Four Wins in Last Eight Down Stretch Allow RSL to Clinch Ninth in West;
Winner of Wednesday’s West Wild Card Match Advances to First-Round Series w/ San Diego;
RSL Clinches Western Conference-Best Fifth Consecutive Postseason Appearance w/ 2-2 Draw in St. Louis;
RSL Win Wednesday Secures First Round Audi MLS Cup Playoff Leg Two at America First Field on Saturday, Nov. 2;
RSL w/ Eight Wins, Two Draws in Last 13 at Home Since June 1;
Tickets Will Be Available at ***www.RSL.com/tickets*** IF RSL Advances
HERRIMAN, Utah (Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025) – Real Salt Lake (12-17-5, 41 points, 9th West / 19th Shield) finished its 2025 Major League Soccer regular season with a 2-2 win at St. Louis CITY SC on Saturday’s MLS “Decision Day,” clinching its Conference-best fifth consecutive postseason berth, advancing to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons (2020 the lone exception), and for the 15th occasion in the last 18 campaigns since first qualifying in 2008 (the 2015 and 2017 non-playoff years are the other outliers).
This Wednesday, RSL travels to face Portland Timbers FC (11-12-11, 44 points, 8th West / 17th Shield) at Providence Park near downtown Portland, with the winner advancing to participate in the best-of-three game First-Round Series against San Diego FC, this year’s Western Conference reg. season champion and the No. 1 overall West seed. Should RSL get past Portland, it would play Leg One of the First Round series Sunday, Oct. 26 at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego (7:30p MT kickoff), with the lone potential home RSL playoff game this year occurring on Sat., Nov. 1 at America First Field (also a 7:30p MT kickoff, with tickets available at www.RSL.com/tickets with a Wednesday victory or shootout win).
Wednesday’s RSL contest is available via Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, with Tony Husband and Ross Smith (ENG) joined by Andrew Wiebe on the call, as are Carlos Suarez and Jesus Acosta (SPN). Iconic RSL voice David James will call the game live from Portland for KSL Sports Radio (1160 AM / 97.5 FM), with Nelson Moran in his 21st season as RSL’s Spanish radio home on both 102.3 KDUT FM / 106.3 FM KBMG.
Real Salt Lake and Portland have met on three prior Audi MLS Cup Playoff occasions, the last occurring in the 2021 Western Conference Final played at Providence Park, a 2-0 Timbers victory. RSL eliminated Portland from the MLS postseason in both 2019 (a 2-1, single-game elimination in the West Semifinal stage) and 2013 (a 4-2 aggregate goal series win after 180 minutes, including a 1-0 road victory in the second leg of the West Final).
RSL is unbeaten in its last three games played against the Timbers, drawing twice at home in 2024 and 2025 and winning in the Pacific Northwest earlier this season. Back on July 16, RSL won 1-0 at Portland, utilizing a late game-winner from Diogo Goncalves, set up by an assist from substitute Ari Piol. The defensive clean sheet that night was the seventh of nine overall in this 39-game campaign, with outstanding RSL goalkeeper and Captain Rafael Cabral appearing in each and every one of 3,510 minutes played this year across MLS regular-season, Leagues Cup and Champions Cup. Cabral stopped four of the nine penalty kicks he faced this season in regulation, along with an outstanding performance in the dramatic PK shootout against Club América on July 30.
Real Salt Lake striker Victor Olatunji was named to MLSSoccer.com’s latest MLS “Team of the Matchday” for his two-goal performance Saturday in RSL’s 2-2 “Decision Day” draw at St. Louis. Olatunji’s brace Saturday night was RSL’s fourth of the 2025 campaign, with two previously in MLS reg. season action (both by Diego Luna) and one by Braian Ojeda in Leagues Cup.
Both of Olatunji’s goals came in the first 32 minutes on a rainy night at Energizer Park, giving RSL a 2-0 lead just past the half-hour mark. Taking a precise through-ball from playmaking DP Diogo Gonçalves to break open the defense, Olatunji’s 60-yard sprint onto the ball enabled him to calmly slot home his second of the match for his first-ever MLS career brace.
In just the 17th minute of the match, Olatunji scored his third of what is now four goals in eight games for RSL, streaking in alone on the keeper on a sequence begun by Paraguayan international Braian Ojeda. Olatunji stayed just onside in a perfectly-timed run, taking the centering pass from teenage homegrown Zavier Gozo and running to the right post, cutting his low line-drive shot back across goal, past St. Louis GK Roman Bürki.
Olatunji’s opening goal Saturday enabled RSL to score first for the 23rd time in 39 games across all competitions this year, with the draw improving RSL to 11 wins and five draws against seven losses when drawing first blood. RSL’s July 26 home victory over San Jose was its lone come-from-behind win throughout 2025 in MLS reg. season, Leagues Cup and Champions Cup action.
The 2-1 win at home back on Sept. 13 against Kansas City snapped a three-game losing streak for RSL, its longest of the year and the longest since August, 2023; since former USMNT star and MLS veteran Pablo Mastroeni seized the Claret-and-Cobalt head coaching reins in August, 2021, RSL has dropped consecutive games just 17 times in 181 matches during the Mastroeni era, winning 31 and drawing 16 in games following a loss, including Saturday’s draw at St. Louis CITY, again displaying RSL’s xDAWG / “bounce-back” resiliency.
The 3-1 victory at San Diego on April 26 marked Mastroeni’s 100th career coaching win across all competitions for the two Rocky Mountain Cup competitors, RSL (2021-present) and Colorado (2014-17). The former U.S. World Cup stalwart has now amassed 108 wins, 121 losses and 81 draws across all competitions for the Utah/Denver-based sides. Last June in Kansas City, Mastroeni earned his 50th win across all competitions with RSL in a wild 4-3 road decision, with the 2-0 reg. season win over LA Galaxy on April 5 marking his 50th MLS victory with RSL. Since August, 2021, his arrival in Utah, Mastroeni’s all-time RSL coaching record is now 71-65-45 (W-L-T).
With this year’s qualification for the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs, Mastroeni became just the sixth manager out of 205 all-time in the 30-year history of MLS to advance his team to the postseason in each of his first five seasons at the helm.
During each of Pablo’s previous three full seasons at the RSL helm, the Club increased its annual point total (47 in 2022, 50 in 2023 and 59 last year), while increasing its Western Conference table position as well (7th in 2022, 5th in 2023 and 3rd last year). The 2024 MLS regular season reached an all-time high of 59 points for RSL, which finished third in the Western Conference and sixth overall in the then-29-team MLS Shield race, while also establishing a new all-time scoring high of 65 goals.
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