SANDY — At times, John Stetzer’s time with Real Salt Lake has appeared to be going in slow motion.

As a rookie in 2013, the Maryland graduate played almost exclusively with the RSL reserves, totaling only 33 minutes in two appearances with the first team. His sophomore season saw substantial improvement, checking in for 273 minutes that included three starts, but a fractured tibia suffered during RSL’s friendly with Club Tijuana cut his season short in August.

But the 24-year-old midfielder pressed forward, fighting back and regaining his spot in the lineup in time for 2015 where he's played in seven matches with two starts before Saturday night’s visit from former boss Jason Kreis and New York City FC (1-7-4).

And Stertzer picked a perfect moment to shine, too.

Stertzer scored his first career MLS goal midway through the first half, and Alvaro Saborio added another just four minutes into the second half as Real Salt Lake (4-3-5) thumped New York City FC, 2-0, in front of a soldout crowd at Rio Tinto Stadium.

“It feels great,” Stertzer said of his first goal, before adding quickly, “I’ve said it before, though, the most important thing is getting three points. I’m really happy about that.”

Stertzer started in place of Javier Morales, who was on the bench recovering from a concussion suffered May 1 against San Jose, and midfielder Jordan Allen, who is Australia with the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team ahead of the U-20 World Cup next month. But Stertzer, a third-year player from Fairfax, Virginia, made good use of his time, tallying his goal just 25 minutes into the match and finishing the night with two shots and several quality chances before making way for Morales, who entered the game in the 62nd minute.

Performances like Saturday encouraged RSL head coach Jeff Cassar, who said even more should be coming from Stertzer.

“He did everything we asked and more,” Cassar said. “John is a very talented player, and I think we are just scratching the surface of what he is able to do. Now it’s about continually backing that up and continuing to get better.”

Stertzer wasn’t the only one who pleased his coach after the win: Goalkeeper Nick Rimando posted his 120th career shutout; Morales played his first competitive match in a month; and Cassar even gave injured forward Joao Plata a one-minute roll out — the Ecuadorian striker’s first official match of the season after preseason foot surgery to repair a fifth metatarsal.

When Morales entered the match around the hour mark, the stadium-record crowd of 20,801 erupted in applause for him and Stertzer. Ditto when NYC defender and former RSL stalwart Chris Wingert exited in the 81st minute.

The veteran defender admitted the return was a little strange, stating he’s played with RSL captain Kyle Beckerman for a decade going back to the duo’s time with the Colorado Rapids. Despite the result for his current team, Wingert had nothing but praise for RSL, its fans and his time in Salt Lake City.

“It is a strange feeling, but we know how the business works, and I went back to New York, a good opportunity for me to be closer to my family and be a part of a great club like NYCFC,” said Wingert, who exchanged jerseys with Beckerman and took a jog around the field after his team’s loss. “RSL was really great to me all along and even beyond the end. They still are great to me. I miss everybody here, and I’m thankful for the time I got to spend with a class organization in Real Salt Lake.”

The roar of the crowd was at its peak, however, when Plata stripped off his warm ups and trotted onto the field from the center line for the first time this season. Plata, who replaced Saborio, had one shot on goal in one minute and stoppage time of action, and forced the corner kick that killed off the game and the win for the hosts.

“I wanted to get Joao on the field to just say ‘all that hard work you’ve done has gotten you to this moment,’” Cassar said. “We have a lot more work to do on his fitness, but you can see his explosion. He’s a spark plug, and it was great for the fans to spur him on like that, and he spurred our team on.”

Morales called it “a good day for soccer,” both on his Twitter page and in the postgame locker room, as he recounted the return of Kreis, Wingert and several other former RSL standouts to Rio Tinto Stadium.

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Stertzer scores as RSL beats NYCFC 2-0 in Kreis' return

Real Salt Lake welcomed home former boss Jason Kreis and five former players with New York City FC with a 2-0 win in front of a standing-room-only crowd Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.

But at the end of the night, the special atmosphere wasn’t about RSL’s past, it was about the present, and the future, in the case of Stertzer.

“I think there is always extra emotion when playing your old coach,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we were focused on our end, and we weren’t trying to worry about them too much. We focused on our game, and we knew that if we did that, we would get the three points.”

Cassar said the win was among the most complete games RSL has played in 2015, adding the defensive end was as crisp as the offense. Devon Sandoval epitomized Cassar’s “total football” mindset, assisting on Stertzer’s first goal and finishing with three shots, two of them on goal, and a look at goal that was called back on an offside penalty.

Indeed, the game that represented so much of RSL’s past seemed to point to a potentially bright future for the club, showing a group that is getting healthier, stronger and more confident in its youth.

“I think you can see what we can do when we have a full arsenal of players,” Cassar said. “We take one off, and we replace him, and we’re stronger — or at least fresher. We finished with as much quality as we started.”

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