Real Salt Lake wrapped up its second three-match week of the season first falling to Vancouver at home, then drawing in Austin, and finishing with a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Galaxy in Carson. Saturday night’s defeat extends RSL’s winless streak to seven matches—the longest such streak under Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni in his near five-season tenure with the Claret-and-Cobalt.
The man in charge, coach Mastroeni, made three changes from the midweek matchup in Austin, making two personnel switches on the back line and one in the midfield pivot. Defenders Sam Junqua and Philip Quinton, replaced Justen Glad and Alex Katranis along with midfielder Nelson Palacio replacing Pablo Ruiz, slotted into the starting XI. Justen Glad was unavailable after suffering a concussion in the final play of the match in Austin.
The Claret-and-Cobalt found itself on the back foot after conceding in the 17th minute. Real Salt Lake created several attacking opportunities early on but, in keeping with the night’s theme, failed to find the back of the net. RSL outshot the Galaxy 20-10, yet only four were on target—highlighting the offensive frustrations faced by Mastroeni’s men. While searching for an equalizer, the Galaxy struck again on a quick counter. A ball sprayed from the center of the pitch to the left side set up an LA winger in a 1v1 with Noel Caliskan, who was beaten before the shot was rifled into the top-right corner past a helpless Rafael Cabral. Trailing 2-0 in the 55th minute, RSL was unable to mount a comeback.
Zavier Gozo: Encouraging Display from RSL’s Emerging Spark
Zavier Gozo continues to impress in his breakout campaign with the first team. His promising run of form began with a fortunate turn of events—earning a starting role following an injury to Dominik Marczuk. Since then, the rising U-20 USMNT standout has seized the opportunity, making his eighth consecutive start for Real Salt Lake.
The Utah native entered Saturday night’s matchup just nine days after graduating high school and seven days after netting his first MLS goal. That memorable moment came at America First Field against MLS leaders Vancouver Whitecaps, where he scored just 50 seconds into the match — RSL’s seventh-fastest goal in MLS play — after driving at the defender and calmly placing a shot through the defender’s legs and past the goalkeeper.
RSL’s first real chance of the match came when Diego Luna threaded a slicing ball through the Galaxy defense, picking out Gozo in stride. The young talent raced in on goal but saw his relatively tame effort saved by the LA goalkeeper.
Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni emphasized the significance of the moment: “Early in the game, Gozo’s on a breakaway—again, goals change games. If that goes in and it’s 1-0, we’re having a completely different conversation.”
Gozo went on to register three shots, two of which were on target—accounting for half of RSL’s shots on frame for the night. After logging back-to-back 90-minute performances against Vancouver and Austin, he exited in the 78th minute, making way for fellow academy graduate and debutant Aiden Hezarkhani.
The RSL youngster now departs to join the United States U-20 national team camp during the FIFA international window.
From Academy to Action: Aiden Hezarkhani Makes RSL & MLS Debut
After being named to the matchday squad for three consecutive games, after leading the Real Monarchs with four goals in six appearances with MLS NEXT Pro side tagging on one assist, Aiden Hezarkhani’s moment finally arrived in the 78th minute—making his debut against LA Galaxy in his hometown.
Hezarkhani became the 224th player to appear in an MLS match for RSL, doing so in the club’s 665th game over its 21-season history.
Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni spoke about Hezarkhani, saying, “Aiden has been training with us all week—he’s been fantastic, playing extremely well with the Monarchs. What I told him before the game was, ‘Listen, go work your tail off and enjoy yourself, that’s it.’ What I wanted to see was him play with the same creativity and belief as if he were out there with the Monarchs.”
What’s Next for RSL?
Multiple RSL players are departing for international duty, including midfielders Diego Luna (USMNT) and Dominik Marczuk (Poland U21), as well as forwards Ari Piol (Australia U23) and rising star Zavier Gozo (USA U20).
The Claret-and-Cobalt will return home following the international break to host D.C. United on Saturday, June 14. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT at America First Field in Sandy. Tickets are available for purchase here.
