Real Salt Lake Falls 2-1 at San Jose in Halloween Horror

SAN JOSE, California (Sat., Oct. 31, 2026) – Real Salt Lake (12-6-15, 42 points, 10th West / 19th MLS Shield) fell 2-1 away at San Jose Earthquakes (14-10-9, 52 points, 3rd West / 10th MLS Shield) Saturday, snapping its three-game win streak and four-game unbeaten run in the Halloween matinee at PayPal Park. The match dropped RSL below the MLS Cup Playoff line to 10th place in the West, setting up a must-win scenario next weekend at America First Field in Sandy against LA Galaxy. Today’s lone goal for RSL arrived via a well-placed header from Uruguayan international Juan Manuel Sanabria, via an assist from veteran MLS DF Sam Junqua.

RSL Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni made two personnel and two positional changes to the starting XI from RSL’s last four unbeaten matches, forced to replace the suspended Designated Player Morgan Guilavogui, inserting Junqua into the lineup and pushing Sanabria into Guilavogui’s 10 spot. Making his first start in five months was RSL Homegrown and veteran leader Justen Glad, now fully recovered from his adductor injury suffered May 23, subsequently moving defender Philip Quinton to the left side of the back three.

The match kicked off immediately when RSL midfielder Dominik Marczuk fouled the opposition on the penalty line, resulting in an awarded free kick. San Jose quickly converted the opportunity, with Ousseni Bouda sending a right-footed shot curling through RSL GK and Captain Rafa Cabral and into the bottom left corner in just the second minute of the match, giving the home side an early 1-0 advantage.

Marczuk attempted to respond by taking a left-footed shot from outside the box that was ultimately blocked. In the 12th minute, Sanabria sent MLS rookie Sergi Solans a perfectly-timed pass, however Solans was unable to convert. 

After a quick transition down the pitch, San Jose found a second goal in the 17th minute, when Benjamin Kikanović doubled the home team’s lead to 2-0 with a right-footed shot from close range.

Salt Lake responded almost immediately, finding the back of the net when Junqua sent a cross to Sanabria in the middle of the box, the Uruguayan powering the header home for his second goal of the season, giving RSL hope in the 23rd minute.

Cabral made critical back-to-back saves in the 25th and 27th minutes, preventing the Earthquakes from lengthening the lead. 

Entering the second half, RSL came out swinging with back-to-back attempts on goal by midfielder Stijn Spierings and Glad in the 47th minute. 

The Claret-and-Cobalt continued to attack, with midfielder Noel Caliskan sending a right-footed shot towards the box that went just over to the right in the 79th minute. In the 85th minute Caliskan made another attempt on goal, with a left-footed shot that was deflected by an Earthquakes defender.

After making every attempt to equalize, RSL ultimately fell to the Earthquakes, 2-1, snapping its three-game win streak and putting the Club just below the playoff line entering its final regular-season match. 

Real Salt Lake will now return home for the 2026 regular season finale to host LA Galaxy next Saturday, November 7, with kickoff set for 5:00 p.m. MT at America First Field for the Decision Day showdown. Tickets for the match can be purchased here.

GOAL-SCORING SUMMARY: 

SJ 2  : 1 RSL

SJ: Ousseni Bouda (Unassisted) 2’: After being awarded a free kick, Bouda converted the opportunity with a right-footed shot from an acute angle through Cabral.  

SJ: Benjamin Kikanović (Jamar Ricketts) 17’: After a fast-break counter up the pitch, Ricketts found Kikanovic, who took a right-footed shot from close range into the bottom left corner.

RSL: JuanMa Sanabria (Sam Junqua) 23’: Junqua sent a cross from the left side to Sanabria in the middle of the box, the Uruguayan heading the ball into the bottom right corner.

NOTES FROM SJ 2 : 1 RSL

• Today’s loss prevents RSL from achieving a perfect nine-point week in MLS action for the first time since April, 2012

• The setback in San Jose snaps RSL’s two-game road win streak, now dropping the Club to a 3-11-3 (W-L-T) road mark in MLS in 2026

• With one game remaining in the 2026 MLS regular season, RSL striker Sergi Solans needs three goals next Saturday against LA Galaxy to match the all-time MLS rookie scoring record of 17 goals (Cyle Larin, Orlando, 2015)

• A hat trick against the Galaxy would also enable Solans to match the all-time RSL single-season scoring mark of 17 goals, set by Alvaro Saborio in 2012 and matched by Cristian Arango in 2024

• Today’s substitution appearance by DF Lukas Engel marked his first since suffering a hamstring strain Sept. 9 in Houston

LINEUPS:

Real Salt Lake (5-4-1): Rafael Cabral ©; Sam Junqua (Aiden Hezarkhani, 45’), Luc de Fougerolles, Philip Quinton, Justen Glad (Lukas Engel, 60’), Dominik Marczuk (Zach Booth, 45’) (Alex Katranis, 70’); JuanMa Sanabria; Saba Lobjanidze, Stijn Spierings (Ari Piol, 70’), Noel Caliskan; Sergi Solans

Subs not used: Mason Stajduhar, Kobi Henry, DeAndre Yedlin, Colin Guske

Head Coach: Pablo Mastroeni

San Jose Earthquakes (5-3-2): Earl Edwards; Benji Kikanović (Jack Skahan, 45’), Daniel Munie, Dave Romney, Reid Roberts, Jamar Ricketts; Ian Harkes (Ronaldo Vieira, 60’), Niko Tsakiris (Beau Leroux, 60’), Nick Fernandez ( Eduard Löwen, 61’); Preston Judd (Luka Jovanović, 81’), Ousseni Bouda 

Subs not used: Angus Gunn, Jack Jasinski, Max Floriani, Vitor Costa de Brito

Head Coach: Bruce Arena 

STATS SUMMARY: SJ / RSL

Shots: 14 / 15

Shots on Goal: 5 / 4

Saves: 4 / 3

Corner Kicks: 5 / 5

Fouls: 13 / 12

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:

SJ: Reid Roberts (Yellow Card - 46’) 

SJ: Niko Tsakiris (Yellow Card - 60’)