SANDY, Utah -- Looking back at their entire season only helped reinforce how close Real Salt Lake came to making the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs after a rough start to 2017.
“One point goes a long way at the end of the season,” goalkeeper Nick Rimando said after Sunday's 2-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City, an ultimately hollow result after victories by San Jose and Dallas kept his club out of the Western Conference postseason field. ”Would have, could have, should have. The reality is we could have got a point in Colorado and tonight we’re onto the playoffs.”
On top of last week’s 1-0 loss to Colorado, which put RSL in a bind going into Decision Day presented by AT&T, head coach Mike Petke didn’t have to look too far to find points he would do things differently to earn.
“Knowing then what I know, now how close we are to making the playoffs, perhaps I bunker in a couple of those [midseason] games," Petke said. "Yes, I think we’re better off as a team because we didn’t bunker so many times, but it’s bittersweet because I would like to be in the playoffs,"
Knowing the only thing RSL could control was their own result, they came out and found two goals in the first half, from Luis Silva and Brooks Lennon, to at least put themselves in the best position they could.
“The focus was there,” Rimando said. “We knew we had to handle our business the other games were out of our hands. We just had to focus really on us, obviously the first half showed that.”
Even with missing out on the playoffs, RSL will take away plenty of good things from 2017.
“There’s a lot to be proud of,” midfielder and captain Kyle Beckerman said. “There’s a lot that we improved on. We found a lot of consistency.”
Petke also found plenty to be proud of, despite not winning a trophy,
“We have had a ton of success this year, from individual things to collective things to organizational things," he said. "At the end of the day I want to win. I want to lift the trophy and the guys led by Kyle want to lift the trophy.”
Nearly four months of sustained good form pushed Salt Lake from last place in the Western Conference to the cusp of the playoffs. Building on that momentum is where the focus will change now that the playoffs are out of grasp.
“Now it’s about perfecting a little bit, do we commit,” Petke said. “Now it’s about figuring out if we have to get more pieces to come in, or if we’re good with what we have. We’re always looking forward.”
