Goals change games
That mantra is true in any game, but in this one it is particularly truthful, as RSL and LA both look to break each other’s will. A goal for Salt Lake means that the Galaxy has to score twice to advance because of the away-goals tiebreaker. Meanwhile, if LA scores first Salt Lake can force extra time with one goal.
With two teams as disciplined in their defensive principles as these two teams, those goals could be hard to come by and once either nabs a lead a response becomes even more desperate.
403 and counting
Real Salt Lake is riding a 403-minute shutout streak, just 30 minutes shy of the longest such streak in MLS this season. The longer that streak stays intact, the more likely it becomes that RSL can advance to the Conference Championships for the fifth time in the last seven years.
That becomes difficult against a potent LA Galaxy offense, but that same offense has been a bit punchless of late, going scoreless over the last two matches and riding a streak of 220 minutes without a goal. After taking just three shots total in the first leg of the series and putting just one on frame, LA will be out to show that it is a different team than the one that played at Rio Tinto Stadium last week.
X-Factors
In five previous playoff matches against the LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake has had four different players score goals, with no player scoring more than once. Last year in the Western Conference Semifinals, Sebastian Velasquez and Chris Schuler scored goals to send Salt Lake through to the Conference Championship series. Neither player scored a regular season goal for RSL in 2013. Could 2014 see similar heroics from unexpected sources? Luis Gil was nearly the hero in the first leg at Rio Tinto Stadium last week and Ned Grabavoy has been known to score some crucial playoff goals for RSL in the past.
Shootout
If the teams play to another scoreless draw and no winner can be determined by a 30-minute overtime period the match will go to a penalty kick shootout. There, Salt Lake would have to feel like it has a distinct advantage in Nick Rimando. The Wall of the Wasatch, as he is known, has stopped four of five penalties he has faced this season, including one from Galaxy forward Robbie Keane. He has gone to penalties several times in his playoff career, too, with opponents scoring on just 60-percent of their 30 efforts.
