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SANDY — Real Salt Lake's 3-1 loss at Colorado on Saturday night wasn't the first road loss of the year — the Salt Lake side has done that five times this year
But head coach Jeff Cassar said it was one of the worst, adding the result was simply "unacceptable" for his team.
After going up 1-0 on Sebastian Jaime's fifth goal of the season, RSL (5-7-8) collapsed underneath two stoppage-time goals and saw Jaime sent off with a red card in the final five minutes of the match.
"We had the opportunity with three points in our grasp," Cassar said after the match. "We gave up a goal on a set play, which is unacceptable and naive.
"It's about being disciplined, it's about making good choices on the field, and we lost our cool."
Before Jared Watts and Juan Ramirez scored stoppage-time winners for the Rapids — including Ramirez's strange goal on an open net in the 97th minute, Drew Moor equalized for Colorado in the 81st minute.
That play, more than anything, never should have happened, Cassar said.
"You can't give up set-play goals," he said. "You've got to stay with your mark and we didn't do that on that particular play. We had an opportunity to tie it up, but we've got to move on quickly."
RSL returns home to host L.A. Galaxy in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at 8 p.m. Tuesday. But the loss on the weekend to RSL's Rocky Mountain Cup rival will sting.
"We've had some frustrating (losses), but that one hurts a little bit," goalkeeper Jeff Attinella said. "We had them, and I'll put my hands up as well. We weren't good enough the last 10 minutes.
"But we've got to shake it off. We've got a big one on Tuesday and we have to bounce back."
Cassar said two late goals is not a good time to perceive a "wake-up call" for a team sputtering toward last place in the Western Conference standings. For veteran defender Tony Beltran, the key is to move on quickly — to an Open Cup match that could feature newly acquired midfielder Steven Gerrard with the surging Galaxy.
"I don't think it matters," Beltran said when asked if Saturday's result was a wake-up call. "What matters is just moving on to Tuesday. It's a big opportunity in the Open Cup. We're only a few games away from competing for a trophy, so that is where our focus needs to be. We'll get better there."
