SALT LAKE CITY - With a match against Western Conference-leading FC Dallas coming up, Real Salt Lake appear to be in a hopeless situation.
But the team is not about to give up hope, despite the fact that Real is the only team in the league without a win, and despite the fact that RSL have gone six games without a victory to open the season for the second consecutive year.
It was at this very point last season, however, that Real began to turn things around. In the seventh game last season, against the defending MLS Cup champion Los Angeles Galaxy, RSL won their first match of the season and gained their first road win. Now, Salt Lake is setting its sights on another seventh-game victory on the road.
"We're hungry for that first win; we know it, we've got to get it, we've got to start to get points," midfielder Carey Talley said. "It's the one that we've got to get, and we all know that."
Coach Jason Kreis believes Real are not the same team as at the beginning of May, when he replaced John Ellinger as head coach.
"The mentality definitely is changing," Kreis said. "The last couple of times we played, I've seen some very, very good reactions in them after disappointing things happened during the game."
Case in point: against the Colorado Rapids, after giving up an own goal in the opening minutes, Real battled back and forced the Rapids to knock one in on themselves. Another: after going down 3-1 in the 83rd minute to the New York Red Bulls, Real stepped it up and scored a pair of goals after the 90th-minute mark to earn a point.
"The mentality is that we are going after three points this weekend," Kreis said. "We feel like it's our time, we feel like we're moving in the right direction and now it's time to step forward and get three points."
With four wins and more than triple the points in the standings, the Hoops could see Sunday's game as an easy victory.
"They probably are the favorite; right now, we are a team without a win," Talley said. "Any team that comes in to it keeps thinking that they are going to beat us, and I think that they find out that we are a dangerous team."
Real were on the verge of a victory in the season opener against Dallas; with a 2-1 lead, Carlos Ruiz snuck in a goal in the 94th minute and forced a tie. But for much of that game, RSL had the advantage.
"It's a team that we got the better of in the first game that we played, so it's a team that I think we can match up well against," Talley said. "They knew when we played them the first game, in the first minute that we came out, that it was going to be a difficult game for them, so I think we will be all right."
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
