(ksl.com 10-18-25)
Real Salt Lake rebounded from a disastrous first half of the season to rattle off eight of its 12 wins over the final 17 games to squeak into the ninth and final Western Conference playoff spot on MLS Decision Day on Saturday.
"I think the spirit of the group overrides some of the things that haven't gone right," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "And tonight, I think, was a great display of resilience, of execution and coming up trumps; when really there's no reason — with the season that we had — to believe in ourselves."
The team entered the day in the final playoff spot and could guarantee its league-best fifth consecutive postseason appearance with a win on the road against the already-eliminated St. Louis City.
A first-half brace from Victor Olatunji had RSL well on its way with a 2-0 lead through 32 minutes, but a penalty from Eduard Lowen just before halftime brought St. Louis within one, 2-1, at the break.
Joao Klauss tied the game at 2-2 in the 88th minute, and late leads from fellow playoff hopefuls Colorado and San Jose made the final minutes at Energizer Park a little tense for Mastroeni and company, who had already endured 90-plus minutes of pouring rain in St. Louis.
LAFC equalized against Colorado at 2-2, though, and RSL held onto a valuable point with the 2-2 draw, keeping the Rapids, Earthquakes and RSL all tied at 41 points at the end of the night. The first tiebreaker for playoff qualification was total wins, with RSL holding the slight edge with 12 to the other two teams' 11.
Goalkeeper Rafael Cabral came up big, once again, completing his first season in Utah playing every single minute of every game, and putting up five saves on 27 St. Louis shots to hold the home team to two goals, despite a 3.5-1 lead in expected goals.
"I feel we play as a family, and we just love each other," Olatunji said of his short time in Utah since joining the squad in August. "We trust and play like what we want. So far, so good. I love being here."
The margin in the standings was about as thin as it could have been for the Claret and Cobalt, who became the team with the most losses to qualify for the playoffs in MLS history at a 12-17-5 (win-loss-draw) record.
Mastroeni has now made the playoffs in each of his five seasons at the helm of RSL, fulfilling a promise he made to fans after a tough month of August when the team lost all three of its matches.
"In 2021, it took until the last game (to make the playoffs)," Mastroeni said on Aug. 23. "Even if it takes until the last second of the final game, we're going to make it."
RSL will travel to Portland to face the eighth-seeded Timbers in a single-elimination wild card game on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. MDT.
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