RSL navigates tricky July before well-traveled August

SANDY — When Major League Soccer released the 2015 schedule last spring, Real Salt Lake coaches and players noticed a particularly brutal stretch in July that would potentially see the team play as many as six games during the CONCACAF Gold Cup — when it would be missing its all-time leading scorer, club captain and the top goalkeeper in league history based on shutouts.

It turns out there was no reason to worry.

RSL (7-7-8, 29 points) navigated the month to a 4-1-1 record in all competitions, a pair of wins in the U.S. Open Cup to send RSL to its second semifinal of U.S. soccer's national tournament in three years, and a three-point grasp of the playoff line in the ultra competitive Western Conference.

But there's still work to be done.

"I think we are doing a lot of the right things," RSL coach Jeff Cassar said after Friday's 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City. "But we can't stop to pat ourselves on the back or anything. What we need to do is just keep staying the course, doing what is successful for us right now, and that's having a unified team with everybody working hard, playing defense and offense. We have to stay level-headed through the stretch we have coming up."

Goals in back-to-back games from interim captain Javier Morales and a resurgent Joao Plata have brought the Salt Lake squad back from what was termed a devastating and unacceptable 3-1 loss at Colorado on July 11.

That Morales was the spearhead of RSL's attack over the past 30 days isn't a coincidence, according to midfielder Luke Mulholland.

"It's very similar to the way the Lakers play: Just give it to Kobe Bryant," the Englishman said. "We're kind of the same — if in doubt, just give it to Javi and watch what magic he can do."

But the loss was one of only two times that RSL has failed to muster at least a point since defeating Kansas City 2-1 on June 21. Since that fateful day — the only loss by Kansas City in an 11-game stretch — RSL has been on a roll.

It didn't start out rosy, either. Salt Lake hit the road with a 1-0 loss at New York Red Bulls in a rare nine-man defeat that saw red cards to Morales and Demar Phillips. RSL returned home, but could only muster a 2-2 draw with Columbus at Rio Tinto Stadium on June 27.

But with July came a clean slate and new promises. A rare Tuesday night match against L.A. Galaxy in the Open Cup provided RSL with the chance to erase the stoppage-time defeat in the Mile High City, and the Utah side has put together three-straight wins for the first time in more than a year.

"Let's finish this month out with a bang," Mulholland remembered telling his team before the annual Pioneer Day match. "We knew what a tough schedule was coming, and we just said, 'let's try to finish the month strong.' I'm delighted to do that.

"Now we just have to take care of our bodies and mentally prepare for this upcoming round trip around the world."

While team captain Kyle Beckerman and goalkeeper Nick Rimando return this week, RSL will start August with a match at hot-and-humid D.C. United — one that will likely see the starting forward tandem of former RSL strikers Alvaro Saborio and Fabian Espindola, who both had a goal in United's 3-2 win over Philadelphia Union on Sunday.

Just three days later, RSL opens CONCACAF Champion's League play at Guatemala's Municipal. The group will then catch a flight to Vancouver for an Aug. 8 match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC, followed by a trip to Kansas City for the Open Cup semifinals on Aug. 12.

The first of two home games of the month will feature an Aug. 15 homecoming for former RSL men Nat Borchers and Will Johnson, but RSL will visit Garth Lagerwey and the Seattle Sounders on Aug. 22 before finishing the month at FC Dallas' Toyota Park on Aug. 29.

Pull out the sky miles, because August is going to be busy with more than 16,000 miles of travel in one month. Nearly 11,000 of those miles will come in the first 15 days of August alone as RSL makes arrangements to traverse three countries.

"I feel bad for (Beckerman and Rimando), coming from all their travel (with the U.S. men's national team) to all our travel coming up," backup goalkeeper Jeff Attinella said. "But it will be good to have those guys back in the locker room and back on the field."

Attinella, who led RSL to three shutouts in July, won't be relegated to the bench much with the return of Rimando — even though he joked about taking a "comfortable seat" with MLS's all-time leader in shutouts returning to his club.

"Without a doubt, he's going to factor into it," Cassar said of Attinella. "We have five games in 15 days, a lot of travel. I think everyone is going to contribute on the field.

"Jeff has earned the right to get those games without a doubt. It's great. I love having competition at every position, and guys stepping up with the opportunities they are given. It makes my job a little harder."

Getting a total-team effort — a return to RSL's mantra that "The Team is The Star" — was the most important factor in July's run, according to Morales. The importance of Friday's win was more important than anybody thinks, he said.

"For this group of guys to win three games in a row at home, missing a lot of guys, you see Attinella playing great; Luke, (Olmes) Garcia, (Devon) Sandoval — everyone on the field is playing great," Morales added. "That makes the team better.

"If we have any chance to win something this year, it's because we need the team to stay together and play as a team."

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