This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Prior to watching Real Salt Lake's come-from-behind victory inside Yankee Stadium Thursday night, Craig Waibel illustrated his way of analyzing a match. It's heavily philosophical — and it could be applied beyond the 90 minutes that take place on the pitch.
"The moments always define the day," said RSL's general manager.
There have been a fair share of defining moments through the first three months of the club's 2016 campaign. And more often than not, RSL has embraced them and responded appropriately.
For a franchise that entered this season with more skeptics than believers, RSL enters Major League Soccer's Copa America two-week break tied for second place in the league at 7-4-2 and 23 points.
That total is already beyond halfway to the club's 2015 total of 41 as RSL remains four matches away from officially reaching the midway point of the 2016 season on July 1. To be injected back into the postseason conversation come late summer, RSL needed to survive nine of its first 13 matches away from Rio Tinto Stadium.
It did, which has been the difference between inching upward in the Western Conference standings rather than a slow slide.
The 3-2 win over New York City FC was RSL's fourth road win in its first nine away matches. In both 2014 and 2015, RSL had four road wins all year. Already at 3-4-2 away from home, RSL is another three points from matching its 2015 road total — and it's the first week of June.
"It's massive," defender Chris Wingert said. "Two wins in five road games is not bad. We'll take it … before a break like this to get a big win on the road is great."
Those deciding moments Waibel described have proved this year's roster is more equipped to withstand setbacks, poor performances and bounce back. The RSL forward corps of Yura Movsisyan, Joao Plata and Burrito Martinez is rounding back into form. Together, the trio has combined to score 13 goals in 2016.
Within minutes of conceding the first goal in the Bronx, Movsisyan's inspired individual effort to trap, turn, muscle off a defender and eventually equalize was the kind of moment coach Jeff Cassar dreamed of when the club finalized Movsisyan's return in January.
In search of a spark in the midst of a lackluster performance, RSL found one. The complexion of the game turned on its head as RSL rallied behind its front line that has the attack lightyears ahead of where it was a year ago. Through its first 13, RSL has 23 goals. In 34 regular-season games a year ago, it had 38 and was shutout 14 times.
For the first time in club history, RSL scored three goals in three consecutive matches.
"Things will happen when they are supposed to happen," Martinez said. "We found a way to pick each other up."
Awaiting RSL are 10 matches in June and July, seven of which come at Rio Tinto Stadium. The headway made in the first three months has RSL set up for a bountiful summer that features nine regular-season home matches through the end of August.
Now it's up to them to keep it going and cash in on more moment-defining days.
"We are in a really good position," Cassar said. "We are 7-4-2, obviously we have a lot of home games coming up and we can now put our front foot forward all the time in games and see how other teams react.
"I am really proud of the grit that the team and staff have shown through what has been a hard stretch, to be fair. I think that we have the best to come in this second half of the season."
Twitter: @chriskamrani —
Real Salt Lake vs. Wilmington Hammerheads
P Fourth round, U.S. Open Cup Location » Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy
Date » Tuesday, June 14
Kickoff » 8 p.m.