Real Salt Lake capped off a disappointing two-game road swing by getting a taste of its own medicine at the hands of D.C. United. The 4-1 loss mirrored the similar pounding RSL laid on United only a couple of weeks earlier at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Now sporting a fresh set of wounds to lick from consecutive losses, RSL hopes to find the cure for what has ailed the team within the confines of its home field.
Wednesday's U.S. Open Cup play-in game against the San Jose Earthquakes is the first of three consecutive home games for RSL.
Although the match will not offer points toward the MLS standings, RSL coach Jason Kreis said his team cannot afford to treat it with any less importance than a regular season game. With how things unfolded against D.C., he is concerned with getting things flowing on a positive note again.
Specifically, Kreis wants to see his team reincorporate things into its overall attack which worked well for them earlier in the season.
"I just feel we've lost our way a little bit about how we're pressuring," Kreis said. "We've lost our way a little bit about how we're possessing the ball. We've lost our way a little bit about how many scoring chances we're going to create in games. I don't think we did any of those three things well against D.C. United."
RSL struggled to find its way out of hole created when United scored consecutive goals off penalty kicks. All-time MLS leading scorer Jaime Moreno drilled both kicks past Nick Rimando to give D.C. a 2-0 lead that virtually undid all that RSL felt like it had accomplished up to that point.
In the end it proved to be the same old story for the club: a good half and a bad half sandwiched together in a disappointing result.
"It just shows we need to try and hop on teams early when we have the chance," right back Chris Wingert said. "We didn't have a ton of chances in the beginning, but we did have a ton of possession. We need to turn those into good chances and not only chances, but goals."
Recent history indicates that RSL has a good shot at turning things around against San Jose. RSL has posted a 2-1 record on its home field in U.S. Open Cup play-in games over the past two seasons.
Andy Williams helped the team post its most recent victory in qualifying matches for the nation's longest continuous sporting tournament -- a 2-1 overtime triumph over the Kansas City Wizards in 2007 -- when he finished off a give-and-go from then teammate Jeff Cunningham from 15 yards out in the 109th minute.
Still RSL is remaining cautious toward San Jose. The Earthquakes are still in year one of their return to the MLS ranks, and have had to endure a long road swing in the season's first month.
But San Jose managed to snatch its lone victory, a 2-0 decision against Colorado, on the Rapids home field.
In some ways, the team is enigma to RSL.
"They're as a new of an 11 as we are right now," midfielder Carey Talley said. "We have no idea what their side really offers. We've seen them on tape, but we really don't know (how it is) playing against them. I think that's going to be a challenge seeing where we can exploit their weaknesses."
RSL might see lineup changes again against the Earthquakes. Talley will likely sit out after suffering a knee sprain against D.C. United -- opening up a spot in midfield most likely to be filled by Williams.
Rookie defender Tony Beltran could also slide into the starting 11 if Ian Joy or Matias Mantilla aren't 100 percent recovered from lingering injuries that have hobbled them the past couple of weeks.
This will be the first meeting between RSL and San Jose since the 2005 season. The two clubs met four times in league play that season before the original Earthquakes squad moved to Houston. RSL is 0-2-2 all-time versus San Jose.
RSL is hoping for the win column to finally be filled this time around and further hopes such a result will prove contagious to its current three game stretch in Utah.
"We just need to get back in the habit of winning," Wingert said. "I think we're going to approach this game the same way we would a regular season game."
John Coon is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
