This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sandy • Nat Borchers took a knee at the dead-center spot of Rio Tinto Stadium. The longtime Real Salt Lake staple, now clad in Timber green, stared 60 yards north at the guy he used to cover for, as the guy he used to play alongside had just been shown a straight red card, resulting in an penalty kick.
It essentially snapped the longest active postseason streak in Major League Soccer Wednesday night in RSL's 1-0 loss to Portland.
When Fanendo Adi sent Nick Rimando the wrong way and put the Portland Timbers up in the 55th minute, Borchers sprinted to celebrate as the 19,457 in Rio Tinto looked on at what was a microcosm of RSL's 2015 season in a must-win match on Wednesday evening.
RSL entered the last month of the season understanding it had zero wiggle room. In a season-defining match, the mistakes that bubbled to surface throughout much of the season surfaced again when the club could least afford it.
The two center backs were out of position on a long clearance, which left Jamison Olave in pursuit of Portland forward Lucas Melano. Olave clipped Melano outside the box on the breakaway and was sent off as referee Juan Guzman pointed to the spot.
Adi buried it, and likely RSL's season.
Mathematically, RSL hasn't been eliminated yet, but it enters the final two matches of the season out of the sixth playoff spot in the West by six points featuring a minus-7 goal differential.
Translation: Odds too steep to overcome.
"It wasn't a good game for us," Javier Morales said. "I just want to say I'm really proud of my team."
Noted among Portland supporters to be a continual thorn in their club's side, Rimando continued that trend in the first half. No effort was more crucial in keeping RSL even than his save 17 yards from goal in the 44th minute.
Olave initially didn't notice a deflection that sent the ball rolling toward the RSL box. Adi did. He pounced on the loose ball, leaving Rimando forced to spring off his line and disrupt Adi's approach.
It worked. Adi rushed his attempt right at Rimando nearly outside the penalty box before the ball was cleared by Luke Mulholland.
Earlier, Diego Valeri delivered a low, curling cross in search of Adi in the 21st minute, and found him. The towering Timbers forward got on the end of it and flicked a ball to the near post from five yards out, but Rimando was there to get a hand on it.
Before the second half started, Morales — known to not exude much emotion on the field — turned in the direction of his teammates and motioned to give it all. But two minutes into the half, Joao Plata pulled up injured and in the 54th minute, with the Timbers on the front foot, Melano's breakaway did in RSL.
Down a man and needing at least one goal, RSL pressed best it could, but nothing came about the final 35 minutes.
"A lot of emotions," Tony Beltran said. "Dejected. Frustrated. We knew what we had to do. We failed."
Twitter: @chriskamrani