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SALT LAKE CITY — Real Salt Lake defied expectations with a road win in Week 1, but getting lightning to strike twice in the first two weeks of the MLS season proved difficult for the Claret and Cobalt on Saturday in Seattle.
"We ran into a team who looks to be in midseason form," RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "They were sharp, they were good on the ball, good defensively, really good in transition. They were just sharper, I think, in every phase of play."
The Sounders got a pair of assists from Alex Roldan and kept a clean sheet for the second week in a row to send RSL packing with a 2-0 loss in Week 2.
RSL struggled to get its attack going on the road, with the first shot on goal coming in the 80th minute. Seattle, on the other hand, had eight shots on target in the game and bookended halftime with goals in the 35th and 58th minutes.
Justen Glad kept the Sounders at bay early with a highlight-reel desperation save on the goal line in the ninth minute after a deflection from keeper Zac MacMath bounced dangerously toward goal.
GOAL LINE CLEARANCE BY GLAD #RSLpic.twitter.com/0xqYbv8Qt4
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) March 5, 2023
"The guys fought for 90 minutes, and that's a positive," Mastroeni said. "It's easy to let that game get away, but I thought the effort was fantastic. And again, there's a lot that we need to work on, but the mindset was good tonight."
Seattle kept the pressure up, however, and a perfectly placed ball into the box from Roldan found Jordan Morris' head, and the U.S. men's national team member got his third goal in two games just before halftime.
MacMath continued to be hounded in goal all night, and one of his deflections found the feet of Roldan in the second half, and the Salvadoran found Heber Araujo dos Santos right in front of goal for an easy tap-in to go up 2-0.
RSL returns home next week from its two-game road trip to open the season, taking on Austin FC at America First Field on Saturday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. MST.
"I think the feeling of coming home, and the guys sleeping in their own beds and playing in front of a packed house at (America First Field) will be a welcome experience for us," Mastroeni said. "It'll be good to prepare this week and really dial in on some of the areas that we obviously need to continue to get better at."
