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Sandy • The flat-screen TV inside Rio Tinto Stadium's media room was on mute while airing the images of what was transpiring on the field. While Yura Movsisyan fielded questions following his two-goal performance, Real Salt Lake forward's glance remained transfixed.
His teammates continued to clutch the Rocky Mountain Cup, signifying the result of the night. With his eyes glued on the TV, Movsisyan said, "As you guys could see from our reactions it meant a lot."
RSL's 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids not only brought the Rocky Mountain Cup back to Utah for the eighth time in the past decade, but it also pulled RSL even with the Rapids in the Western Conference standings at 43 points. The Rapids, the surprising success story of MLS in 2016, out front of most teams this year, have two matches in hand heading into the final two months of the season.
The magnitude of the win led the always-confident Movsisyan to bring up another trophy chase that at the start of the season seemed improbable. RSL, at 12-8-7 and 43 points, has four of its past seven home matches at home, where it's undefeated this season.
"We don't have stars — we don't need stars," Movsisyan said. "The team is the star just like it says in our locker room. Everybody works for each other, and of course we have a chance to go for the Supporters' Shield."
Loftier goals than qualifying for the MLS Cup playoffs are being discussed in Sandy. Can RSL make a late-season run to finish with the best regular-season record in MLS in the gauntlet that is the West?
"I think we're in the conversation," RSL coach Jeff Cassar said, "but it's what we do every day preparing … I definitely don't want to add that pressure to the team. I just want to add the pressure to improve and hold ourselves to a high standard."
All seven of RSL's remaining regular-season matches come against Western Conference opponents. Four of those opponents are packed around the playoff red line — either above RSL or chasing. Captain Kyle Beckerman acknowledged that taking a gander at the standings and seeing his team inching closer to the top is an enjoyable sight.
But Beckerman's been in the middle of the Supporters' Shield chase before. Entertaining the chase is fun and all, but as Beckerman cautioned, RSL isn't in a place where it can venture too far ahead of itself.
"When there are three, four, five games left, then we will see if we're in the top for the Supporters' Shield," he said.
The chase, fellow veteran Chris Wingert explained, is about finding the balance between taking care of business each game while also keeping an eye on the standings.
"We're going to keep getting tested," he added. "That's good. That's what we want. We want to be in the big games that matter."
Earlier this week, Cassar told his players that his group had more than merely a playoff run in it. That sentiment stuck with the locker room, as evidenced by Movsisyan's comments after the latest three points earned at home.
"We're going to make a run for it," Movsisyan said. "We have a good team with quality players."
Twitter: @chriskamrani —
Closing stretch
• Wednesday, Sept. 7 vs. L.A. Galaxy
• Saturday, Sept. 10 at Portland Timbers
• Saturday, Sept. 17 vs. Houston Dynamo
• Saturday, Sept. 24 vs. FC Dallas
• Saturday, Oct. 1 at San Jose Earthquakes
• Sunday, Oct. 16 vs. Sporting Kansas City
• Sunday, Oct. 23 at Seattle Sounders