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SANDY — When Jeff Cassar was promoted from goalkeeper coach to replace Real Salt Lake legend Jason Kreis, he had no idea what to expect with his new role.
It was a new realm of responsibility, and a new vantage from which to see his team. But the first-time head coach embraced the challenge and has brought RSL to a familiar place — back to the Western Conference semifinals with the exact same number of points as his predecessor’s final season on the Wasatch Front.
“I’m not going to take any credit. It all goes to the players,” Cassar said. “Obviously the ownership has been unbelievable. This is just a fantastic franchise. All the pieces are here to be successful. I just didn’t want to ruin it.”
While Cassar went to work putting together an entirely new staff that included RSL original and head scout Andy Williams, general manager Garth Lagerwey went to work doing the opposite — keeping together the nucleus of a team that the front office believed still had plenty of fire and success ahead of it. RSL (15-8-11, 56 points) held on to the spine of its team, from goalkeeper Nick Rimando to central defender Nat Borchers to midfielders Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales, and the Salt Lake side has added dangerous new attacking players like wing midfielder Luke Mulholland and a renewed striker Joao Plata, who leads the team with 13 goals as well as six assists.
It’s added up to familiar territory for Real Salt Lake with a semifinal date with the L.A. Galaxy at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday at 6 p.m. MDT on NBC Sports Network.
“I think the biggest goal this offseason was to keep things as constant as they could,” midfielder Ned Grabavoy said. “I think we made less changes to the group than any other year since I’ve been here, and less than other teams in the league. When you have a veteran core like that, you can lean on those guys. When you go through rough patches, it’s that group of guys that you can roll out and have confidence that they will get you points going forward.”
Still, there were a few differences. Cassar brought a new mentality to the team, especially in a desire to play offense starting in the back.
“Jeff came in, and he wanted to add some new ideas and to be more aggressive,” Borchers said. “He wanted to play more out of the back, and I think we’ve definitely done that. We’ve been more aggressive, for sure.”
It wasn’t always easy for RSL. The team went through a few rough patches, such as going winless in five matches through the month of June — a time when RSL missed Rimando, Beckerman and forward Alvaro Saborio to international duty.
But RSL is playing some of its best soccer at the right time, Borchers said. The club’s 2-0 win over Chivas USA in its home and regular-season finale was the third-straight shutout, with each one coming as the team clinched postseason passage.
“Three straight shutouts is good for us,” Borchers said. “The battle is what you are looking for when you are making a playoff run. I think we are heading in the right direction.”
The Galaxy (17-7-10, 61 points) are surging down the stretch, earning a result in 10-straight matches before a loss to FC Dallas on Oct. 12 ended the streak. Still, Cassar isn’t afraid of an L.A. team that finished 1-1-1 against RSL, nor a potential matchup with the Supporters' Shield-winning Seattle Sounders in the conference final.
“We’ve played good soccer against them all; we’re not scared of anyone,” Cassar said. “This group of guys knows what it takes to win in the playoffs, and the last three games, we really amped it up a bit.”
Contributing: Jeremiah Jensen
