Early penalty holds up as injury-stricken Real Salt Lake take road draw off Colorado

SANDY — Through injuries, trials and a trip to a hostile road environment, head coach Pablo Mastroeni's group got it done Saturday night.

Pablo Ruiz scored a penalty kick to end the first half, Colorado pulled one back to open the second, and Real Salt Lake claimed a point from its Rocky Mountain Cup opener with a 1-1 draw at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.

In an inopportune start to the season with more than a dozen injuries scattered across the lineup, RSL (3-1-2, 11 points) earned a point on the road against a Colorado side that currently sits fifth in the Western Conference.

"I was very happy to be back on the field again, to help the boys as much as I can. It was a great point on the road," said Damir Kreilach, the midfield talisman who himself is making his way back from a calf injury. "We all know that Colorado is a very good team, and this is a tough place to play here. But we did exactly what we wanted.

"We have to be very satisfied with the way we were defending, and we had a couple of great chances to put it away. It's a great point on the road, and every point counts."

Colorado out-shot Salt Lake 5-1 in the first half, but the visitors took the early advantage after 45 minutes of regulation. RSL had just 42% of possession, but Justin Meram drew a foul in the penalty area in the 45th minute. Ruiz stepped up to the spot, drove the ball left as Rapids goalkeeper William Yarbrough went right, and RSL took the 1-0 lead into halftime.

The lead didn't last long, though, as Colorado's Lalas Abubakar finished a dangerous ball inside the six-yard box to put it past Zach MacMath in the 56th minute.

And that was all they got.

The visitors went to the Denver suburb, survived 16 shots and six on goals from the Rapids (2-1-2, 8 points), and survived with a road point despite just 37% possession in total and two shots on goal.

Oh, and Salt Lake was playing with 10 injuries and a makeshift roster that included two hardship replacement players in Real Monarchs players Bobby Pierre and Pierre Reedy.

"It's just unbelievable," Kreilach told KMYU after the match. "All the young guys that were training in preseason with us, I'm very impressed with the way they are doing things. I think what Pablo brings to this team is this mentality of hard work, and we are a team that is hard to play against us.

"We've showed so far who we want to be, what is our identity: it's hard to get 3 points against us. And we are on a great path to continue with the performances we've done so far."

Still, 17-year-old center back Jaziel Orozco — who became the youngest player to start an MLS match in Real Salt Lake history, beating out Freddy Adu's previous record of 17 years, 10 months and five days by five days — made his first career start in MLS play, Meram started and played more than 60 minutes just three days after being featured for Iraq in a World Cup qualifier, and Salt Lake took its fifth point from four road matches to open the 2022 season.

"What an amount of poise that a 17-year-old kid has, going away to the rival ground and putting on a performance like he did tonight," said MacMath, who made five saves on the night. "It goes to show how much the academy means, how much the Monarchs mean, and working your way up the ladder to tonight.

"A lot of credit to Jaziel, who put on a show tonight."

More than a half-dozen players have already made their MLS debuts for Real Salt Lake in 2022, including Orozco, Reedy and fellow debutant Bode Davis. But the youngsters simply don't quit.

"With our situation, we were up against it," Mastroeni said. "What this game is all about is making sure you don't hang your heads because it was a poor performance.

"Tonight, the guys stuck their chests out, held their heads high, performed really well, and I couldn't be more proud of them."

RSL next hosts Toronto FC on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT at Rio Tinto Stadium.

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