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SANDY — Real Salt Lake finished its part of the 2014 Major League Soccer season in third place in the Western Conference on Wednesday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
And now, it waits — for the rest of the league to catch up.
Alvaro Saborio put the Salt Lake side ahead with a penalty kick in the first half, and RSL went on to beat Chivas USA 2-0 after Kyle Beckerman’s third goal of the year. RSL will have the weekend to see how its playoff seeding, first-round opponent and path back to the MLS Cup final all shape up.
Despite an offseason disparate with coaching changes and a new behind-the-scenes staff, RSL finished the regular season at 15-8-11 and 56 points — the same number as a year ago in Jason Kreis’ final season.
“We’re extremely blessed to have an incredible group of men in the locker room,” first-year head coach Jeff Cassar said. “As far as the staff, we really came together quickly and started in the preseason. We just jelled, and it’s a great group to work with. We’re all passionate about the team, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do. It’s exciting.”
RSL was in danger of being swept by Chivas USA for the first time since 2007, but Saborio converted from the spot in the 35th minute to give the hosts all the scoring they would need. After Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy flew out of the box to punch away a Javier Morales free kick, a foul in the box would send the Costa Rican international to the spot for his second goal since returning from a foot injury suffered before the World Cup.
The result was another clean sheet for starting goalkeeper Nick Rimando, RSL’s third-straight shutout, and what could be the final win for RSL over the side currently known as Chivas USA (8-19-6, 30 points)
“It’s very important, for the guys in the locker room,” Cassar said. “I thought tonight that we played both sides extremely well. We were aggressive with our play, with our defending, and to get a shutout in that game is huge.”
Kyle Beckerman scored his third goal of the year, finishing a pass from Joao Plata right in front of Kennedy to put RSL up 2-0 and help ice the game in the 74th minute, something RSL has at times struggled to do during the long regular season.
RSL can now turn its attention to the postseason, the seventh-straight trip for the Salt Lake side and longest active playoff streak in MLS.
“We always find ourselves in this position a little bit, in a position where the Supporter’s Shield is a little out of reach, so we have these last few games where we are jockeying for position, but we know the season is about to start,” midfielder Ned Grabavoy said. “Now that this game is over, I think the thought process is to flip the switch. We think the season is beginning now.”
The Salt Lake side’s opponent — and seed for the Western Conference playoffs — will be decided this weekend when L.A., Seattle and FC Dallas play. RSL will either face a one-off, midweek game in the Western Conference knock-out round or a 2-3 seed matchup against the loser of this weekend’s Galaxy-Sounders clash at CenturyLink Field.
With 56 points potentially making for fourth place in the conference, defender Nat Borchers said it speaks to the strength of the left side of the league.
“L.A. and Seattle are running away with the (Supporters Shield) race, and I think that the quality in the West is so good,” he added. “You look at Dallas and L.A., Seattle, Vancouver, Portland. Those are some very good teams.”
Regardless of its final postseason position, the core group of RSL veterans said they are ready for the postseason — whether it means starting at home in a 4-5 play-in, or facing one of the West’s best.
“I think we’d be fooling ourselves if we said we didn’t want the 3-seed,” Grabavoy said. “You’re going to have to play another game, with another chance that a team could knock you off. But in saying that, if we’re in that game, I don’t think the focus changes at all.
“We’ve won plenty of playoff games and big games. If we ultimately end up in that game, it is what it is.”
