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SANDY — Tony Beltran will be looking for a little hometown love when Real Salt Lake meets the L.A. Galaxy at StubHub Center on Saturday.
The 23-year-old defender, who was born in Claremont, California, will have a suite filled with friends and family supporting him when the two rivals meet for the third time of the MLS season Saturday at 8:30 p.m. MT.
And for Beltran, it will mean doing something RSL (7-3-7, 28 points) has rarely accomplished.
“I think playing against L.A. is always a good challenge, for me individually and for the entire team,” Beltran said. “They’ve got such good, attacking players. It’s a good exercise for us; we try to maintain possession, and they’re a team that exploits teams on the counter attack. We have to be mentally strong and aware of this game’s positions and prevent that. It’s an exercise, and one I relish.”
RSL takes a 1-0-1 record against the Galaxy into the team’s final meeting and will be looking to cap an unbeaten regular season against the Galaxy for only the second time in team history. The all- time series is about as close as it can get, with RSL maintaining a narrow 11-10-6 record in the regular season, and a dead-even 12-12-7 including the playoffs.
The Galaxy (5-3-6, 21 points) will be feeling confident, though U.S. men’s national team defender Omar Gonzalez is unlikely to be back in the mix after suffering an ankle injury during the World Cup in Brazil. Still, standout strikers Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan have the Galaxy on a six-match unbeaten run.
RSL has won three of the last four meetings at the StubHub Center.
Salt Lake will return two of its own national team members in captain Kyle Beckerman and goalkeeper Nick Rimando for what head coach Jeff Cassar calls a six-point game.
“Any time you are head-to-head against the Western Conference in the second half of the season, it’s a six-pointer,” Cassar said. “It’s a place we do extremely well, and as long as we keep 11 players on the field, I think we’re going to have a good shot.”
RSL took a 1-0 win over the Galaxy in the season opener in Los Angeles, and the two sides drew level at Rio Tinto Stadium, 1-1. Salt Lake lost 1-0 to Chivas USA in its lone loss in Southern California in 2014.
This time, though, RSL will arrive with Beckerman and Rimando in tow. The team manages a goal every 43 minutes with the defensive midfielder, and a goal every 135 minutes without him.
That’s a +10 goal differential with Beckerman, and a minus-4 goal differential when he is not on the field.
“We’re approaching it as the second half of the season,” Beltran said. “We’re coming off a bit of a lull, but we got a good, positive result last week. It’s a huge week during practice week to have Nick and Kyle back. Their skill, their energy, their leadership is invaluable.”
That energy has rejuvenated Beckerman, who arrived in Salt Lake City less than 48 hours before playing 90 minutes against New England on July 4.
“I wanted to get into the routine as quick as possible,” Beckerman said. “Sleeping in your own bed and being out with the guys, just being a part of us moving forward in the season.”
Having the full contingency available (minus the team’s No. 2 scorer Alvaro Saborio) makes things easier on the squad, if not the head coach.
“I think it just creates a competitive atmosphere. When you have a competitive atmosphere, it makes everybody better,” Cassar said. “It makes my job harder, but it makes everybody better when they have to compete every day and earn the starting lineup and the traveling squad. When we’re competitive in practice and pushing each other, it usually translates into the game.”
Ned Grabavoy, Robbie Findley and Sebastian Velasquez are nearly recovered from injury as well, Cassar acknowledged. The recoveries come at a good time, Beltran added.
“We look to L.A., and at the end of the season, you sometimes look back at a few key games, and if you let points slip away, that could be a trophy,” he said. “We’re approaching this one as a must-win.”
