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VANCOUVER, Canada — The depth of Real Salt Lake was put to the test Saturday with Diego Luna and Andres Gomez away on national team duty, but a pair of newcomers contributed in their first MLS starts to come away with an impressive road win.
Seventeen-year-old Fidel Barajas had two assists in six minutes, including one to Greek left-back Alex Katranis for his first MLS goal after signing with RSL last month. Barajas became just the sixth player in MLS history to record a multi-assist game at 17 years old or younger.
"Just hard work since the academy days (in Sacramento and San Jose) and the love for the sport," Barajas said of the historic statistic. "I never imagined myself competing at this level at 17. It's really exciting, and it's amazing to have that record under my name. It's just a lot of hard work and dedication to make this happen."
Things looked bleak when the road team went down a goal early at the foot of former captain Damir Kreilach, but the Claret and Cobalt rallied in the second half to score a pair of goals in the 70th and 76th minutes to grab three points away from Utah. It's the team's first road win this season after setting a franchise record with seven last season.
Katranis to the far post!
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 24, 2024
Another excellent team effort and @realsaltlake take the lead. pic.twitter.com/a6KxMU70vY
The first goal came from Anderson Julio on a through ball from Barajas and the second came from Katranis after Barajas got him the ball off a rebound in the box and the outside back hit a one-time curler into the far post for the eventual game-winner.
Katranis said he doesn't usually take that shot or score much at all as a defender, but the ball came to him and he "was tired," so he just decided to go for it.
"The most important is that I helped the team with a goal and we took the three points that we deserved," Katranis said. "We need to go back to work because we have a next game and this is no time for celebrations."
The win moves RSL into a tie for third place in the West with Vancouver and Portland, pending several other results from around the league this weekend. The team returns home on March 30 to take on St. Louis at America First Field at 7:30 p.m. MDT.
