RSL returns to Colorado to ‘right the wrong,’ reclaim Rocky Mountain Cup

DENVER — Four days after Real Salt Lake walked out of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park following the unceremonious end of its Leagues Cup run, it has to walk right back in.

Same stadium. Different opponent. Considerably different stakes.

RSL returns to Commerce City Saturday night to face the Colorado Rapids with a chance to reclaim the Rocky Mountain Cup and, perhaps more urgently, end an MLS winless streak that dates all the way back to the first leg of the rivalry in May.

RSL came from behind to beat Colorado 2-1 at America First Field on May 16, with Zavier Gozo and Sergi Solans scoring on either side of halftime. It remains RSL’s most recent MLS victory.

Seven league matches have passed since then without another.

RSL must win or draw Saturday to bring the supporter-created trophy back to Utah after two years in Colorado.

A one-goal Colorado victory would leave the series tied on aggregate, allowing the Rapids to retain the Cup as defending holders. That’s how they kept it last season, when each team won 1-0 at home.

“I would say this game has even more weight given that we were just playing in that stadium and felt the emotional impact of a terrible result,” RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni said Thursday.

“This game has multiple points of emphasis. One, the game we just played. Two, our biggest rival. But three, just wanting to get back on a great foot in the league play. And I think those three things make this game a really big game for us.”

Back to the basics

RSL is winless in league play since returning from the World Cup break. Add Tuesday’s Leagues Cup elimination and RSL has lost three consecutive matches in all competitions.

Mastroeni spent part of Thursday putting those results into context for his players.

RSL has played nine matches in 30 days across MLS and Leagues Cup, a workload Mastroeni acknowledged he may have “under-indexed.”

As those matches accumulated, Mastroeni believes some of the defensive habits that defined RSL at its best began disappearing.

“The one thing that I made clear to the guys is whenever we’re at our best as a team, our defending is top,” Mastroeni said. “Defending duels, 50-50 balls, defending our box, recover with intensity.

“And those are all things I think, as the games kind of mounted up, started to kind of pass by the wayside a little bit.”

Mastroeni lamented RSL’s inability to win individual duels against León Tuesday night. Two days later, his message hadn’t changed.

“This has been a feature of our best teams this year, our best performances this year, is that we have 11 guys that are determined,” Mastroeni said.

“If we wanna enjoy the ball, let’s win it back quick. What that’s gonna require is the front three and the pivots to work their tails off to make it predictable for the guys in the back.”

A non-negotiable

Sam Junqua heard the same message, pointing to duels, reactions and tracking back with intensity as areas RSL has allowed to slip during its recent run.

“The message has been, you know, here we are in the place that we are on the table. We’ve slid down a bit. We’re out of Leagues Cup, and MLS is all that we’re focused on,” Junqua said.

“What’s led to us being in this position is that we haven’t prioritized defending enough and the duels and all of the little things, tracking back with intensity, reactions, and that’s what it’s gonna take to kind of get back into our groove.

“And the attacking piece will sort itself out, but we need to kind of regroup defensively.”

For Mastroeni, those responsibilities are no longer optional.

“Just again, resetting, reestablishing the standards that are required regardless of the personnel,” Mastroeni said. “This is no longer an option. It’s a non-negotiable.”

Rocky Mountain Cup on the line

The Rapids have won three of their last four league matches, beating Austin FC, Sporting Kansas City and LAFC without conceding a goal before falling 3-0 at San Diego last weekend.

Rafael Navarro leads Colorado with nine goals, while Paxten Aaronson has four goals and a team-high six assists.

But RSL isn’t dwelling on Colorado’s personnel.

Instead, Junqua sees a chance to use the rivalry match to build some momentum.

“It always does,” Junqua said of the extra motivation of a derby. “I think for the team, for the fans, I think it would be a great way to get back on track after a slow start after the World Cup break.”

Rather than trying to forget what happened at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park Tuesday, Junqua sees an opportunity to replace the memory.

“If anything, I think it brings a little bit of extra motivation to kind of, you know, right the wrong of last game and to kind of, you know, end off on a good note in Colorado,” Junqua said.

Two cups up for grabs

The first team won’t be the only RSL side playing for a Rocky Mountain Cup Saturday.

RSL Unified will face Colorado Rapids Unified in the second leg of the first two-match Unified Rocky Mountain Cup.

Like the MLS side, RSL Unified carries a 2-1 advantage into Colorado after winning the opening leg at America First Field in May. The competition was created this season to give the Special Olympics Unified teams a rivalry trophy of their own.

For the first team, Saturday represents an opportunity to win back a trophy that has spent the last two seasons in Colorado while getting its league campaign back on track.

“I think my message to the group is just that we just need to build momentum, and that’s one game at a time,” Junqua said.

“This would be a great momentum builder, going back to Colorado away against a rival and getting a result.

“I think we just gotta have to get our foot in the door, and then we’ll go from there, and we’ll start rolling again.”

How to watch

Who: Real Salt Lake at Colorado Rapids
When: Saturday, Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m. MT
Where: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colorado
TV/Streaming: Apple TV