Real Salt Lake Travels Wednesday to Houston in Critical Western Conference Showdown

First Midweek Trip of Six-Match September Sees RSL Head to Houston;

Claret/Cobalt Back Home Saturday for Second of Four Consecutive September Saturdays at Home;

Claret-and-Cobalt Look to Build Upon Dominant 10W-2L-3T Record in Sandy v NYCFC;

Tickets for All Home Events Remain Available via www.RSL.com/Tickets

HERRIMAN, Utah (Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026) – Wednesday, Real Salt Lake (8W-9L-5T, 29 points, 10^th West / 16^th Shield MLS) embarks on the first of two midweek road trips during its home-heavy month of September, with a 6:30p MT kickoff at Houston Dynamo (12W-7L-4T, 40 points, 2^nd West / 4^th Shield). The second of three games in eight days for RSL sees the Claret-and-Cobalt looking to snap two active streaks: a nine-game winless run in MLS action dating back to May 16, as well as its active 10-game run away from home without a win since March 7, when HC Pablo Mastroeni’s side won 3-2 at Atlanta.

RSL arrives at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston Wednesday winners of its last three against the Dynamo, including a dominant 3-0 home win in Utah back on May 13, which saw RSL score all three in the second half, as a Houston own goal and a Zavier Gozo brace secured the full three points for RSL. The Utah side won both 2025 contests between the sides, including a 2-1 win in Houston last March that saw Diego Luna provide the game-winning goal deep into first-half stoppage time, after RSL opened the scoring through Luna and Emeka Eneli for Diogo Gonçalves in the game’s first minute.

All-time, RSL owns a 14-10-9 (W-L-T) mark against the Dynamo, despite the Houston eliminations of RSL from both the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at the Semifinal stage, and the 2023 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, in a three-game First-Round series decided by a pair of penalty-kick shootout tiebreakers.

Wednesday’s match at Houston marks the 12^th amidst a post-World Cup stretch of 13 games in 44 days for RSL across both MLS and Leagues Cup competitions, a run that began with late July road losses at LAFC and Portland. While the Leagues Cup Phase One run was bookended by the St. Louis and Minnesota draws to create a five-game unbeaten streak amidst RSL’s post-World Cup slate, the Club is now seeking to snap the dubious road and overall winless streaks with this week’s matches at Houston Wednesday and Saturday against NYCFC.

Wednesday’s RSL at Houston contest on Apple TV features Christian Miles and Kacey White on the primary English-language call, while Pablo Ramirez and Jesus Bracamontes will provide the Spanish-language analysis. Simultaneously, the KSL Radio team of David James and Jay Nolly return to the mic, with Manuel Hernandez, Willy Barrueta and Isidro López conducting the Spanish call on KBMG Latino 106.3 FM.

GAME NOTES for Wednesday’s RSL @ Houston Match Available Online 

The Adobe PDF version of the 2026 RSL Game Guide in advance of Wednesday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Houston can be found HERE. Media members looking to receive the document as an attachment or have further questions are asked to please contact RSL Communications via email at RSLcommunications@RSL.com.

This past Saturday at a standing-room only America First Field – hosting its 15^th consecutive MLS sellout, dating back to last August – RSL drew 2-2 against star-studded LAFC, rebounding from a pair of one-goal deficits to snap a four-game losing streak. Summer window acquisition Saba Lobjanidze found the back of the net for the first time with RSL to tie it up 1-1 in the first half, while stalwart veteran Noel Caliskan buried the late equalizer off a rebound from Aiden Hezarkhani to split the points.

Newly-acquired FW Jason Shokalook became the 12^th Club debutant of 2026 and all-time RSL player No. 241 with his late appearance off the bench, while two other newcomers – MF Taylor Booth and DF Luc de Fougerolles, each added at the transfer window deadline last Wednesday – await their Club debuts, as does FW Dušan Žagar, the 19-year-old Serbian winger. Back on August 29 at Colorado, another of RSL’s all-time Club-high seven summer window additions, MF Colin Guske, became No. 240 in RSL’s 22-year history to see MLS action, the loanee from Orlando playing the final 20+ minutes in Colorado.

This weekend, RSL returns home to America First Field for the second of four September matches, looking to extend the Club’s recent home dominance. Despite the late-summer trend of dropped points late – the 81^st-minute concession in a 2-1 loss at Orlando fresh in the collective soul following a 3-4 home loss against FC Dallas on August 19 – RSL does boast an impressive 10-2-3 (W-L-T) overall record on Utah soil in 2026. Back on August 15, RSL conceded in the 89^th minute against Minnesota, forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against the visiting Loons, the Claret-and-Cobalt now 18-5-5 (W-L-T) at its America First Field fortress since June 1, 2025.  

Real Salt Lake Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni has now managed the Club in 209 matches across all competitions, registering 85 wins, 75 losses and 50 draws in MLS, Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, Leagues Cup, Open Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup and international friendly contests since late August, 2021. The former U.S. Men’s National Team World Cup standout (2002, 2006), MLS Cup Champion (2010) as a player, and former Colorado Rapids manager (2014-16) has averaged 1.60 points per game with RSL in his 202 matches at the helm. Only Cup-winning former manager Jason Kreis (2007-13) – now the Club’s President of Soccer – boasts more games, more wins and a higher PPG average than Mastroeni in RSL’s 22 seasons.

During the Mastroeni era, resilience, grit and determination have served as trademarks for RSL, with the Club suffering back-to-back losses on just 22 occasions in those 210 games. Saturday’s draw against LAFC was the latest opportunity for the Claret-and-Cobalt to display its “xDAWG” mentality as it earned the result, now winning 35 and drawing 18 times in “bounce-back” games following a loss in Mastroeni’s five-plus seasons in Utah.