Dallas pressure, Texas heat await evolving RSL side

SANDY — Real Salt Lake’s rise up the Western Conference table this season has been fueled by youthful energy, attacking freedom, and a growing belief inside the locker room that this group belongs among the contenders in the West.

Saturday in Texas may pose a new challenge to the young team.

Facing an FC Dallas side in oppressive heat, during a compressed three-match week, RSL’s next benchmark may not simply be creating chances. It may be managing the difficult stretches of a match when momentum swings back and forth.

“This three-game week is one day less than our previous three-game week, so recovery is gonna be more important,” RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni said this week. “You have to be willing to adapt. You can have an ideal, but then there’s real life.”

Saturday matters in the Western Conference race.

RSL enters the weekend sixth in the conference on 19 points through 10 matches, sitting just behind Seattle and Minnesota while holding a three-point advantage over seventh-place Dallas. The standings remain tightly packed beneath early leaders San Jose and Vancouver, making every point increasingly valuable before the upcoming World Cup break.

Inside the locker room, though, the focus remains less about standings and more about evolution.

Even after last weekend’s 2-0 win over Portland, Mastroeni openly discussed areas where the team still needs to improve. Chief among them is managing matches after taking a lead.

Teams have increasingly gone man-to-man against RSL’s buildup shape, something Portland used effectively during stretches of the second half. Dallas has employed similar tactics against RSL before, and Mastroeni expects another physical, scrappy match Saturday night.

“We have to continue to improve our decision-making with the ball so that we’re not just sitting behind it and allowing them to dictate to us,” Mastroeni said.

RSL had gone six straight unbeaten before consecutive losses to Miami, and the Galaxy briefly stalled that momentum. Last weekend’s win over Portland helped right the ship.

RSL’s performance against the Timbers was more convincing than the final scoreline suggested. Portland goalkeeper James Pantemis was named to the MLS team of the match day after a remarkable 13-save effort that prevented the match from turning into a rout.

But Real Salt Lake’s response against Portland was recognized league-wide, as well.

Diego Luna earned MLS team of the match day honors after another influential attacking performance capped with a left footed goal, while Zavier Gozo was selected to the bench after scoring the match winner.

Young core driving results

Portland knocked Real Salt Lake out of the playoffs last year and RSL got revenge behind another wave of contributions from one of MLS’ youngest attacking groups.

Gozo has rapidly become one of the breakout stories of the MLS season. The 19 year old enters Saturday with three goals and four assists in just 10 appearances.

More impressively, five of those goal contributions have been game-winners, tied for the second-most game-winning goal contributions ever recorded by an MLS teenager in a single season, despite Gozo having played barely a third of a full campaign.

Gozo said the chemistry among RSL’s young players has helped fuel the group’s confidence.

“It feels like academy games again because everybody’s around the same age and you’re just out there having fun,” Gozo said this week. “That’s kind of been our theme this year. Go out, have fun, and have each other’s backs.”

Diego Luna continues to drive much of RSL’s attack, as well. The midfielder enters the weekend tied for 10th in club history in goals and seventh in assists despite missing time earlier this season. He has three goals and three assists in just 473 minutes. With more clinical finishing around him, Luna’s assist total could easily be even higher. 

Forward Sergi Solans has scored five goals in his first 10 matches with the club after traveling an unconventional path that included development in Spain and college soccer before being selected by RSL in the SuperDraft. 

Looking to stay unbeaten in Dallas

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He also has two assists, including a peach of a play against Portland when he held off a defender with his body to allow time for Luna and Gozo to join the play before slipping a perfectly weighted ball into space for Gozo to finish first time. After training on Wednesday, Solans said he has been working on his hold up play.

“I was alone at another club near Girona, and I learned a lot about fighting against big center backs who were older and more mature than me. That’s where I learned how to use my body. I’m still learning because the center backs here are huge and very strong. That’s something I’ll keep working on.”

When asked how he has started his MLS career so strongly, he beamed.

“I think I’m playing like this because I’m happy,” Solans said. “The confidence from the coaches, the environment on the team, all the players helping me. That’s when I can put my strengths on the field and show people who I am.”

Veteran defender Justen Glad said the team’s early success has not surprised the locker room.

“Looking around the locker room and seeing the quality we had, I think everyone realized this group had a lot of talent,” Glad said. “I’m not surprised at all by the group we have.”

Dallas can punish mistakes

While Dallas sits 3 points behind RSL entering the weekend, the Texas side remains one of the more dangerous attacking teams in the conference.

Dallas arrives with momentum after a 2-0 road win in New Jersey over the Red Bulls. Petar Musa scored yet again before young attacker Sam Sarver added a late insurance goal. Musa’s 10 goals have him tied for the lead in the MLS golden boot race with Chicago’s Hugo Cuypers.

But RSL knows the challenge extends beyond simply containing Musa.

“I think we have to limit their strikers, which have been dangerous and have been kind of the main source of their goals this year,” defender Sam Junqua said.

Saturday also marks a return to Dallas for Junqua, who arrived in Utah this offseason in the trade that sent fan favorite Anderson Julio to Texas.

Julio scored a career-high nine goals for RSL in 2024, including a stunning 57-yard strike against, as fate would have it, FC Dallas.

The Ecuadorian attacker enters the weekend listed as questionable with a leg injury.

Junqua, meanwhile, expects dozens of friends and family members to attend Saturday’s match.

“I’m excited,” Junqua said. “I still have a good relationship with the fans there, so I’m excited to play there again.”

He also knows the challenge Texas heat can create, even for teams accustomed to altitude.

“You never really get used to the heat,” Junqua said. “You just become more mentally prepared for how tiring it’s going to be.”

That mental management may become one of the defining themes of the night.

RSL has shown this season it can overwhelm opponents with movement, pace, and confidence. Saturday may instead test the group’s ability to stay organized, survive difficult stretches, and manage momentum in one of the more demanding road environments MLS has to offer.

For a young team trying to prove it belongs among the Western Conference contenders, that may be the next step in its evolution.

How to Watch

Kickoff: Saturday, 6:30 p.m. MDT
Where: Toyota Stadium
Watch: Apple TV (MLS Season Pass, no second paywall)
Listen: KSL Sports Radio 1160 AM / 97.5 FM