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SANDY — With a bitter memory of the Los Angeles Galaxy’s first visit this season, Real Salt Lake was determined not to make Saturday night a repeat, as the Major League Soccer Western Conference rival took the pitch inside Rio Tinto Stadium.
The Salt Lake club made sure that didn’t happen.
RSL secured its 3-1 victory over the Galaxy Saturday night off two late second half goals from forward Olmes Garcia in the 84th and 92nd minutes. The victory gave RSL an additional three points to its season.
“To beat a team like L.A., who’s got some great players and is so good at counter attacking and spaces when they counter attack, I just think it’s a great result for us,” said RSL defender Nat Borchers.
The Galaxy, having come off a big loss the previous weekend, showed its hunger for another win inside Rio Tinto off a first-half equalizer goal from forward Landon Donovan. The goal came just one minute after RSL midfielder Khari Stephenson put RSL on the board. The Los Angeles club couldn’t find the net after that, despite a handful of second-half chances.
“It was two aggressive teams, two very good teams and two teams competing for a massive three points in the west,” said RSL defender Tony Beltran. “We both wanted it; we came out hungry. It was back and forth, especially in the first half, but in the end, I was glad to see the three points — we deserved it.”
I think this is just a big confidence game for us to get two wins in a row now at home and to play like we did and dominate the game. It was fantastic and it's just going to go a long way towards moving up the table, moving up the standings as we go.
–Nat Borchers
The win gave the Salt Lake club more than three points, but additional confidence by putting a bit of a win streak in its MLS regular season — only the second the team has had this season.
“We were really mature tonight on both sides of the ball and thought we were tremendous,” said Borchers. “I think this is just a big confidence game for us to get two wins in a row now at home and to play like we did and dominate the game. It was fantastic and it’s just going to go a long way towards moving up the table, moving up the standings as we go.”
The victory extended the Salt Lake club’s season to 8-5-3 and 27 points, securing RSL the second slot in the Western Conference.
The Claret and Cobalt have a short turnaround as they return to U.S. Open Cup play on Wednesday, hosting the Charleston Battery in a fourth-round match. RSL advanced in Open Cup play with a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Silverbacks on May 28. A win on Wednesday will give RSL the hosting rights to a fifth-round match June 26.
Following an off week in MLS play next weekend, RSL will return to its pitch to host the Seattle Sounders June 22 in the final MLS match of its current lengthy home stand. Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
