SANDY, Utah (Sat., Sept. 27, 2025) – Real Salt Lake (12-16-4, 40 points, 9th West) secure the full three points in a 1-0 home win over Colorado (11-15-7, 40 points, 10th West) Saturday night at America First Field. RSL’s back-to-back home wins the last two Saturdays are their first since mid-July, allowing RSL to control its destiny the next two weeks away at Seattle and St. Louis in its pursuit of a Western Conference-best fifth consecutive playoff berth.
RSL boss Pablo Mastroeni made no personnel or positional changes to his starting XI from last Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Austin FC, which featured three different goal scorers: veteran defender DeAndre Yedlin, Paraguayan midfielder Braian Ojeda, and Nigerian striker Victor Oladunji. The hard-earned victory secured three crucial points and kept the Claret-and-Cobalt’s playoff hopes alive.
The starting lineup featured homegrown defender Justen Glad, who made his 311th club appearance across all competitions tonight, ranking third all-time in RSL’s MLS regular-season history. Joining him was versatile German-born midfielder Noel Caliskan, returning to his natural position for the second consecutive match after spending most of the 2025 campaign at right back. In goal was RSL “Iron Man” Rafael Cabral - the Club’s lone player to have played all 3,330 minutes across 37 games this season - with the Captain’s armband for a 20th straight contest, entering the match with three regulation penalty-kick saves and eight clean sheets on the season.
Real Salt Lake started off patiently, looking to find space through the midfield whenever possible, while holding strong defensively as the Rapids pushed into the home side’s defensive third. The first fifteen minutes were largely played in RSL’s half, forcing the back line to rely on Cabral and his footwork as a de facto fifth defender to keep the ball out of the net.
The first tangible scoring opportunity for RSL came in the 19th minute, after a missed bicycle kick from DP Rwan Cruz came across the goal for DF Alex Katranis, who sliced a left-footed shot just outside the post. Despite being unable to convert, the Claret-and-Cobalt pushed on, fighting in its offensive end for more opportunities to take the lead.
The pressure paid off in the 39th minute, with a perfectly-placed cross from Cruz, who found fellow Designated Player Diogo Gonçalves in the center of the box for a one-touch shot into the back of the net. The assist from Cruz marked his first of the season and helped to put RSL up 1-0 at the halfway mark.
At the start of the second half, Real Salt Lake came out composed, putting pressure on the Colorado defense while remaining calm and maintaining consistent possession. Olatunji had the first shot of the half, firing a right-footed strike from just outside the box that struck the underside of the crossbar.
The first substitutions for Mastroeni’s squad came in the 70th minute with striker William Agada and midfielder Tyler Wolff came on for Cruz and Gonçalves. The pair brought fresh legs and offensive intensity into the remaining minutes of the match.
Real Salt Lake pushed on, fighting for the second goal that would bring the Rocky Mountain Cup back to Utah. Olatunji almost found the net with a 1v1 against the Colorado goalkeeper in the 82nd minute, but a deflection sent the ball into his gloves. Late in the second half, Cabral did what he does best, coming up with huge back-to-back saves to keep the score in favor of the home side.
Although RSL lost the battle to bring the Rocky Mountain Cup back to America First Field, the squad won the war by securing a victory at home and keeping the playoff push alive.
The Claret-and-Cobalt will now hit the road for two consecutive weeks to close out the 2025 MLS regular season. First, they’ll head to Lumen Field to take on the Seattle Sounders next Saturday, October 11, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 PM MT. RSL’s final match will be against St. Louis City SC on Saturday, October 18, kicking off at 7 PM MT. Both matches will stream on Apple TV with the MLS Season Pass.
GOAL SCORING SUMMARY: RSL 1 : 0 COL
RSL: Diogo Gonçalves (Rwan Cruz) 39’: Cruz dribbled the ball towards the goal line before stopping and cutting it across the top of the box for Gonçalves, who ran onto the ball and took a one-touch shot with his right foot into the top left corner of the goal.
RSL: NOTES FROM RSL 1 : 0 COL
- RSL is now 11-7-4 (W-T-L) when scoring first this year
- The assist from Cruz marks his first of the season and first in an RSL jersey
- Real Salt Lake has now scored first in 22 of 37 matches this season
- The Gonçalves goal is his third of the year’s
LINEUPS:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-2-2): Rafael Cabral ©; DeAndre Yedlin, Justen Glad, Brayan Vera, Alex Katranis (Sam Junqua, 82’); Noel Caliskan, Braian Ojeda; Diogo Gonçalves (William Agada, 70’), Diego Luna (Emeka Eneli, 88’); Rwan Cruz (Tyler Wolff, 70’), Victor Olatunji (Ari Piol, 90+ 7’)
Subs not used: Mason Stajduhar, Philip Quinton, Pablo Ruiz, Johnny Russel,
Head Coach: Pablo Mastroeni
Colorado Rapids (4-2-3-1): Zack Steffen; Reggie Cannon, Andreas Maxso ©, Rob Holding, Rafael Santos (Sam Vines, 61’); Josh Atencio (Oliver Larraz, 69’), Connor Ronan (Ted Ku-DiPietro, 61’); Calvin Harris (Darren Yapi, 75’), Paxten Aaronson, Cole Bassett; Rafael Navarro
Subs not used: Nicolas Defreitas-Hansen, Keegan Rosenberry, Alexis Manyoma, Ian Murphy, Alex Harris
Head Coach: Christopher Armas
Stats Summary: RSL / COL
Shots: 11 / 17
Shots on Goal: 4 / 3
Saves: 3 / 3
Corner Kicks: 6 / 9
Fouls: 9 / 7
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
