Records • RSL 5-1-0, Sporting KC 5-0-0
Regular-season series • Sporting KC leads, 6-5-3
Last meeting • RSL 1, Sporting KC 0 (Sept. 17, 2011)
About RSL • It's trying to win a third straight road game for only the third time in franchise history. … It has not allowed a goal in 205 minutes. … Forward Fabian Espindola leads the team with three goals, but six others have scored. … Midfielders Javier Morales and Ned Grabavoy are not expected to make the trip, as they recover from a strained hamstring and dislocated rib, respectively. … Three of the four goals it has allowed were scored between the 61st and 75th minutes. … Goalkeeper Nick Rimando, midfielder Kyle Beckerman and defender Jamison Olave have played every minute of the season so far.
About Sporting KC • It's the first team to start 5-0-0 without the aid of shootout victories since the 1996 inaugural season of Major League Soccer. … Midfielder Kei Kamara and forward C.J. Sapong each has scored three of the team's eight goals. … Midfielder Graham Zusi leads the league with five assists. … It has scored first in four of its games. … Defender Seth Sinovic trialed with RSL last season, but failed to land a job after being released by New England.