HERRIMAN, Utah (Mon., Nov. 9, 2026) - Real Salt Lake’s Zach Booth was recognized today as one of MLSsoccer.com’s Matchday 35 Best XI honorees, while RSL Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni was named to guide the fictional weekly selection.
Making his first start since being sidelined with a mid-August hamstring injury, Booth, a native of Eden, Utah, provided the playoff-clinching, game-winning goal in the 13th minute of Saturday’s 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy. A former RSL Academy man and younger brother of teammate Taylor Booth, Zach finished the non-Playoff portion of his 2026 loan from Excelsior (The Netherlands) with three goals across all competitions, including two in MLS regular-season action, scoring in 1-1 draw at Minnesota on May 23, as well as in a 4-0 Leagues Cup victory over Atlante CF in early August.
RSL boss Mastroeni joins the younger Booth in the Matchday 35 honor guard, his selection, substitutions, adjustments and the xDAWG mentality routinely expressed by the Claret-and-Cobalt shining through on Decision Day. RSL bounced back from a loss the previous weekend at San Jose by earning yet another result, suffering consecutive losses just 25 times in 222 games managed by Mastroeni in five-plus years, winning 38 of those games and securing 19 draws. RSL also scored first in Saturday's must-win contest, improving to 61-12-23 during the Pablo era when drawing first blood.
With RSL’s home win Saturday - improving RSL to a 13-4-4 (W-L-T) record on Utah soil in 2026 - the Club extends its postseason qualification streak to six consecutive seasons, all under Mastroeni, the longest active streak in the Western Conference and second only to Orlando City (seven years).
Real Salt Lake’s Decision Day win and subsequent playoff clinching - buoyed by a 5-2-1 (W-L-T) finish over its final eight games, rising from 13th in the West to ninth - also sends the Club into the 2027 Leagues Cup, making RSL just one of three Western Conference sides (Seattle, Portland) to appear in all five editions of the annual MLS v. Liga MX tourney.
Real Salt Lake now observes the FIFA international window prior to its West Wild Card matchup at Lumen Field to be played on Thursday, Nov. 19 in Seattle against the Sounders, with kickoff set for 8:00 p.m. MT, streaming on Apple TV and broadcast on Fox Sports 1.
The complete Matchday 35 results for MLSsoccer.com’s Team of the Matchday can be found below.
F: Sam Surridge (NSH), Gonzalo Tapia (CLB), Liel Abada (CLT)
M: Albert Rusnák (SEA), Kaick (DAL), Braian Ojeda (ORL), Cavan Sullivan (PHI)
D: Mihail Gherasimencov (VAN), Lukas MacNaughton (STL), Zach Booth (RSL)
GK: Andrew Thomas (SEA)
Coach: Pablo Mastroeni (RSL)
Bench: Brian Schwake (NSH), Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty (RBNY), Patrick Yazbek (NSH), Adri Mehmeti (RBNY), Nectarios Triantis (MIN), Kristoffer Velde (POR), Cheikh Sabaly (VAN), Quinn Sullivan (PHI), Robert Lewandowski (CHI)
