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Houston • To have reached a low point in a season spent near the bottom of the table, things must be very low.

According to coach Mike Petke, Real Salt Lake hit the low point on Wednesday night, losing for the sixth time on the road and allowing a season-high for goals in a 5-1 loss to the Houston Dynamo.

Joao Plata scored for the second game in a row for RSL (4-9-2), which finished with nine shots on goal. But that was the slightest of redeeming factors in a lopsided loss to the Dynamo (7-5-2)

"Even in the losses we had before, we have four wins … and the losses didn't feel that devastating to me because there were good things in those losses," Petke said. "There were new concepts we were trying to get to them. Players that perhaps aren't used to doing certain things, so you could take certain things from those losses. Tonight, you really couldn't take much."

There was plenty of blame to go around on Wednesday. There was an own goal in the third minute by Justin Schmidt, an uncontested shot by Alex Lima of a corner kick for the second goal, and that the breakdowns were a team effort didn't comfort Petke.

"I could give you clichés and make something really quirky up and innovative, but I guess we just crumple it up like a piece of paper and look forward to [FC] Dallas [Saturday] because there's really not much to take from this game," Petke said. "I'm not talking about everyone on this team. Nine shots on goal and something like thirteen or fifteen shots and we lose 5-1. You've got to just crumple it up like paper and throw it away."

The next question is where does the club go from here on the heels of their worst loss of the season.

"I'm not a psychiatrist, but my point is it's a mentality. Guys have to figure a way, guys have to man up," Petke said. "We were looking at Houston's defense and the scouts were saying — no offense to them — that they're not great. They're good, solid players, but the one thing they are is men; every one of them. They didn't give anybody an inch tonight. You don't have to have great nights of playing when you have men that get into you every step. We didn't have that."

"It stems from years ago when we dismantled something that was working and we're still trying to bring it back," Beckerman said. "It took time to get to where we were and it's going to take time to get back." —

Storylines

O Real Salt Lake gives up a season-high five goals in one game.

• Sixth road loss of the season ties RSL for most in the league with Colorado.

• Joao Plata scores RSL's goal on a 63rd minute free kick.