One year after Mike Petke’s RSL head coaching debut, his team yet again seeks a new beginning against Vancouver

There was no need for added time with the thick snow dumping on the turf, casting an opaque tinge on the match. The final whistle, sounding after 90 minutes ran out on the clock, announced Real Salt Lake’s first win of the 2017 season.

“A lot [got lifted] off our chests,” RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando recounted at training Friday. “We didn’t have the best start last year and to get that win at home, something that we’d been working hard for but the results weren’t coming, to get that win under Mike at home, just felt good.”

This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of Mike Petke’s RSL coaching debut, a 3-0 win over Vancouver. That victory, six matches into the season, was a preview of things to come — they just wouldn’t come to fruition until the second half of the season.

RSL had to stumble to a 5-12-2 record and turn in the one of the worst 180-minute performances in MLS history before it hit found its identity under Petke.

“It was the low [point] of my career,” RSL coach Mike Petke said of the back-to-back matches at Houston and Dallas in which RSL conceded a combined 11 goals. “And the reaction we had after that, moving forward, was excellent.”

Then, just a month removed from the Texas trip, RSL secured a rout of its own, beating the Galaxy 6-2 at StubHub Center. RSL rode that momentum to finished out the season on an 8-3-4 run, missing the playoffs by just a point.

The snowy conditions in the Vancouver match a year ago were far from normal, but many of the characteristics of RSL’s play in that game would propel the team to success later in the year. Albert Rusnák, who would go on to become the club’s golden boot-winner that season, scored his first goal for Real Salt Lake. RSL took 19 shots, six on target. It edged Vancouver out in possession.

Almost exactly a year later, Real Salt Lake faces Vancouver again. This time, the Whitecaps (3-1-1) are coming off a road win against a dangerous Columbus team and have proven to be expert counter-punchers.

“For us it’s very much how they can hit us dangerously with their counterattack, with their pace, with their speed, with their creativity,” Petke said, “so if we’re not getting immediate pressure in transition, we have to get back and get in the block.”

The Whitecaps are known for their ability to score goals in transition, and they further strengthened that dangerous attack over the offseason by trading for 6-foot-3 designated player Kei Kamara. He’s leading the team in scoring with three goals.

“He’s a big body up front, he challenges for everything,” Rimando said. “He works hard and he’s around the goal, he’s good with his feet, he’s got pace. So he’s definitely someone that we have to look and circle on the board because he’s a handful.

“They also have a lot of guys we have to circle. [Defender Kendall] Waston is a big boy they’ve got on free kicks. Felipe [Martins] has been running the midfield for them, and just got to be ready because they’re a good team.”

RSL (1-2-1) isn’t in as bad of shape as it was this time last year. The Salt Lake side grabbed its first win of the season against the Red Bulls three weeks ago, and likely would have claimed three points on the road to start the year if it hadn’t been for a late own goal at Dallas.

Still, they haven’t met expectations either, after hopes were heightened by last season’s second-half run. A 5-1 loss to LAFC in RSL’s home opener stands as the low point of a the disappointing start.

RSL isn’t entering this weekend’s home game against the Whitecaps winless, but like last year, it is looking for a new beginning.