A jinx that has hounded Real Salt Lake since their inaugural MLS campaign -- their inaugural match -- finally came to an end in convincing fashion.
But Real's 2-0 victory against the New York Red Bulls was not merely about finally getting a win over their longtime nemesis. It was the significance of that victory that captured the attention of RSL above all else.
When the Claret-and-Cobalt walked off the field at Rio Tinto Stadium on Wednesday night, they did so with three points that effectively extended their quest to return to the MLS Cup Playoffs for at least another game.
"It means we're still alive and we live to fight another day," RSL coach Jason Kreis said.
It seemed fitting that Salt Lake ended the match on the positive side of the scoreboard for the first time in 11 meetings with the Red Bulls based on how effectively it dominated the game.
RSL created 21 shots on goal compared to just six for New York. Out of that tally, Salt Lake put 10 on frame, while the Red Bulls managed a single shot on goal.
Still, RSL could not finish its multitude of chances until Andy Williams broke the ice in the 80th minute. Robbie Findley set the play up on a counter attack when he streaked down the right wing and crossed the ball to the far post, finding an unmarked Williams as he neared the left post. From there, the midfielder volleyed it perfectly under New York 'keeper Danny Cepero to give RSL a 1-0 lead.
Kreis felt like his team did a great job of controlling the game up to that point and felt like Williams made the sort of veteran plays to give RSL enough of an extra boost to get it over the top.
"We probably needed just a little bit of an extra spark and, I think, fresh legs at that point, and Andy Williams was exactly what the game needed," Kreis said.
The floodgates effectively opened for the Real offense after that and Fabian Espindola tacked on an insurance goal in the 90th minute. He tracked down a long ball and corralled it just outside the area. Then, after sidestepping an oncoming defender, Espindola curled a high-flying right-footed shot inside the right post for a 2-0 advantage.
Williams attributed his game-changing goal that set everything in motion to a little bit of luck on his part and a heavy dose of persistence on the team's part. They resisted the temptation to let frustration overtake them after repeatedly putting the ball on frame -- only to come away empty-handed each time.
"We kind of figured if we kept knocking, the door was going to open and fortunately it did tonight," Williams said.
In some ways, how the game unfolded mirrored elements of what transpired when Salt Lake and New York clashed in last season's Western Conference Championship. The Red Bulls preferred to sit back for the most part, while RSL worked to push the tempo and create as many chances it could in New York's half.
The big relief for RSL came in rewriting the script to obtain a much different outcome.
"It was the exact same game as the Western Conference final last year," midfielder Will Johnson said. "It kind of had that feel to it again. But this time we managed to break through."
Now the test for Salt Lake will be finding a way to keep moving forward in what promises to be a challenging road environment at Toronto. Still, Real are not feeling pressure in getting one step closer to realizing their postseason ambitions because the team is treating these final regular season games as if they are a part of the playoffs.
In a sense for them, they actually are.
"The way we're looking at it is we're already in the playoffs," defender Tony Beltran said. "It's single elimination. So we focused on this game tonight and now we're going to go to Toronto and focus on that game and do the same things -- the right things -- and we'll be all right."
John Coon is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
